Sometimes Unscripted Moments are God Moments

Anniversary Gift Created By Our Daughter

Monday, July 31, was our 46th anniversary and the day Stew was to come home from a five day hospital stay. It was going to be a double celebration day. That is not what happened.

Early that morning Stew woke up not feeling well, hurting, and his levels not where they needed to be. The extra steroids and fluids were having their effect also as he looked a little like a smaller version of a sumo wrestler with the swelling in his face and stomach. Because the toxicity of one of the chemos had to be totally flushed out of his system before going home and wasn't, we were told Stew would have the privilege of being a guest of the hospital at least one more night.

One celebration temporarily delayed.

But, not the other.

That evening we decorated the room with balloons, his hospital tray with a tablecloth, and enjoyed one of his favorite foods; calamari from the Pho restaurant.

The nurses on his floor knew it was our anniversary because he used it to try and convince the doctor to let him go home. 😉 We received best wishes from them and questions about how we met. Each person that came into his room made us feel as though they were truly celebrating with us.

Yet, the best gift was yet to come.

When the shifts changed, our night nurse told us she heard it was our anniversary and asked what we liked to do to celebrate. We shared with her that we enjoyed dancing together in our living room or on our back patio under the stars. We told her we had tried with "IV" but she didn't cooperate very well. Our nurse smiled and said, " I think we can give you that dance."

So, when it was time to change the empty IV bag for a new one, she disconnected Stew from the pump, told us she would wait five minutes to connect the new one, and left the room so we could dance.

Which is exactly what we did.

For a few precious moments it was just Stew and I. No cancer. No hospital room. No decisions to be made. No tomorrow. Just time standing still as we held each other close...our feet slowly moving to the music that had been "our songs" for years. He even softly sang to me as we danced. It was a moment tinged with sadness, yet filled with so much joy.

It was a God gift given to us through the kindness of a caring nurse.

It was our best anniversary yet.

So thankful.

Stew and Deb

P.S. Thank you for the texts and anniversary cards we received. You made our hearts smile

Calamari with a graham cracker and peanut butter dessert

Maybe we need a class on how to take good selfies

"IV" is a Steelers' fan

Blessed