Dear Linda.....

Dear Linda, Well you are on the mend and won’t likely read this for several days but what happened just emphasizes in my mind how you are so important to me. Until a challenge comes along, I don’t think we always know how we will react or how we will cope. Out of suffering comes great revelations about a person’s character and you were no different through all of this. You handled these challenges with grace and yes perhaps a little anxiety at times but even at your lowest point, the humor and sparkle never left those eyes.

During the cancer period, you were strong, had a great attitude that it was not going to beat you and just pushed through it with a smile, much more of a smile than I could muster I must add. That was difficult for me in various ways but even this recent health challenge was different. As much as we think we know God’s plan, or at least have an impact on his plan, an event like this taught me once again, that every moment is precious. (and fleeting) The last minute of your life you took to read this you cannot get back. While that certainly cannot be disputed, the older I get the more I realize how finite those minutes are or can be. The reason the statement, “youth is wasted on the young” is the very point I am trying to make. In our youth time is but a vehicle to get us from one place to the next. When we get older we realize how precious that vehicle really is and how blessed we are to have enough time in this world to make a difference.

So all indications are you will be getting out of the hospital soon. This event cemented in stone how much you mean to me and how important it is that we go on together for years to come to make the very most of those minutes we each have left in this world. Money and things are temporary….love, although not as popular a concept these days, is forever. I am blessed to have my best friend be by my side. Events like this drive the point home.

So I am very happy to be able to see the light at the end of the tunnel with your recent malady and, as I always do, wait in eager anticipation of your return home. One more thing…you should know, as I’m sure you do, that you have an extended Facebook network of friends and family who have been praying for you since this began. Along with Facebook, you have a huge contingency of Methodists and Episcopalians that are also praying for you and helping you through this. All of these people only strengthen my resolve and all of the prayers truly lift you up above these challenges. So be as grateful as I am that these people both near and far have been with you every step of the way!

My name may be Peter but YOU are truly my rock.