I stopped by St. Vincent's hospital on my way home from work today. A friend of many years has been there at her husband's bedside for two weeks. These are not elderly people - both in their 50's (you know, the new '30!'). Anyway, her husband was stricken with an aortic aneurysm two weeks ago, out of the blue. He actually had two aortic ruptures, and so the fact that he is still with us on this side of forever is quite miraculous. Just as he was ready to go home this week, he had to have another open heart surgery. Two in two weeks. Wow! The doctors still say his prognosis is good, since he has survived the worst of it - most people do not survive the first event. He's in good hands with the cardiac team at St. V's.
My friend is Odette, and she is an interesting person in her own right - a tiny frenchwoman by birth, was raised by nuns in an orphanage in Brittany, France and is a dynamo of faith. I am amazed at her strength. As we had a salad bar in the hospital cafeteria this evening while her husband had (once again) the hands of angels on his heart, she was so amazingly calm, was dressed nicely, pearls on her throat. I told her I would have been in a burlap sack and barefoot. She said that her husband was encouraged by seeing her nicely dressed. She also said that God and his angels were holding her up.
But she also added, in her sweet heavy french accent, "When zees is all ovehr, I am going to go on a bendehr" [when this is all over, I'm going to go on a bender].
I told her to call me. I'll go there with her.
If thoughts are prayers, send some her way.
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