Grief

It's been a hard week or 2 here at the Meissler household...

Our family's favorite pediatrician, Dr. Lewis Purnell, died after a sudden illness (sarcoma, a cancer of the soft tissue), and we were kind of blind-sighted by the whole ordeal, as the last time we were in was the week after Memorial Day when David hurt his toe. His illness was brief, 44 days, and we all attended his funeral this past Saturday. Our only regret is not having been able to offer some comfort to him, after the many hours he shared in comforting us during our time as his patients.

He was a Godly man, who truly lived his vocation and used it as a witness to and of Christ. He always took the time to treat each of our children as the individuals they are, and never failed to address each and every one as if they were his most important patients. He is and will be forever missed!

One of the illustrations Dr. Purnell asked to be shared by his pastor while speaking with him before he died was to have all the children present at the funeral to take a deep breathe in and out, and to remember that in that one simple breath, God was there, even without our thinking about it. Craig added to this in his message this past week by quoting that "God is with us always", even in our darkest moments - He isn't ignoring us as we suffer through illness, uncertainty and war, but rather, He can't take His eyes off of us, so great is His love for us, and it is important to remember we are descendants of Adam, thus sinful beings of free will whom God loves even beyond our faults.

The void the death of Dr. Purnell leaves is limitless...but I take comfort in the words of St.Paul who wrote "to live is Christ, to die is Gain" and the reminder that the last breathe we take on earth is exhaled in Heaven. As Dr. Purnell said himself, "I will soon be sitting on the lap of Jesus". To have such faith!

As if that weren't enough, I have been having erratic blood pressure issues, and muscle spasms on the left side of my body from my neck, back, chest, shoulder and in a straight line down my left arm. I've been into the urgent care clinic twice, and my family doctor once. I am scheduled for imaging on my neck, a visit to a cardiologist and a complete blood workup this upcoming week. The weirdest part about all of this is that I feel physically fine, sans muscle spasms, so I'm a bit baffled by genetics...

Another development this next week is that I/we begin caring for Baby Noah, who has every single Meissler wrapped around his little finger! Truly, he's THAT cute....the only 'wild card' is Mia, who will hopefully not be too jealous of him:-).

So...that's where our hearts have been...many other hurdles have been overcome, like a dishwasher hose leaking water halfway into our living room (it would have to be the newest appliance, right?), and seeing the sweet yet heartbreaking growth of babies Jolie and Michael during their visit. It is HARD having family so far away (!), esp. when this visit had to accommodate Auntie Nia as Uncle Lurch (there is NO other way to describe it!)

More on the next week as time becomes (or is made) available.

Love Much,
The Meissler 7