Letting Go

Today I spent some time on the phone with my very best friend, CJ, listening to her and crying with her as she talked about the last 3 days since I've seen her. I haven't seen her since Saturday night at 11:00 pm when we were both at the hospital with her boss of 20 years - an elderly gentleman named Gordon who was 77 years old. Gordon & CJ have a very special relationship. Up until the last couple of weeks Gordon was not saved and CJ, being the strong Christian woman she has always been, has spent the last 20 years praying for Gordon and loving him and being there for him through all of his trials and tribulations when he had nobody else to turn to. Gordon, in turn was like a father to CJ...and a year ago when she and her husband decided to adopt a baby boy, Gordon's heart began softening and his crusty bitter exterior began to melt the more he hung around with his "adopted" grandchild.

I had the privilege this last year of working with Gordon on several occasions and he loved to talk and tell me stories from his past. He was such an interesting man. He began having some health problems about six months ago and he has been in and out of the hospital constantly. CJ has been there for him and had taken over the role of his caregiver.

When we left Saturday night they had just given him a sleeping pill for the night so he could get some rest. The hospital called CJ early Sunday morning and told her he wasn't going to be around much longer and she needed to come back up there. He kept hanging on until she finally gave him permission to "leave" around 5:00 pm Sunday afternoon...for the last year she has called him every morning as soon as she wakes up and he answers with "Yes, I'm still alive." She said the last two mornings have hit her hard when she goes to get the phone to call him and she realizes he is gone. She has a peace about one thing though....my sweet friend prayed her cranky old boss into heaven - he DID accept Jesus Christ as his personal savior a few weeks ago so she knows she'll be seeing him again one day.

Minneapolis Bridge Collapse - Too close for comfort!

Wow! I woke up this morning and opened the newspaper and this was what I saw....
I was in shock! My mom flew from Pensacola to Minneapolis yesterday for her annual Creative Memories Convention she goes to every year....I used to go to this a couple of years ago when I was a CM Consultant. We knew she was going to be in this area where this bridge collapsed! I asked my dad when was the last time he had talked to her and he said about 4:30 yesterday afternoon when she was on her way to the hotel from the airport....this collapse happened around 6:00! She called us at 6:30 a.m. this morning to let us know she was safe and said she had just gone across this bridge 30 minutes before the collapse! Praise God!! She was safe and sitting in her hotel room. How sad for those that perished in this tragic accident!