A Candlestick: McCall #1 --Back home!

We are back! Decided to just do two subjects on this first blog report....my sister and my daughter.

My Sister-

The day we got home was the day my sister, Dixie, had her 3 month follow-up appointment to find out the going-on with her Interstitial disease. She called that evening and the news is not good. Grim. Her conditioned has worsened and there is no plan in place to change the course of things as nothing else can be done. They will take her off of steroids, keep her on the oxygen 24/7 and she will just live life to the fullest that she can. I was so saddened when she called and we both shed some tears. I knew when she got the original news that the odds were against her.

It was just tough to hear a Dr. tell her that it's going to eventually take her life. Actually it wasn't the Dr. it was a PA or a nurse and that made her irritated and she is going to tell them so when she goes back next time. She felt if someone is being told they are dying then the Dr. she is paying to care for her should deliver the news. She told the nurse. The nurse said the Dr. was with those that were worse off than she was. That irked her too as she felt being told your life was going to end with the disease you have was serious.

The thing that is so wonderful to me is...she is not in pain all the time. only when she coughs.

My take is...we know we are all going to exit life and I talk about exit-lane living. Terry refers to the spawning salmon, swimming in clear water and then heading upstream, all dinged and binged up, fighting the elements to get home and finally exhausted making it!! What ever you want and whatever way you want to think of it analogy-wise...we are all destined to depart this life and be separated for awhile. That is where the beauty of the gospel rings in with such glorious truths! Eternal life!

At this age you realize the party is winding down and you best make the most of it while the getting is good.

I called and visited with her friend, Linda, about the Dr. visit, as she went with her to take notes and ask questions. when he delivered the verdict there was no need for any of our questions we'd wondered about. As she said...the questions went out the window when he told her the news. She said that he told Dixie several times to-- Live to live. Don't live to die. I really like that. I believe that is the way to do it. That is her aim. She has friends and two daughters that live there in Eagle. Plus 2 daughters in UT. I plan to go see her in two weeks and we will play and party and drive around and do whatever she wants.

Although the Dr. would not give any timeline, my daughter looked online and found the usual life expectancy is 2-5 years. No one knows how long she has had it. None of us know our exit date either so we are all in the same boat, aren't we?

Just wanted to share and I will keep you posted along the way.

(Natalie, in UT. go ahead and call her. she got your letter and so enjoyed it! love to you from both of us! --Natalie is our former high-school cheerleader friend that was also LDS. long before we joined the Church!)

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My Daughter-

This year we had a McCall mishap and Jeanee got injured. This is such a miracle that she was so protected that I just have to share it. It was towards the end of all our fun and lots were going to go mountain biking. It's a 7 mile run on Brundage Mountain. The winter ski slope. you hop on the ski-lift, holding onto your bike and then head down a narrow trail.

Jeanee is adventuresome and had so much fun on her first run and felt there was enough time to go on one more run. She and her hubby hopped on the ski-lift, got to top and headed down. She was loving it and suddenly she hit something, propelled forward, hit a log with some cut-off branches??? (her best guess), and felt blood running. she thought she'd broken her nose. Not her nose. she had a 1" long by 1/4" deep slice, directly down the middle of her eyebrow! What are the chances of that happening? That was one miracle but the other one was realizing her eyeball was not destroyed. When you look at the glasses, and realize not one speck of glass was anywhere on her, you just have to believe in miracles and family prayer and private prayers! it gives me the shivers when I see that one picture with her eye peeking through.

It was her night to cook and she had spaghetti going for dinner. She kept telling the medic that she needed to get out of there do the spaghetti and he finally told her to stop being a Mom, that she was injured and needed care! Dinner by the way turned out fine, she was there to eat, others stepped up to the plate...especially Brooke and Lorrie as I recall. I went right to the hospital to see her.

Cassie and Sam also took a tumble and got scraped and a bit bruised. Especially Cassie but Jeanee was the seriously injured one. How thankful I am that she was so protected. So blessed.

These pictures are not in order but you can get the gist of things.