Sunday, March 8, 2009

Memories by Bruce (Dad)

Susan was accepted for treatment at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. Susan, Justin, Janet and I went there together. After a couple of days of tests and consulting with different doctors, the course of treatment was outlined. Justin and Susan decided that Justin needed to get back to work to save his time off for later.

Susan, Janet and I moved to another hotel where we could all stay in the same suite, as Janet felt it was important that Susan not be alone. It was Susan’s turn to say our family prayer the evening before her port-a-cath was implanted. She thanked God for all the blessings that we’d seen as a family, and for the opportunity to be at Mayo Clinic. And then, in a most fitting expression of gratitude, she said, “We are thankful for this opportunity to exercise our faith in thee.” Tears came to my eyes as I understood, again, the tremendous faith that Susan possessed. She never wavered, she never doubted, she never faltered.

8 comments:

Andréa Morrow said...

THAT FOR SURE KEEPS ME GOING!

Heidi said...

Thanks for sharing Bruce. Susan is an amazing gal! She certainly has INCREDIBLE faith. I sure wish she could atleast update her blog from heaven! We miss her and wish this was all a bad dream still. I guess we will have to try and have that kind of faith now.
Heidi

Kristin said...

Thanks Bruce. Susan was so strong. I had a dream about her last night and I actually remembered it which is unusual. It was about her preparing for her wedding and how excited she was to put on her white dress and be sealed to Justin. She is an amazing example of faith. Keep posting these memories because they give all of us so much strength.

Mike Steph Brooklyn and Carter said...

That is so true Bruce, she did never waver and I love to hear those stories, thanks for sharing. I miss her terribly, I still think about her constantly and wish I could talk with her. I often dream about her at night because she was in my thoughts all day. Sometimes I will be doing something that will remind me of her or a memory we had together and I will just laugh becuase all of my memories with her bring such a huge smile to my face! I hope that I can possess at least half of her strength.

LC. said...

Thanks for this. I have been thinking about Susan AO much this past week... every day really. She is such a strength and example to me. I hope you and Janet are doing ok. I'm thinking of you constantly. I can't wait for the day when we all will be with her again. I'm working on the faith myself until then.

Anonymous said...

Thank you for posting this remembrance. I think of all of you so often. I am not sure you even know how deeply and how many of us she touched - her example changed all of us for the rest of our lives. And I have shared her story with so many who have been strengthened by her great faith. Talk about the ultimate mission - how many people pass through our lives just as acquaintances but Susan reached out and grabbed everyone of us in such a powerful way to deepen our faith and appreciate all that we have!
Kathy Thomas

Anonymous said...

Susan was so positive. She always had so much faith, I saw that just the little time we were roommates. She exercised faith in God every day. I love her, and miss her. I think of you guys often!

thearringtonclan said...

We wanted to add that although we didn't get the chance to meet Susan in person, we did get the blessing of receiving e-mails from her and words of encouragement as my husband was going through the process of surgery and then chemo for colon cancer...
What an AMAZING daughter you have...We look forward to the day when we can give her a hug and thank her for the FAITH she gave to us by watching how she dealt with her trial and never gave up.. What a wonderful sweet person and I only wish we would have had the privilege of knowing her more...
Thank you for raising a beautiful daughter....