January 6th marked the 1 year anniversary of my mother's death. My sister, who lived with her, said goodnite to her the night before and woke up to find she had passed away in her sleep.
My mom and I had a very good relationship until I got saved when I was 16. Since then, it was pretty rocky at times. After many years of prayer and struggle, she finally accepted Jesus at Chickybabe's dedication ceremony. Big Daddy's father got to baptize her in Whitefish Lake the summer of that same year. I was so thankful, but our relationship troubles didn't end there. We still had ups and downs...ins and outs with each other.
She and I even went through a spell for 5 years where we didn't talk to each other even though we lived in the same town. After even more prayers and some humility, we made peace with each other and had begun to repair our relationship just the year before she passed. I will always be grateful for that time and my children are the better for being able to have known her for so short a period of their lives. (I wish I could give them back those missing 5 years)
As for my brother, he was a long-haul truck driver (the ones who transport new cars to different dealers) and he loved his work.
On February 16th, 2006 he was working his way home to Billings, Montana to see his wife and child after a long time on the road. He parked for the night at a truck stop in Missoula and met a buddy for a couple beers at the bar across the highway. At around 1 am, they decided to call it a day and headed back across the highway on foot to the truck stop and their respective vehicles. It is still unclear exactly how it happened, but my brother, Mike, was struck head first by a minivan going approximately 45 mph. He was severely injured and suffered a traumatic brain injury called "shearing of the brain". The two hemispheres of your brain are connected by a complex and intricate network of neurons. In his case, the force of the impact with the car and subsequent impact with the ground caused the two hemispheres of his brain to be shaken to badly that many of those connective neurons were broken. (Imagine slicing through the peel only of an orange and then twisting it in half. It would look shredded inside...)
Mike was in a coma for almost a month when he miraculously 'woke up'. He was moved to a hospital in Billings where the staff was not as well trained in dealing with head injuries like his and he suffered at least two near overdoses of medication.
He has been moved to several different facilities and is now a resident in a nursing home in Lewistown, Montana about 125 miles away from his family. He is able to walk and talk and feed himself, etc., but he often doesn't remember family members or gets them confused with other people. He can read, but sometimes this ability is lost temporarily as his brain tries to re-establish the neuron connections that were broken. He has an anger problem and is easily pushed to volatility with other people. Most of the time, he is convinced he is in some kind of prison because they won't let him leave the building. (He spent 8 years in prison for possession of a stolen vehicle. He went in when he was 18 and had only been out for 2 years when this happened.) His brain can't seem to understand what happened to him. He doesn't understand that he needs to heal. All he wants to do is go home. It makes me so sad. I feel like he was robbed of a good life. It's hard to call and talk to him because he doesn't remember who I am lots of the time. Sometimes he thinks I am our mom. He has been told about her passing, but the information doesn't stick. He mourns and the next time you call and he asks about her it is like he doesn't know it happened. We have decided not to keep telling him. We just say she is doing better now....then I cry when I hang up the phone.
Why am I thankful?.............I guess it's because I know that Jesus has experienced this kind of sadness too. He sends me Holy Spirit to comfort me and give me hope for Mike, helps me build a better relationship with my little sister, reminds me with my memories what my mom was like and all the things she taught me................ and saves my tears when all I can do is cry. Thank You, God.
"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of sympathy (pity and mercy) and the God [Who is the source] of every comfort (consolation and encouragement)..." 2 Corinthians 1:3 (Amplified Bible)
"God blesses those who mourn for they will be comforted." Matthew 5:4 (NLT)
"Write down my poem of sadness. List my tears on your scroll. Aren't you making a record of them?" -Psalm 56:8 (NIrV)
" He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us." 2 Corinthians 1:4 (NLT)
"Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God our Father, Who loved us and gave us everlasting consolation and encouragement and well-founded hope through [His] grace (unmerited favor), comfort and encourage your hearts and strengthen them [make them steadfast and keep them unswerving] in every good work and word." 2 Thessalonians 2:16-17 (Amplified Bible)
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