ALL the way home!

Well, it’s been quite the day. Cindy is finally ALL the way home. Here’s the story:

Coincident with Cindy’s arrival home on Thursday was the arrival of longtime Arizona friends Dan and Vicky Heller. Dan got here just in time to help carry Cindy up the stairs with me and a couple of strapping young angels that Alexandra Pinheiro had rounded up.

Friday was a relatively happy day, enjoying the company of old friends. They really were an encouragement for Cindy. Vicky made a delicious enchilada dinner, the leftovers of which we just finished tonight!

We started Saturday by getting Cindy into a chair and we all came up to her sitting room to have breakfast together. She was alert enough to smile for some pictures with the Hellers. After some tears, they departed for Phoenix and we got Cindy back in bed, where she slept for the rest of the day. She was not feverishly hot but was perspiring a little and her arms and face were a little cold.

We again went upstairs with dinner so that she would be in our company as much as possible. I had had an unexplainable sense of urgency to get all the kids together on the same page, so we sat down late in the evening to check in with one another and had a great talk. We prayed and sang.

About midnight, we went up to the room and gathered around Mom, prayed for her, and sang some hymns, lullabies, and worship songs. At one o’clock, I sent Mandy, Erica, and Peter off to bed. Beata and I started working to get Mom tucked in for the night. She was uncomfortable, so we sat her up for a while at her request. Beata began to sing again, the last song being “Jesus, Name Above All Names”. She spit up a little and we laid her down on the bed. As I was putting her head down, she gurgled a little bit and then she was gone. We were both taken aback at how quickly it happened. Of course, we had just prayed, asking God to either heal Mom completely or take her home expediously. I guess the latter was what he had in mind.

The peaceful atmosphere in the room is difficult to explain but it was very real. I called our pastor, Andy Zawacki, who came over and spent the next four hours with us and her. We talked, we prayed, we even asked God to raise her from the dead. Most of all, we were happy being together. We knew that our Lord had set Cindy FREE! At length, Andy called the funeral home and all of that process started.

Today has been exhausting for all of us, lots of phone calls, arrangements, etc.

The schedule is as follows:

Visiting hours Wednesday 4-7 PM at Light of the World
Memorial service Thursday 10:30 AM also at Light of the World

Details are at http://dufresneandcavanaugh.com/obituary_view/10006769.

There will be many difficult days ahead but we know that God is good. “It is well with my soul.” Jonny and Lisa arrive tomorrow. Please pray for us. We love you!

Love, Bob

Interestingly enough, the last song that Cindy heard in this world (Jesus, Name Above All Names) was also the song that we chose for our first dance at our wedding almost 28 years ago. Coincidence? Don’t think so.