(Not so) Favorite Christmas Memories-Vol. 4

I'm going off track a little here.  Please let me make clear this particular Christmas IS NOT one of my favorite by any means.  It was actually a very HORRIBLE Christmas BUT it is still a very vivid memory that I thought I would share.  For two reasons:

     1.  Because of the events that took place.
     2.  This was the year that I had to TOTALLY give all my faith to God and let his strength, love, and 
          wisdom lead the way.
 

Christmas is a special time of the year.  Some say it is a time of miracles.  A time of hope and faith.  This is how we spent our Christmas of 2007.

It started on December 5th of that year.  I was on the phone with my Mom and she mentioned she was a little worried about my Grandma.  She hadn't been feeling well since a routine test and was having some difficulty with daily activities.  I tried to reassure my Mom that it was probably a touch of the flu and to give her some time to get over it.

The morning of December 7th started off with snow on the ground.  I went to work early that morning, as I do with any snow day, because when dealing with snow days there are a lot of call ins and staff issues on these days.  I decided I would run to the gas station after arriving to work to get my daily dose of Diet Coke.  As I started to pull out of the parking lot I noticed one of my staff running across the parking lot towards me.  She said, "Your Mom just called they have your Grandma at the ER and your Mom doesn't sound good."  I immediately headed to the ER.

Upon arrival Grandma was unconscious.  My Grandma's significant other, Papa Claude, was in the room along with my mom, my dad, my aunt, & my uncle.  The doctor looked at my mom and Papa Claude and asked if Grandma had a DNR order.  They both said no.  The doctor asked them if they wanted him to do everything possible in case she coded to get her back.  Of course they said yes.  They barely got the 'yes' out when she started to code.  We were losing her.  My mom started to refuse to leave the room.  I grabbed her and said there wasn't anything we could do and that she didn't need to see Grandma this way.

I immediately started to pray and pray like I never did before.  I knew God was with us.  But I wanted Him with those doctors and nurses.  I wanted His love to overwhelm me and my family.  I wanted them to know that He was in our presence.  I felt it.  And then the doctor came out and said they had got her back.

The family spent the weekend at the hospital with Grandma in ICU.  The following Tuesday, December 11th, the ice storm hit.  We lost power for four days.  We were blessed to obtain a hotel room for those four days and firmly believe that God had a hand in that too.  It was a place that my Mom and Aunt was able to go take showers, nap, or try to relax.

The next two weeks were extremely rough.  Grandma didn't make much progress and was unconscious most of the time.  She was on a breathing machine, tubes all over, etc.  The doctors were not giving us much hope of recover.  With all the trips to the hospital and the depression set over the city because of the ice storm no one in the family was in the Christmas spirit. 

The week of Christmas she started to make some comebacks with making eye contact and squeezing hands.  On Christmas Eve, Mom decided to go home for the night.  I told her we would stop out and stay for a couple hours after the Christmas Eve service at church.  When we arrived I went back to see Grandma and she was awake but still in that 'ICU state'.  I asked her if she wanted to see Dalton and she smiled at me and shook her head yes.  After some explaining to Dalton what he would see we walked into her room.  She instantly lit up and smiled at him.  She squeezed my hand and was very responsive to us both.

On Christmas Day we had our traditional dinner and then the entire family immediately headed to the hospital.  My mom couldn't believe her eyes.  Grandma was responsive, alert, and seemed to be making great strides.  Our Christmas miracle.

We spent the entire month of December in the ICU and then a week in a regular room.  The next month Grandma spent in the nursing home going through therapy and preparing to return home.

As I said, this was by NO means a favorite memory but one that will always be with me.  I thank God for bringing Grandma back to us.  I thank Him for surrounding us with His love and strength during that time.  I thank Him for showing us His miracles.  The real lesson I have learned that in every situation there are blessings...even in bad situations.  We just have to step back and take a hard look but they are there.