In the midst of a miracle...

What a privilege it is to watch a miracle unfold right before your eyes!  Hour by hour!  Even with all that you see, as rock solid evidence that something miraculous is happening, your mind has difficulty believing that everything is real!!  Nothing like a picture to prove my point. We left the day after Thanksgiving, on a Friday and returned home yesterday on a Thursday.  So in that 6 day time-frame  I saw her go from this...

Friday evening arrival

I just crawled into bed with her and she poured out her heart.  Jeanee took a sneak picture and I'm now glad she did. Dixie was telling me of her ER ordeal and how she wouldn't sign for hospice as it didn't feel right to her for this time...someday the time would be right but not now.

So that was a bit of a mix-up as all of that had to be straightened out paper-work wise.  My niece was there and she handled all of that and I just focused on Dixie.  You know that she and I go on a yearly sister trip so we had a house-bound sister trip.  Plus she had her own angel, my darling daughter, that she loves so much.  Dixie has flown to Florida, in the past, to spend time with Jeanee.  So the 3 of us love to be together.

She hadn't been eating and drinking but when we arrived her food-fest appetite returned.  She said she felt like she was eating her "last meal" as she requested Jeanee to make spaghetti and then it just escalated with her favorite meal requests.  Artichokes & king crab!!??  We laughed and visited and heard her whisper voice get stronger and stronger.

We reminisced over shared memories.  I read a letter from our mutual Alaskan high-school friend, Natalie, and we both had tears over her words.  (She and Dixie were cheerleaders all 4 years of high-school.  She sends her love and thanks, Natalie)  and we looked at endless recipe books!!  She collects recipe books and marks them with sticky notes.  She pretty much never cooks any of them but she marks dozens.

I took other pictures but can't figure out this new computer yet.  I copied the two pictures shared today!  I'll share mine later.

Sometimes in life you have to see something to believe it!!  plus you can't find words to express it!  That is how these last few days have been!  At first I did feel that she wouldn't live long.  I even wondered if she would die while I was there.  I spent one night crying about who-knows-what.  Thinking of missing her and then thinking of us singing a duo in the Baptist Church as girls- In the Garden.  The lyrics ran through my mind. I thought about our parents.  I thought about our Grandmother Clark...our Aunt Bonnie.  My mind flitted around and it was a sleepless teary night.

And then I saw her get stronger and more alive and more positive and it was so amazing!  Why on earth I didn't write down what I saw??!!  I do not know!!  Miracles all over the place!

It's winter storms right now and we never travel after Halloween.  And I stopped flying a few years back.  Miracle of miracles...my son-in-law, Scott wanted Jeanee to fly out and drive me over!!  And there was the miracle of the weather.  A one day opportunity that the storms ceased, the roads were great and we breezed along.  Same thing returning home!  One day clear, with storms coming in from both sides, and this lovely swath of a lane for our travel.  Fantastic!

I have to plug friendship...a best friend of mine offered us her sturdy vehicle, that would be better than my car, in inclement weather.  People are so kind and so good...Checking on Terry and dropping off food, including delicious banana bread last night!  I'm overwhelmed with the kindness of people.  So the weather coming and going was a miracle.

When we arrived Dixie's eyes had that cloudy look, when we left they were bright and alive looking.  Yes...she is still on oxygen 24/7.  Yes...she is limited in her walking ability as her oxygen level plummets.  Yes...she still requires 24/7 care.  BUT...she is getting stronger and more determined and she ended up happy and joyous.  Yes...she still has Interstitial lung disease  but she has been blessed with an extension perhaps?  a little reprieve?  she really wants to be independent again and not have 24/7 care.  She is fighting to bring that about.  Yesterday she got a motorized wheelchair and she is happy about that.  We have planned our next get-together for April 21.  Jeanee will fly in from Florida and I'll drive over.

I got my original desire...one last time of hugging her and visiting with her and laughing and sharing our hearts.  IF she should die anytime soon...I will have this most marvelous stupedous glorious memory...ever!  She said this visit surpassed any other we've had.  In part because Jeanee was there and they have such a speciallness in their Aunty/Niece relationship.

Thank you for your prayers and love!