It’s another early morning, and I’m awake with a racing mind. As I mentioned last time, the last week has been a roller coaster of emotion and a flurry of activity. Again, for sake of time, I will briefly mention a couple of things but will need to focus in on them in later posts. It’s a bit hard to know where to begin so let’s do this chronologically.
The questions that have run through our minds have been, “What will Hannah Helps exactly become in the long run, how will it exactly work, and exactly what are we supposed to be doing now to make those things happen? I guess in some ways, we all like to operate based on things that we “see,” but I guess that’s not really faith. We did form a mission statement and do have lots of ideas of things that we can do to accomplish that, but still, how will it all come together and what will Hannah Helps become? Again, I find myself wanting to skip to the end of the story rather than just walking by faith as we write our way through it. I remind myself of my own words, “We aren’t ready for a book yet, we are just writing, and living, a ‘newspaper’.” We can only report what has happened and speculate about the future. So again, what is Hannah Helps? Well, this week, it looked like this.
Last Thursday we stepped out on faith and made Hannah Helps and official, legal 501 c3 charitable organization. Friday, we went to the bank and opened up “business” accounts in that name. After the bank, we were notified of an accident that had taken place with a friend from church. He had been rushed to the hospital with a significant injury, and someone else was there with him that day, but we were aware and definitely praying. After those things were finished, I mowed grass at the neighbors ‘til dark because Saturday was a big day.
Saturday was when we were going to meet our recipient and .63% daughter Abby and her husband Rich for the first time. That alone came with a lot of anticipation and a little apprehension about how things would go. As I woke up, I immediately saw a news report about a problem related to an organ donation case when I tried to look at the weather for the day. This report highlighted a situation from several years ago in which a donor’s right to life had been jeopardized, according to the donor’s family and a few others who were involved. (Again, for time’s sake we will have to discuss this later.) This report of alleged malpractice and abuse of the organ donation process was personally very troubling, but we needed to leave for our visit
As we were about to walk out the door, I got a call from the wife of the man who had been rushed to the hospital. She was distraught! Ted had suffered an unusual fall off his lawnmower in an attempt to avoid it tipping over on him while cutting the grass on a hill in his yard. He had gone in for surgery Friday night and the surgery went into the early hours of Saturday morning. At 1:30 AM she received a call from the surgeon informing her that her husband broke his neck, was likely paralyzed from the neck down for life, his respiratory system was compromised, and that she needed to bring power of attorney paperwork to the hospital when she was able to get a ride, since she is unable to drive herself due to her own mobility limitations. Our boys were already in the car to go see Abby when she called. With a phone call to a willing couple from church, I was able to get Deb a ride to the hospital.
We had a great time with Abby and Rich on Saturday, and then as we headed back towards home, we checked in on things with Ted. He was stable, recovering, and resting. We were going to go and see him, but his wife had gone back home by that time since he was sleeping, and he needed his rest. We changed some family plans for Sunday so that we could pick Deb up and be at the hospital with them all day. Ted was on oxygen and was able to talk a little but not move. His mind was sharp as ever, but the injury was very serious. He had always been active. He hunted as a younger man then changed to competitive paint ball and target shooting for twenty years. Just a few days before he manicured the churches flower beds and was holding the weeds at bay. He had a perfectly manicured yard. And most importantly, he took amazing care of his wife. Sunday night their niece flew in to stay with Deb and help her through this time. Another niece came in on Monday to help as well. We spent all day with them on Monday, but he had been put on a ventilator because he was having difficulty breathing. Again, his mind was sharp, but now he could only communicate by blinking his eyes.
Tuesday, we had a prescheduled appointment with a saleswoman, Dawn, at our house, because we won a small essential oil diffuser after I put my name on a piece of paper at their booth at the county fair to win a cooler. We knew that this was a sales pitch, but we went with it anyway to be polite. Dawn came and she asked about our children. We told her about the boys and then about our situation with Hannah. God clearly sent her to us, and He may likely have used us to save her life! We will have to finish this story in another post.
After that meeting with Dawn we went back to the hospital for the rest of the day. Ted made his wishes known that he didn’t want to remain on a ventilator. He was aware that removing it would end his life. He and his wife had discussed these things well before this injury and he clearly knew what he wanted to do. He told everyone that he wanted the tube removed on Wednesday. They notified everyone that they could about his situation and a small group of us were there with him on Wednesday. The medical team came in and thoroughly reviewed the situation with all of us. They showed us the imaging and answered all questions. They made sure that Ted had all his questions answered and that he clearly understood that this paralysis was also affecting his throat and diaphragm. They then explained that when he would have difficulty breathing and would be unable to communicate, they would honor his wishes and not intervene, since that was his he wanted. To all these things he clearly agreed. We anticipated an opportunity for him to be able to talk, like he had on Sunday, for a time, but after the tube was removed, he relaxed, breathed slowly, shut his eyes and peacefully passed away without saying another word. We all cried, and we stayed with Deb and her nieces for the rest of the day. Yesterday I helped with the funeral arrangements as a friend and also representing our church and our willingness to help in any way possible. We then went to their house and stayed late discussing Ted’s life and Deb’s future. Today we make preparations for the funeral on Sunday afternoon. I also am meeting with someone who was deeply touched by Hannah’s life, funeral, and “story.” We also have tons of lawn mowing to do for ourselves, the widow next door, the neighbor on the other side, and at church (Probably 10 acres total.)
So, what is Hannah Helps? This week it was filing legal papers and opening bank accounts. It was disappointing news about an organ donation situation. It was a visit with a very special new friend in Abby! It is also supporting and comforting a friend and his family at the worst time of their lives. Because of our experience, we clearly know that God has uniquely prepared us for such a time as this! Although we aren’t perfect, we can see that showing up is more important than having all the right words. We didn’t tell them anything that they didn’t already know, and we didn’t do anything that they couldn’t have figured out themselves. But our being there gave them the strength and confidence that they needed. Hannah Helps is also saving lives through Hannah’s story and allergy awareness with Dawn. Also, the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America contacted me about sharing Hannah’s story with them this week. Where will it go and how will it get there? Only God knows those answers, but however it happens we will know that we didn’t do it. We were just a pen in His hand, writing another story of faith, hope and love and we did it by Doing Right: pausing for a breath, taking small steps, and always moving forward!
We are blessed
Hannah Helps 