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June 28, 2005
June 27, 10:30 PM
last night was the calmest night i believe that asher has had so far. even this morning, before we left for atlanta, he remained very calm. he was scheduled to leave around 9 AM, but at the last minute xrays were ordered by one of his doctors, and an ultra sound had to be done to check for blood clots in his legs. he had no clots, and the xrays were done. i think it was around 11 AM when we were finally able to leave. gloria rode in the ambulance and hadrienne and i drove up together.
the ambulance beat us to Shepherd, even though hadrienne and i left before they did. we stopped to eat lunch along the way and apparently we took longer than we planned. we had hoped to get there ahead of them.
when we did arrive we found that asher was already in his room and gloria was in there with him talking with his nurse, rose. soon after that there was more filling out papers and going over schedules and then we got to meet some of the team that will be working with him.
i just can't believe how absolutely wonderful everyone has been to us since we arrived. gloria said that when they pulled up in the ambulance a woman from admissions was already standing out in front to greet them and she knew that it was asher that was inside.
when rose, asher's nurse today was starting to give us a tour of the facility, we had just gone out into the hall outside of asher's room when she began to explain what asher's schedule would be like beginning first thing the next morning. she said the first thing they would do was to dress him in a t-shirt and shorts before they sat him up in a special wheel chair that would support his neck. as soon as she said that they were going to dress him first i just started to cry. when she saw me she said to me, in a comforting way that she knew that this was hard for us. fortunately, i was able to let her know fairly quickly that i was not crying because i was sad, i was crying because i was happy, that these were tears of joy. the thought of them getting him dressed after he has been lying in bed for 5 weeks with just a hospital gown on, as bizarre as it sounds, filled me with such incredible assurance for his being in the right place. and everything that we experienced throughout the rest of the day only increased that assurance. so much so, that gloria was able to say her goodbye's to asher tonight at 9 PM and to leave him without tears or hesitation. and the amazing thing is that they said that she was allowed to spend the night in the room with him if she wanted to. her response to that was that she had no worries or doubts what-so-ever about him being there without one of us spending the night. i can absolutely promise you that, in itself, is a miracle, and it will mean that gloria will be able (and me to) to begin to get some much needed rest, as well as to be relieved of some stress levels that are in need of some reducing.
another wonderful blessing that occured for us today was a very old and dear friend of mine, randal umberger, from my days of living just outside of atlanta years ago when i was still single, drove in from cummings, ga. where he lives now with his wife linda and 4 children, to spend a little time with us and to take us out to dinner. i can't tell you how wonderful it was to see a familiar face after arriving in atlanta today. it was truly a special gift from God for me and my family.
something else that happened today, was that as i was walking back through the main lobby of the hospital, i saw a plaque on the wall with the first 3 original board members that started the shepherd spinal center. i was so surprised to discover that i had known one of them. it was clark harrison, who was, himself a parapelegic. i know that most, if not all, of you don't have any idea who clark harrison was, but for several years of my life growing up he was a very well known person in my families life. it was during the late 60's when clark harrison was elected as the chairman of the dekalb county (georgia) commissioners. my family was living in athens, georgia at the time, when this happened, and clark harrison offered my father a job as his executive assistant (the equivalent of a county manager). my father accepted and so we moved to dekalb county where my father served in that postion for about 2 years before being offered a job back in savannah, georgia as city manager. which he accepted and remained in for about 25 years until he retired.
who would have ever imagined that this very wonderful man that i knew as a child would have played such an important role in helping to found the very place that God would lead us to in order to get help with our dear son. i even have a copy of a book that he wrote about his life (i found it among my dad's things after he died, along with several pictures of him with clark harrison back when he worked for him). perhaps one day asher will want to read it. his life's story is, without a doubt, a very inspiring one.
before i end this i wanted to share 2 more dreams with you about asher. one was a dream that gloria had yesterday morning and the other one was a dream that i had this morning. this was the first time that either of us has had a dream about asher.
in gloria's dream she was with asher in my mother's back yard (she lives next door to us on one side of our house and gloria's parents live on the other side), and he was walking and apparently completely fine. suddenly they were aware that there was a huge tornado coming. one that gloria said must have been larger than a category 5 if that were possible. at first they ran into my mother's garage for safety, but after going in they realized that it was above the ground and couldn't offer them any protection so they decided to go back outside and take their chances there. as soon as they went outside hadrienne and one of her friends joined them. so, there they were, all 4 of them standing there watching this massive tornado coming straight at them. just when it was almost upon them, and she knew that there was nothing that they could do to save themselves from it, it seemingly evaporated right before their eyes and was gone except for this light confetti like substance that fluttered around them for a while before also finally disappearing, and leaving them all completely safe.
my dream of this morning also involved asher, but it started out with just me and him in it. i had just taken him in to see a doctor in this clinic-like setting and i was carrying him in my arms because he was still in a coma and paralyzed. after talking to the doctor i took asher outside and all of a sudden he woke up and when i put him down he stood straight up and seemed to be perfectly fine. i can just remember being so excited and telling him that we had to go and see all of the people that had helped him out in the hospital so that they could see for themselves that he was alright now. after we did this we were back at home in our back yard and asher had gone off to do something else and i was sitting on the ground talking to gloria, who was standing a few feet away. while i was talking i looked down at my shoes and about half way up on the inside of my left one i noticed that there was a small round hole about the size of a nickle in it and inside the hole i noticed that there was something moving around in it. when i looked closer i realize that it was the head of a snake that kept sticking it's head up. i wasn't really afraid, but i also wasn't really comfortable with it either. so, i loosened my shoe string and patted the side of my shoe to get the snake out. after a few pats it finally slithered out onto the ground and crawled away into the grass. it looked like a coral snake, but i wasn't sure, so i asked gloria what kind of snake it was. she immediately said it was a coral snake and wanted to know if it had bitten me. i said i wasn't sure, but i would take off my shoe and look. as soon as i got my shoe off i saw 2 fang marks just below my ankle bone and said to gloria that we had better go to the hospital right away. when we got to the hospital gloria put me in a wheel chair and began to wheel me through the hospital towards the emergency room. this seemed strange to me that we were inside the hospital and no one was concerned about me, and that we were heading to the outside of the hospital in order to stand at the right door and ask for permission to come in to get help, but before we could get there the nurse came into asher's room and i woke up. the only other thing i can remember about this very strange hospital, which seemed to be the same hospital or clinic that i had taken asher to, was that it was very dirty and disorderly. i remember passing through this one room that i think was a nursery. the floor had sawdust on it and as we were passing through it the nurse said to me to take my shoes off and to leave them behind for the children to play with, so i did.
both of these dreams each seem to hold some significance for the present circumstances that me and my family are in and may be self evident just as they are without any need of further interpretation. whether they are or not is my prayer request to you that God would make this known if further understanding is needed or would be profitable.
finally, i learned a while ago that my mother nearly went into antiphallatic shock as a result of an allergic reaction to an antibiotic she took earlier today for an infection in her toe. it was so bad that an ambulance had to be called. fortunately she was able to get some benedryl and a shot of epinephren which seemed to stop the reaction from getting worse. thank goodness. she probably should have gone on to the hospital in the ambulance, but didn't. according to my converstion with her she was doing much better tonight. please pray that she doesn't have any more complications from the effects of this allergic reaction in the night. we are greatly relieved that gloria's sister-in-law, jan, is there with gloria's parents helping out and she was with my mother when this happened. she has continued to look in on her until earlier in the evening. my mother's close friend and neighbor, rebecca, has also been looking in on her and my step-dad, dick, as well. i would be very indebted for prayer for both of our parents while we are gone. both sets moved next door to us over the past 4 years so that we could be more help to them. obviously, right now that is not a possibility for us.
grateful beyond measure for your prayers throughout this day and night,
in His peace and assurance,
andy mendonsa
| By Andy Mendonsa | 12:27 AM
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Comments
This morning I saw a rainbow and my first thought was of Asher. Praise God for the progress that Asher is making and for the peace that comes from knowing that God keeps His promises.
Posted by: mrscrumley at June 28, 2005 07:57 AM
Very nice article by Trevor Higgins in the Chattanooga Times. We wish a rapid recovery and strength for your family.
Jason Walker
Posted by: Jason Walker at June 28, 2005 08:59 AM
if you are still in need of reliable transportation, i have a possible solution. you can contact me at (423) 756-5213. you remain in my first thoughts daily.
Posted by: lisa at June 28, 2005 10:43 AM
Hi, my name is Vriginia, i'm 18, and I go to Penny and Nelson Farr's church. I got an email from Penny about Asher and I want you to know that I am praying for you all. You have so much faith and that's awesome! these are times when we need him most. he is there to put his arm around us during our trials. i was diagnosed with a condition, Usher Syndrome, about 5 years ago. I asked God why? why me? i didn't understand. but then He spoke to me through a movie. i realized i was upset with God and blaming Him, not the right attitude! God has a plan for all of us. we may not understand certain things that we must go through but it all works according to His plans. God uses everything, good and bad, for the good! God is holding us close to HIs heart when we are hurting. And I learned from reading A Purpose Driven Life, that life is not about comfort, its about building our character. the trials that we go through, God uses to build our character and make us stronger. Know that your character is growing and that you are becoming stronger! I am praying for Asher and you all! God Bless.
Posted by: Virginia Jordan at June 28, 2005 12:11 PM
Give priase and thanks to god for all he is doing towards Asher. we still praying and all our churches and pastors are praying. god will raise him up. amen.
in him
N.usha kumari and family, india.
Posted by: N.Usha Kumari at June 28, 2005 11:03 PM
