overcast...

so i could tell you a million funny stories from this week since they've been mulling around in my head for a while.
like how isaac's been 'wait-listed' for a local playgroup. reminder = he's one.
or how we were given isaac's 'eating' diagnosis.
or what it's like to make my first pot roast and why none of you have ever disclosed the price of roast. i stood at the meat counter with my mouth gaping.

but it all feels wholly inappropriate to overlook the fact that my brother and his wife are losing her dad today.

apparently Ron (my sister in law's dad), and his wife, Chris (SIL's mom...) and their 14 year old daughter were all driving back from Florida on Friday and he had to pull over because of a severe headache. then he collapsed on the side of the road, where a state trooper found them and rushed them to the hospital.

the hospital discovered high blood pressure (245/150), which had caused a brain hemorrhage at the worst possible place in his brain -- a place that was inoperable. he is in a coma, on life support, ventilator, the whole nine. they nearly pronounced him dead that night.

saturday seemed to have some hope. his eyelids fluttered and his feet twitched when pricked. we all thought that brain activity was returning but sunday revealed that was not to be the case.
truthfully, blood was pooling in his brain due to swelling due to infection.

disks of his brain scans were rushed to UPenn and Jefferson Hospital in Phil., and all three hospitals confirmed it is hopeless.

my sister in law stood by her father's hospital bed and told her dad goodbye last night.
they will be taking him off life support this afternoon.
Chris will bury her 53 year old husband on monday.

our hearts have been tearing in two for this family -- a family very close to ours. such a heart wrenching loss for all of them.

one day he's fine. and the next day he's gone. and it casts this aching overshadowing that brings you back to the bare bones of life. to all the things that matter in this life and the things that do not.

death is a reminder that our hearts were not programmed for this world.
we were originally created without death in the equation...
and in our loss, we consciously (and unconsciously) seek out understanding that simply points us to the eternal.
...to our only Hope.
...to the One who conquered death.

and yes, it feels shameful that our family spent a day weeping over a test.
a stupid title that will be left behind when death, in turn, greets us.

focus, allison.
focus.

******************************************************************

John 14:1-4
Do not let your hearts be troubled.
Trust in God; trust also in me.
In my Father's house are many rooms;
if it were not so, I would have told you.
I am going there to prepare a place for you.
And if I go and prepare a place for you,
I will come back and take you to be with me
that you also may be where I am...

Revelation 21:4
He will wipe every tear from their eyes.
There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain,
for the old order of things has passed away...