Love Pulls You Through

This last Friday (the 9Th) my entire family got together for one last hurrah before my sister-in-law and here daughters flew home to Canada. My younger brother brought home his new sweetheart so she could mingle with the family. It was a night to be filled with games and laughter and for the most part it was.
At about 10 o'clock Jim and I were downstairs looking for a rule book for cards when we suddenly heard the thundering of something big falling. Jim and I jumped up to see if everything was okay. Crumpled at the bottom of the stairs we found my Aunt Jenny motionless. She was unresponsive and the color was already draining from her face. My sister was quickly by our sides checking for a pulse and breathing. We couldn't get Jenny to respond and she began to bleed from her ear. The boys quickly anointed and gave Jenny a blessing. After about 90 seconds Jenny began to come around, her color began to come back a little. She began rasping for air and was not completely coherent. She was able to communicate a few times through blinking before the paramedics arrived. We all watched hopeful as they carried Jenny away. We all knew the answer to the equation we just saw, but nobody wanted to believe it. (My Uncle Dave, his two sons Peter and Adam, My parents and My other Aunt Chrissy all followed the ambulance to the hospital)
Jim, my brother Michael, his girlfriend Elise and I all worked silently and steadfastly as we tried to remove the blood from the carpet. We were all processing, praying and pleading in our hearts that Jenny would be okay. I prayed that her mother and father would be with her and that her Savior would take this from her. I didn't realize that my prayer would be answered so soon. After a while my mother called from the hospital. It was bad news. Jenny had a few different options but none of them would truly save her. There was no recovery from this. Her head was fractured all over and her brain was swelling. The doctors implanted a gauge in her head to monitor the pressure. Following the procedure, once they got Jenny settled in the ICU my family would be able to see her two at a time. Half of my family waited in a waiting room in the hospital while the other half of us waited by the phone. Everyone was handling the situation differently. After a while Adam needed a break. He needed to disconnect from the stress of the picture for a while. Uncle Dave needed some time alone to think. Peter and Chrissy took a break and walked down to the coffee shop in the hospital for a change of scenery. Dave brought Adam home and was upon returning when the Doctors arrived. My Parents were the only ones present at the time, so they went in to see Jenny. They both held her hands and talked softly to her. Jenny was unconscious but my mother sensed that she was lingering. She told Jenny that it was okay. She could go. Everything would be okay. My dad sensed a smile from Jenny. Then the monitors began to beep. Jenny was leaving. My mother panicked, Dave wasn't hear yet! But he and Peter made it. They held her hands together. Dave leaned close to her while Peter whispered sweet things in her ear as she softly and peacefully slipped away. Jenny passed away sometime after 3 am. She was 51 years old and left behind and loving husband and two sons.
All night as I laid in my bed drifting in and out of sleep, I replayed the nights events unable to comprehend, to express what I felt or even how I should feel. My mother has been a beacon of love and joy and hope through this whole event. She is a rock. She so quickly is able to celebrate the joy which is now Jenny's. Jenny suffered a number of different immunal disorders including Lupus. She was chronically in pain and she had lost her eye sight 5 years earlier to glaucoma. She endured more than anyone I know and did it joyfully and full of faith. She was always happy, helpful and never complained. My mother expressed her happiness that now Jenny can see, she is no longer in pain and would no longer suffer and die slowly from the diseases attacking her body. She is having the reunion she longed for with her parents and is finally able to meet her older brother, Johnny. We sorrow because it was so sudden and we will miss her. We sorrow because Dave and her children will miss her. But she is not gone. Just absent for a season. As a family we have bound together and are lifting one another up. It's only been 24 hours and we have been able to already laugh and find joy in the love we share as a family. We will always miss Jenny, she will be with us always. She has left an impression on each of our hearts.
I am so grateful for the knowledge I have of the gospel of Jesus Christ. I know that I will see her and embrace her again. I know that she is happy and is with those who love her. I am so grateful that with each trial in my life I continually learn that love for one another and love and faith in Christ is the answer.