Wednesday, April 22, 2009

I married into this family...

We are getting almost daily email reports on the oldest and the youngest/newest on my husband's side of the family. I try to be careful to forward the emails and news on to Bob. But, he is already on the lists for his uncle.

In his nineties, Bob's uncle has lived alone for a few years now. Sadly, they used the word "dementia" this time after he fell in his back yard, and got bruised up and dehydrated. He had a call thingy around his neck, but did not have a clear enough mind to use it. He has been transferred from the hospital now to the rehab/nursing home. He was there once before. It is a pretty nice facility. But, it has to be confusing to him.

The newest in the family is also on Bob's side of the family---five pounds, nine ounces born on Saturday morning at 2:08am. The doctor wants to keep her hospitalized because she was three or four weeks early. They are monitoring her breathing, temperature, and something else. But, she is not on oxygen.

I can't help but wonder, ponder, marvel at the contrast. Bob's uncle has lived a full, wonderful life. He is tired. He is ready to go home to heaven. God has a perfect time for that homecoming. And oh, what a wonderful reunion it will be with his wife, and siblings and parents.

Dear Heavenly Father, I pray for Uncle Bill. Please give him a clear mind, and peace, and help him to be good until the end. You have a perfect time to call him home. Please bless all the nurses and doctors and workers that come in contact with him. I pray that they are patient, gentle, and alert to what he needs. Please bless his daughter and sons and their families as they seek Your Will. And for this newest to the clan, please strengthen her, bless her new parents, and give wisdom to the nurses and doctors who have contact with Karen. Please let her go home to that apartment with her parents and show them exactly how to parent little Karen physically, emotionally, and spiritually. Hers may be a life on a mission field far away with her folks. Please bless her and keep her safe. You have a perfect plan for her life, too. Over ninety years stretch between these two---Uncle Bill and great-great niece Karen. I am sorry Uncle Bill may not remember being told about her. And I am sorry little Karen will only know him by stories. But, I hope someday, someone tells her how her Great-Great Uncle Bill used to pray for all their nieces and nephews by name. Every day. Every. day. Since Bob's Mom died, or maybe before that, Aunt Mary and Uncle Bill adopted the nieces and nephews spiritually, and prayed for them. Now those nieces and nephews are grandparents. What a wonderful spiritual heritage. What a wonderful example Uncle Bill has given us. Please help us to be so faithful. In Jesus name. Amen.

Lists added in the comments section. What a clan!

9 comments:

Triplet303 said...

AMEN to your note! I join in your prayer for Uncle Bill and Little Karen.

Bob said...

If we're gonna pray for them all, I gotta either get a better memory or a smaller family.

joyce said...

Do you suppose Uncle Bill and Aunt Mary's list looked like this???:

Marion Rae and Roy
Judy
Betsy
Todd
Mary and Duke
Bill and Kathy
John and Alicia
Joel and Mona
Roy and Sally
Bob and Joyce
Charlie
Bart and Janice
Bonnie and Bill
Beth
Barbara and Jerry
Gena
Dana and Patti

joyce said...

There are more I don't know, but here is the great-greats list: And what is fun about this list, is it starts in the year 2000....of cousins that may never be in the same room/yard/church together but, in heaven...let us pray they get to know each other real well because they all share a set of great-greats, Aunt Mary and Uncle Bill that prayed for their parents and grandparents by name. every. day. for years. Can we do less?

Elijah
Joshua
Mary Elena

Mary Carol
William
Robert

Jacob
Clara
Josiah

Karen (the newest!)

Isaiah
Zeke

Grant

Abigail

Treavor
Tobias (Toby)
Adain
stepsister Jordan

Please let me know if I have misspelled someone's name.

joyce said...

There is one more. The greats. I know Aunt Mary and Uncle Bill met most of them. And were Grandma and Grandpa to five. And there are holes in my list. But this MIGHT have been their list, or maybe Aunt Mary and Uncle Bill prayed by family group. I don't know.

Phillip
Steven
Cathy
David and Leah
Dough and Lisa
Paul and Meaghan
Kristi
Jeffrey and Jennifer
Jomona
Clarissa and Andy
Carolyn
Joel and Alegria
Rachel and Dan
Martin
Nathan and Claire
Scott
Ted
Andy and Lauren
James (engaged to Amber)
Ben
Gisela
Will
Jessica and Rik
Jonathan


cousins all. scattered across the country. some still in college. They range in age from 50 to 18. One or two might even be grandparents already because I know Cathy had a baby when we lived in El Paso over thirty years ago. Correct me if I am wrong.

Three of these are my sons. And Aunt Mary and Uncle Bill always showed great interest in their lives. Thank you Uncle Bill and Aunt Mary for being such great examples and for helping me understand how everyone was related when I married into this clan.

joyce said...

Once upon a time, at the turn of the century--

William Roy met and married Lena

Clarence married Ruth

After WWII, two of William and Lena's sons married two of Clarence and Ruth's daughters... Joe and Clara, Bill and Mary

eleven double cousins resulted

Anonymous said...

Wow this is an amazing list. I will have to e-mail you and find out who some of these people are. What a privledge to be part of this family. This is #10 on the greats:-)--Clarissa

joyce said...

you are related to EVERYONE on these lists, PLUS more that Aunt Barbara sent me that are grandchildren of Marion Rae and Judy.

I'll be glad to share my charts and lists!

joyce said...

If you put the list of the older cousins next to your generation of cousins, and then the younger list beside that to the right, you can kind of see how everyone is related, too.