Thanksgiving Day

Dear Family and Friends,

Thanksgiving day was a very quiet and uneventful day.

I am very thankful that we are all safe and sound. Warren spent his thanksgiving  with Grandma in Florida. Howie came home and was able to spend sometime with his mom. Howie got stuck in bad traffic on his way back to Birmingham, But  is safely back in his dorm. Warren is also safely back in NYC. 

I spent my entire day with the love of my life, my Miriam. What a blessing to see her and be with her. I talked to her and prayed with her. I continue to encourage her and try my best to lift her spirit. I always give her lots of hugs and kisses. Around 6pm, Howie and I had Thanksgiving Day dinner with Jason, Susan, Amanda and Justin. Susan has been visiting Miriam frequently and so has Vilma. Miriam has so many friends who love her and pray for her. Thank you all very much. I know Miriam would love to thank all of you personally but she remains unable to. Please take many rain checks from her. She loves all of you very much and she is trying her best to recover. 

The day prior, a dear friend from Costco came to visit Miriam with her two children. Susan was here and said Miriam tried to talk to her. As her friend said a special prayer for her, Miriam became very emotional. I am quite certain Miriam was trying to thank her and probably wanted to give her a hug. She couldn't. 

Below are some notes left in her guestbook written on 11/25/2011:

1.  Miriam, I love you very much! I pray for you often. I cannot wait until we can go to Big Rosie's again for lunch - just us 2! I have hope and faith that God delivers miracles. You, dear, are truly a lovely woman. I actually found some early photos of you and your boys with us from many years ago that I will bring! I hope it cheers you up! God bless you.   N.

2.  Miriam! I'm so glad that I got to visit you before I go back to college. I have faith and hope that you will pull through this. You are such a beautiful, kind, caring woman, and you will be in my prayers. I will always remember that time you and your family were so warm to invite me, my mother, my dad and "C" to your beautiful house in Hampton Cove. I still have pictures for memories. May God bless you.  J.

3.  Hello Miriam. I'm so glad I could come and visit you today! I have so many wonderful memories of the time you had my mother, father, "J", and I over for a dinner at your home. When I think of you, I see a strong, beautiful, loving mother, friend and woman. I pray for you and a successful recovery. I remember I ran into you and your sweet mother at Stein Mart before Christmas last year and I still remember the warm and sweet comfort you embraced me with. I will come back and visit. May God bless you always. I love you very much.  "C".

4. Miriam, my mom and I came to visit you today while I'm visiting for Thanksgiving. It was so good to see you again. I have fond memories of going out for lunch together and catching up. You always brightened my day. I remember the last time we went to lunch and you told me that it's important that the guy I date treats me like a princess. The guy I was dating then was not like that and we broke up shortly thereafter and I have since found a wonderful guy who really does treat me like a princess and makes me very happy. Thank  you for the good advice!.  love, "C".

Skype has been a tremendous blessing to us. We are able to group Skype video so Miriam is getting auditory and visual stimulations. 

The mild increase in Baclofen  has also improved her muscle tones in her lower extremities. This is according to her occupational therapist's opinion. She should know since she has been taking care of her since March of this year.

Thank you prayer warriors. We continue to wait for Miriam's functional recovery.

In His Time,

Dad/Alex

10 Months since Jan 4th

Dear Family and Friends,

 Miriam is being transitioned to maintenance therapy i.e. OT and PT are being handed over to the Restorative CNAs. Without progress in PT and OT, they feel it is unethical for them to continue. So this past week, I have been observing the director of OT  training the Restorative CNAs. It has been a learning experience for me too. I took some video recording for family to learn how to take care of her.

When mom and Doris were here last week, Miriam   attempted to laugh at funny stories and Skype conversations. She did that 3 days in a row. As a reminder to all of us and her visitors, Miriam hears and understands our conversation. Talk to her and keep encouraging her. Keep her updated on your family. She remembers all of you. Don't be discouraged when she attempts to make some sounds. One day, God will restore her speech.

Keep on praying and believing. Mark 11:24  Jesus speaking:  " Therefore I tell you,whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it and it will be yours."

In His Time,

Dad Alex

A Rainbow- God's Promises

Mike received news of how A.Miriam was laughing yesterday , this is his response:-

Amazing, just amazing! Yesterday Nikki snapped this photo of a rainbow. The quality of the photo doesn't do it justice. Following a massive downpour of wind and rain, this rainbow stretched out across the sky and captivated everyone's attention. I immediately thought of God's promise to Noah, and how he is always faithful to deliver on those promises. I began to go thru all the promises that our CREATOR made to us- it's really interesting to think that the God of the Universe made so many promises to us and it is comforting to know that he ALWAYS follows thru. 

Take a minute to look at all the promises. This website lists just a few and has a nice song to help reinforce that. Promises of God

Auntie Miriam- we are so happy to see you smiling and laughing, we continue to pray for you everyday!! :)

Uncle Alex- we are always praying!

Mike, Nikki, Allie

Letters to Miriam

Dear Miriam and Alex,

If we still lived in Knoxville, I would definitely come and visit you often. For now, we can only pray for you daily. Each time we see Alex' email it gives us much encouragement and hope. Thank God for Alex's faith in God; it is an encouragement and allows us to learn faith hope and love.

Do you remember when you visited us in Vancouver in 2004? Miriam gave me a watch. I think of you every morning when I put on my watch and I pray for you. In 1988 when you came to Knoxville Warren was only one year old. We came to your house every week for aerobics. Then you moved to Westmoreland and often invited us for BBQ dinner. You would take me to new restaurants as a treat and never let me pay.

We remember when Howie was born. Kids grow so fast. Both of your sons are smart, polite, kind and love God. You raised them with good values; they are two outstanding young men. When Howie left for college, he told his mom that he would never leave God....this touched my heart.Such a God-loving son must be blessed by God.

We had a period of good fellowship until you moved to Huntsville in 2000. Sometimes we still conversed by phone but you never let me make the long distance calls because you didn't want me to spend money. You are always considerate of others.Even though my English is poor, you were always patient with me.Mrs Huang stayed with you and you always told me how Alex loved his mother-in-law and both your sons honored their grandmother. You told me how Alex loved you and the boys and is a very good husband, but I know you love them even more. You washed and ironed Alex's shirts. Your house was always neat. You are such a good daughter, wife mother and friend. You often took care of us when we were sick and were always concerned about us. We thank God for friends like you and Alex.

You told me that Alex has a meeting in Seattle in 2013 and that you would visit at that time. We still look forward to your visit in 2013. Although both of our families have had hardships this year, we have also experienced God's Grace. We continue to lean on God.We often pray for Alex knowing that he is busy and tired with working and caring for you and the boys. It cannot be easy but we see his steadfast faithfulness and it is an encouragement.

Let us pray for each other.

May God Bless You

Love, Doris and Frank

Hi ‘te Miriam my feisty cousin ,

 

Its me Dennis. It's been so long. But I have to tell you that a part of you is in me.  I’d really like for you to know your stay in Wack Wack  was a very important part of my life. You stayed long enough to teach me to learn to love making music. Along with confidence and sticking to what you believe.

 

I feel you, somehow I’ve felt paralyzed all my life. Only my daughter and wife is saving me. I would not know what to do should something happen to them.

I have to try to become a new person for Dana and Ann . I have to forget old habits and learn from experience. It takes time and practice. Just like a baby learning to walk again. Just like learning the piano. It takes practice, practice , practice.

I used to watch you play the keyboards/piano. I’ve watched when you practice playing piano just for the sake of it, putting in the hours ( but still seeking perfection) and playing lovely as ever...however,  I wait for those special times you play with such passion and emotion , I just knew that not only will there be no mistakes but you were somewhat in a different place.  You would close your eyes sometimes and just keep playing, and the notes just keep coming out right, as if it were not you playing the piano but the piano playing you  . You did not seem to be playing to win anymore, you seemed to be playing as if you had already won....anyway I told myself ‘practice’ if you want to play like that.

I stopped playing the piano after the music left Wack Wack. It really was a sad time. Never touched a keyboard since, always wondering the what if. But my daughter rekindled the interest. I envied the joy you must feel in giving that much, being able to play like that.  I wanted to share that with Dana. 

 It was awkward at first. I had forgotten all the pieces and I never really learned to read...

So I practiced and practiced.

 

Now we  (Ann, Dana and I) spend more quality time on the keyboards, concentrating on the love for the sound and the loving to play will follow.  Now I can say I can play. We have fun side by side making our own music. Dana can read a bit (though formal training is still a must someday).  I’ve learned, and the hard work was worth it.

 

Now I understand where and when  you were during those times you seemed ‘somewhere else’. Sometimes it’s as if you were not the one playing . Dare I say the Holy Spirit takes over sometimes. I guess we can do that with anything we do....but practice, practice, practice...

 

You didn’t just teach me music ‘te Miriam, it was much more and it became a part of me I like. I’ll forever thank you for that. Now I’ll pass it on to my daughter. You have a lot of people who love you very much ‘te Miriam. Keep practicing!

Love always,

Dennis

Testimony of Alex

The following is an article written by Alex in 1994 for the Knoxville Chinese Church Annual Book.
 It is his testimony:

Thank You Lord!

I was not born into a Christian family, but I met Miriam who gave me the gospel tract "Have you heard of the Four Spiritual Laws?". People would give me gospel tracks, I accepted them but would quietly throw them in the trash. I remember hearing people getting saved say "I found it! " but like Nicodemus, I did not understand the words "born again". Because of God's grace, Miriam asked me to read the Four Spiritual Laws when I could read it quietly without distraction. I got SAVED the night I read the tiny powerful gospel tract. My outlook in life changed completely. I had joy and inner peace. My group of friends changed. I enjoyed reading the Bible everyday. God provided me friends that helped me grow spiritually. Friends, who had many trials and blessings in their lives, were living testimonies of God's awesome power and love. I have seen God completely heal people with serious illnesses through prayer. I have seen God stop the wind and rain for approximately five minutes so that a missionary plane (who flew in by faith despite the storm) could have just enough time to land and pick up a Christian patient. Yes, God is Creator of all things visible and invisible. He is a powerful living God.

Recently, I had surgery of a chronic problem due to scarring from previous surgery. It was difficult but I thank God for all your prayers because this gives me the opportunity to share Jesus Christ with my unsaved sister in the Northeast. I was able to answer her questions about Christianity. I cannot save my sister but God can and He will in His own time and place as He promised the jailer in Acts16:31.


Now Alex and Miriam and the boys are enduring a terrible storm and it is only the strength that comes from our Lord, and your prayers,  that is sustaining them. Please continue to pray fervently for healing for Miriam and for encouragement daily for Alex and the boys.

As Alex wrote in his testimony 17 years ago, our God is a God of miracles and we pray , expecting a miracle for Miriam.

God Bless,
Sally

Tuesday Oct 11th

Dear Family and Friends,

Mom/Miriam had a bigger smile this past weekend when I was on Skype with grandma. The smile was triggered by a trivial event which makes it terrific. She actually listens to our conversation and is able to process them. So Praise the Lord for that encouraging reaction. 

In terms of functional recovery, we are still quite far from there.  So, please continue to pray for functional recovery. Pray for quick healing of her right external ear canal - I cleaned her right external ear canal and accidentally scraped her skin and caused her to bleed. I have started her on an Otic suspension. Pray that she doesn't get an ear infection. I had my flu shot last week and she got hers the other day. 

Thank you very much Susan and Vilma for your frequent visits. Miriam knows and appreciates both of you very much. Thank you also to all of you have sent her emails, cards, visited her and left notes in the guest book. I read them to her. Please feel free to respond in her blog. I also read them to her. The "little notes" may seem trivial. They are not. She needs to know and hear from her friends.

In His Time,
Alex

A Message For Auntie Miriam-Sept 30th

Uncle Alex,

I thought that you might be able to read a message to Auntie Miriam for me... I do miss her and pray for her often. I also pray for you- that God will continue to give you strength and courage as you wait for His healing in Auntie Miriam's life. Just thought you should know that you have always been such a wonderful example and encouragement to me.

Auntie Miriam,

I have been thinking about you a lot lately and remembering many fun memories with you... I remember when our family took a vacation to see all of you in Knoxville... I remember watching the Last Emperor with Warren climbing all over Michael and me. We went fishing at the "crazy cricket" (or something like that) ( Jonathan, it was the Cross-Eyed Cricket!!), and I remember going to an all-you-can-eat ribs place for dinner. I also remember playing the piano with you. You taught Michael how to play James Bond, and you taught me how to play Indiana Jones. That is still one of my favorite vacations of all time!

Of course, I have plenty of fond memories of visiting you while I was at the Naval Academy... playing violin with my parents, eating lots of great food, going to the gym to play basketball, and just spending time with all of you. I always looked forward to seeing you guys- it was such a welcome rest and time of refreshment.

I'm looking forward to the day when I can introduce you to Kai... he is such a little character. He has a ton of energy and a wonderful personality. Eliana is growing up much too quickly- she started Kindergarten this year. Suzanna and I are settling in to Glendora... it will take me about 2 1/2 more years to finish seminary, and then I am hoping to become a chaplain in the Navy. But we are enjoying a lot of time with my parents while we are here.

I miss you, I love you, and I am praying for a full recovery.

Love, Jonathan