The Shallow End

Prayer Request for an Old Friend

You don't know him, but prayers would be a most welcome Christmas gift for an old friend of mine, Mark, whom I just learned (via the friend who is responsible for sending the picture of me sporting a viking helmet and tableau which you have all seen by now...in fact, the "brunch" tableau in the photo belonged to Mark who was a party to the silliness we were all so engaged in at the time...we all enjoyed many a Sunday brunch together back in the 1980's) suffered a brain anneurism in April and is miraculously still alive but without many of his faculties. He still cannot speak but appears to be able to understand people talking to him. Doctors say it is a miracle he is alive and even more miraculous that he continues to improve. On Monday of this past week, he had a shunt put in his brain to relieve fluid build up. He is married with two little girls, 2 & 8. It is times like these when we look around at the friends and family we know and love and thank God for the blessings we do have and recognize that at any moment, we may find ourselves in a much different situation. I am sure Mark had a long list of things he would like to experience with his wife and daughters as they grow up and now, that list has been drastically rewritten, but not erased. There is hope and there is life and with your help, I have faith that Mark will live to see a brighter day.

Such is the strangeness of blogging, one minute linking to a post in reference to what is on my desk, the next linking to the very same post in reference to such a tragedy. The ties that bind are often strange indeed.

posted by Gwynne @ 10:57 AM