welcome

My great uncle is in the hospital right now. He collapsed two weeks ago at home, my great aunt called the paramedics, and they revived him. Since then he has been slowly dying. My aunt has been by his side constantly. They are the closest things I've had to grandparents since I was 21. He is 85, she is a bit younger. They have been married for fifty-seven years. Fifty-seven. They go to church every single day, and he has been active in the church community for years. He even goes in to count the collection money each day. They have great faith.

I finally got to the hospital today. I've been waiting until Hubs could be home with Daughter so I could go alone. I couldn't believe it when I saw my uncle in the bed and my aunt sitting next to him, holding his hand. He was a Marine, over 6 feet tall, and she was a teeny beauty, about 4 foot 11. Now he looks helpless as a child, and she just looks so tired.

They have three children and eleven grandchildren. Just about all of them have been here, and they had Thanksgiving at the hospital yesterday. All are preparing to say goodbye.

I only stayed in the room for a few minutes, it was all I could bear. I hugged my aunt and she said, "God sure is working strange these days, isn't He?" And then I told her that it's ok, he is going to be with Beth, to rock her and hold her, to watch over my baby for me. We were both crying, and she said this:

"And do you know what she's going to say to him? She's going to say, Welcome."