Pinewood Castle

Requiescant in pace

The souls of two people people in our lives have passed on in recent weeks.

The first was my Uncle Jim, a quiet Irishman and father of six.

Here is an excerpt from his obituary that gives a glimpse into the kind of man my Aunt Virginia married 59 years ago:

Jim graduated from Bishop John Carroll High School and served in the U.S. Navy in WWII until August 20, 1946. He went on to graduate from Oklahoma State University in 1949. He was President and co-owner of Murphy and Perkins Ready Mix Concrete Company in OKC until 1992. Jim and Virginia were founding members of St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church and were extremely active in the Parrish. He was very proud of his service as an Extraordinary Minister of the Eucharist. Jim was also a charter member of the Christian Family Movement and participated actively in the civil rights movement, sponsoring refugee families and delivering mobile meals.

He was the most loving husband, caring father and best grandpa and papa anyone could ever have.

He was the best of men.

The second was our violin teacher who was hospitalized with leukemia for most of the summer. We had only completed one year of study with her, but it was the best year since beginning three years ago. The children made enormous progress under her tutelage and I especially enjoyed the stern but loving grandmotherly way she had with the children.She knew exactly when to challenge, when to compliment and when to smile. Having been a mother of 7, she was infinitely patient with having our toddler in the lesson room!

Here are some excerpt from her Caring Bridge website:

Nedra Layne is a deeply-loved wife, mother of seven children, grandmother of 17 with two more on the way and her first great-grandchild soon to come.

A lover of music, Nedra has taught Suzuki violin and piano for decades, instilling an appreciation for music in hundreds over the years.

She is known as a great teacher both of music and of other subjects, whether that be English, which she once taught in school, Sunday School, or coaching her children and grandchildren through various subjects in school over more than 30 years.

She is known for her quick wit, sense of humor, and spunk.  There is always laughter when Nedra is in the room. She is also known for her service and generosity to others.

She has led the choir in her church for more than 20 years. In fact, she led the choir in church the day before she was admitted to the hospital.

I found this passage touching:

Mom's music lesson money rarely makes its home with Mom. Instead, she chooses to spend it on her children and grandchildren for their music lessons, medical needs and more.

Here's the part that really made me tear up:

Over the last six weeks he sang her to sleep, and Silent Night was part of the nightly repertoire. Dad leaned over the bed and embraced her and told her that he knew he was lucky to marry her, but that he could not believe his good fortune in having her as his bride . . . Dad told her, "You can go sweetheart. I’ll let you go now."

Her husband is university music professor and is about as quiet as my Uncle Jim was, but large and bearded and always makes me think of Johannes Brahms when I see him.

Mrs. Layne, we will miss you!

Prayers at Work

Dancer, "Has anyone commented about my 350 degree fever?"

Me, "Yes, people have been praying for you after your 106 degree fever!"

Many thanks are in order for your prayers this week for Dancer's quick recovery. The doctor thought she might have a fever for five days but she only had one for one day after beginning the antibiotic. I continue to pray that no damage was done by the high fever and that other symptoms of Lyme's do not visit my daughter's little body. Enough is enough.

Lesson learned: check for ticks every day because the ticks in our neighborhood carry Lyme's. The dad and his three of his four boys next door have had it. Another dad around the corner had it and ended up in the hospital with meningitis. Now the media tells us we have to be looking for these new striped-legged mosquitoes that carry encephalitis! Yikes!

God has been sending me consolations after bouts of difficulty with prayer. One instance occurred two weeks ago during Mass when the kneeler landed on my toe. Yes, the same toe I broke in April. The fierce protection I have developed of that toe was evidenced by the loud yelp that came out of my mouth. The brass and timpani did not mask the yell that resounded in the dome of this big Bavarian styled Church of St. Agnes. Then I remembered that there was a row of nuns sitting a few pews behind us. I was most embarrassed!

Turns out that having nuns behind you at such a time is a good thing. I apologized afterwards to them, explaining about my recently broken toe. Somehow they instinctively knew that the yelp was kneeler induced and prayed for the victim whose toe was most likely crushed. Well, miracle of miracles - my toe was scraped but otherwise unhurt.

Deo Gratias!

More Prayers Please

I'll have my nurse's hat on this week. Dancer seems to have contracted Lyme's from last week's tick although tests are not accurate until a month has passed. Even after starting an antibiotic yesterday she spiked a delirious 106 degree fever last night. She is feeling better today but the doctor expects she may have a mild fever for the next five days. We are praying for the intercession of St. Gianna to speed her recovery.

Please Pray

In my inbox this morning -

The Hansen Family

We'd ask that you keep one of the conference speakers, Diane Hansen, and her family in your prayers.  After Diane's presentations on Saturday, she returned home to St. Cloud.  Later that evening, her husband, Hank, died of a heart attack.  Please pray for Hank and the entire Hansen family. Funeral details can be found here.

More Good News for Baby John to Pass Along!

He's off the meds for his blood pressure, and he was baptized today.
LIZ

A New Update from my Friend

Hello all.  Thank you for your prayers; they are surely helping.  I talked to my sister last night.  She sounds good and Baby John's heart is now working on its own.  He is still on a ventilator and his heart still has some issues ... one step at a time.  Some new pictures from the ICU are on the blog.  http://ladamasinverguenza.blogspot.com/  Again, sincere thanks for all your prayers.

 

Anne Marie

Prayer Request Update

On Saturday night my sister said Baby John made it thru surgery and they would keep him on life support for 24 hours before trying to see if everything would work on its own.  On Sunday night she said he was still on life support in a room full of machines and they had not closed his chest, probably in case they had to do further surgery.  The doctors said they had never seen anything quite like his condition.   She said it would be a couple days before they tried to remove the life support.  She was able to laugh a little about the team of three nurses it takes to change his dirty diapers.  We compared it to a NASCAR tire change!  So, he's hanging in there and in good hands at Duke University.  Here is a link to my sister's blog which has a few pictures of "Jack Jack" before he was taken to the ICU.

 

http://ladamasinverguenza.blogspot.com/

 

Thank you for your continued prayers.
 

Anne Marie

Prayer Request

From a friend's email:

"My sister, Liz, who lost her daughter Julianna back in 2007, just had a baby boy last night -- John Isaiah Hernandez, 8lbs 4oz.  She just called to tell me baby John is in the ICU and will be undergoing four hours of open heart surgery today.  Some veins between his heart and lungs did not form correctly.  PLEASE pray for baby John, my sister and her family and for the medical team performing the surgery.  Thank you."

Please Pray

Please pray for the soul of a former music professor of mine who was found dead in his car on Wednesday. He was my woodwind quintet coach during my grad school days at the University of Iowa. I remember him as the best of professors - always funny, full of stories, encouraging, nurturing and professional. I am in total shock after reading the events surrounding his death as reported here by the Cedar Rapids Gazette.