A visit from our Pastor

 "Mark and I pray for Miriam all the time. She is such a special lady. Everyone that knows her, loves her.
We love your family and pray for all of you!"

November Update

Dear Family,

Miriam has had very little progress. She remains more wakeful and for prolonged periods at a time. A few weeks ago, her Knoxville, TN Women's BSF leader came by to see her with her daughter Amy. Patti felt prompted by the Lord to see Miriam and she didn't know why. I told her that God wanted to send a message to Miriam and our family that HE knows. That was very reassuring. Miriam gave Patti and her daughter Amy a beautiful muted smile. She tried her best to stay awake the entire time they were here. We are grateful for their visit.

Yes, our family go through this emotional roller coaster on a daily basis. Miriam sheds tears more frequently too. She remains unable to follow commands. Continue to pray for functional recovery.   Please do not give up praying for her and our family.

Miriam and I are looking forward to our boys coming home for Thanksgiving. 

In His Time,

Alex

August 11,2012

Dear Family and Friends,

It has been 19 months since Miriam's catastrophic stroke event. Updating her blog site is becoming very difficult since she continues to make very little progress and still no functional recovery.  Please also pray that the nurses and CNAs will be very careful in their daily care of Miriam. She is unable to speak or request for help. I am her only advocate and I cannot be with her 24 x 7. 

Our family continues to wait for God's healing and waiting is painfully hard. It would be less then truthful if I didn't say that I continue to struggle emotionally, physically and spiritually. Free falling in a bottomless pit has not stopped. I have been told that this free falling will never stop. It just slows down.  It continues to be an emotional roller coaster ride. I frequently feel so numbed and paralyzed. 

Thanks to mom and Doris, I am here in Annapolis, MD for the USNA Parent's Weekend event. What a joy to see Howie and Warren and be together again as a family. Miriam would be so proud to see Howie with his navy white uniform. Howie looks so handsome. Is it obvious that I am a very proud dad?  I am most of all touched by his continued spiritual growth. He knows that this is where God wants him to be and he loves it here. The US Naval Academy is now his "second home" for the next four years. I took many pictures  so mom Miriam can see what has transpired over this USNA Parents Weekend event.  As Howie puts it, we are deeply grateful to God for being our family's GPS. We would be lost without Him.

We do have mixed emotions because Miriam  is not here to attend  this wonderful occasion.  We always enjoyed being together as a family. This new norm is very difficult to overcome. It is only by God's grace that we are able to survive as a family. 

Everyone, thank you so much for your love and prayers. Please do not give up praying for Miriam and our family.

In His Time,

Dad/Alex

Psalm 18:1-2 "I love You, O Lord, my strength." The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, My God, my rock, in whom I take refuge; My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.

Isaiah 43:1-3. " .....Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name; you are Mine!  When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; And through the rivers, they will not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched, Nor will the flame burn you. For I am the Lord your God, The Holy One of Israel, your Savior..."     

 I  claimed these promises for Miriam and I on February 12, 1982 as we go through troubled waters in life. 

A Letter from a Friend

Dear Miriam,

 

How are you doing?  It has been a long time since I have written you and I have been thinking about you. In the past, when I spoke to you by phone, we always had such fun conversations with laughter.  We had such happy conversations. We shared news about our families and children and points of view. On every topic, we knew that everything is God's grace and have such thankful hearts.  I hope that we can speak to each other again soon.

 

On Mother's day, I read Alex, Warren and Howie's posts on your webpage about their thankful hearts, and my heart was moved. You are such a lucky woman with loving children and a husband who deeply loves you. They always remember how much you loved them and all the many things you did for them and how much you loved them too. Even now, their love for God is very deep, and I know that they trust in God's will and continue depending on Jesus.

 

Alex is busy working and taking care of you. He works so hard. In the past, you took care of so many things for him.  Now, he has to do all of those things by himself. This is not an easy task. I believe that God will give him a double portion of strength and ability. I pray for his health as well. In Deuteronomy 33:25 it says '...your strength will equal your days.' This is God's promise to us. Warren and Howie love each other, and are doing so well in their studies and work. They also have a heart that yearns for God. You should be very proud of them.

 

These 2 weeks, our children have been visiting. The house has been very lively. We live very quiet lives now, and find ourselves unaccustom to all of the noise and busyness.  Once we have adjusted to having so many people in our home, the children are leaving again. We are thankful for this time to all be together.

 

We miss you very much and love you. We will continue to pray for you! 

Love, F and D

Mothers Day Greetings from Alex and the boys

Dear Mom,

Happy Mother's Day!!! I love you so much. Everything about you is truly magnificent, and I am so proud to have a father who constantly reminds me, Howie, and those who come to see you of your many virtues. You are a mother who looks after our family with such doting care. Your love for our family and others is genuine, and we are forever grateful. Your joy for Christ is palpable, and your presence always pleasant.

You have taught me and Howie well. I praise God for all the quality time Howie and I spent under your wings. We are grown now but will never forget the lessons you have taught us.

Life in New York City is going well. I am exploring what the city and life has to offer. I am striving to excel at work and am learning a lot. This is the perfect place to be for someone my age, and I hope I can convince Howie to join me here after the Naval Academy and his service. I still have a lot to learn and a lot to work on, so please continue to pray for my spiritual, mental, and physical development. 

Love,
Warren

**********************************************

Dear Mom,
Happy Mother's Day!
Today, and more days to come, definitely honor your love, kindness, patience, and commitment towards both Christ and our family.

Thanking you for loving me so much is a complete understatement. Your never ending love and care for me has made me achieve things that I thought were not possible.

I remember the many things that you've done for our family. You loved us so much that you spoiled us. You did our laundry, cleaned the house, and cooked for us everyday. Those were hard work mom and we took them for granted. I feel completely bad for being picky about your food at times. That was definitely wrong. Without you here, doing all these house chores are pretty difficult. I have no idea how you did them all by yourself! You were always smiling and cheerful.

Thank you mom for raising me well. Proverbs 22:6 says "Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old, he will not depart from it".   I am so fortunate to have a loving and caring mom. There aren't many moms out there who are like you. You have given me the confidence to demonstrate my strengths and not letting my weaknesses bother me. Carrying this to UAB, my one year college experience has definitely made me more mature spiritually, mentally, and physically.

I know God has a wonderful plan for everyone. I remember how we discussed the possibility of me attending the United States Naval Academy during my junior year; but somehow, we decided not to. Then you got sick. I ended up at UAB and that turned out to be a blessing. I wasn't ready for the Naval Academy; I wasn't mature and physically fit enough.

With God's help and loving support from my uncles, aunts, cousins, and others, I applied and was accepted to the United States Naval Academy. This has definitely been the biggest accomplishment of my life. I could not have done this without help from God, you and the rest of our family and relatives.

Thank you so much for being a true follower of Christ, a loving and dedicated mother, and always being there for me.

You've spoiled us many times, and when you recover, it is our turn to spoil you.

Although your recovery appears extremely slow and at times, feels extremely discouraging, we should not let that bother us. This is all temporary. God has a wonderful plan, and our main goal is to be faithful and devoted to him in both good times, and bad times. We have to learn how to endure. God has a reason for everything. At the end, we will come out as a stronger and united family. We shouldn't forget the miracles that God has performed. From Warren's admittance to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to my acceptance to the United States Naval Academy, we should never forget that God answers our prayers. God loves us and care for us deeply.

I love you very much mom and again a very Happy Mother's Day!

Love,
Howie C.

**************************************

Dear Miriam,

Our children and I love you very very much. They are where they are today because of YOU. 

You gave your best every day. Everything in our house was in order because of you. You were the first one to rise up in the morning and the last one to go to bed. You were always full of energy. You excelled in time management. You were like a superb conductor in the New York Symphony Orchestra. The music of life was always a daily Standing Ovation event. You did them so skillfully and we were living in heaven on earth. It was paradise everyday for me and our children.

Your secret was God and your mom. Thank you Grandma. You learned from your mom to pray everyday for wisdom and strength from God. Your deep deep love for your husband and your children made you smile everyday and you carried them wherever you went. Your friends at Costco, Publix, Rite Aid, Staples etc etc can attest to that.  I always looked forward to coming home. I could still hear your voice telling me when I walked into the house " Hi Honey, it is so good to see you!!!" You love me and our children so much. As a matter of fact, you were overflowing with love that you always had plenty to give to your mom, siblings, friends and strangers. The words that came out of your mouth were always soothing and full of encouragement.  The boys and I enjoyed talking to you always. You always made us laugh. You always had a funny side to the story. Thank you for teaching us HOW TO LIVE.

I love you very very much too. Happy mother's day my love.

In His Time,

Alex

Exciting Update

Dear Family and Friends,

 

I was on Skype with Doris, mom and Matt this evening. They were asking if Miriam was asleep. I told them that Miriam is simply resting and not really asleep. Yes, her eyes are closed but she is actually listening. She is restful and peaceful because she hears the voices of her dearly beloved family. When I told them that she is simply pretending to sleep, that she is actually listening to our conversation, Mom Miriam began to smile and tried to "laugh".  Everyone witnessed this amazing response from her. She is definitely improving.  So the next time you get to visit her or Skype with her, please remember that mom Miriam is listening and understanding your conversation. Praise the Lord.

 

In His Time,

 

Dad Alex

Dear Family and Friends,

Happy Easter to everyone from  Miriam. She is a God fearing, God loving, Christ centered mom, daughter, sister,wife and friend. Her life switch has been turned off temporarily. We are waiting for God to turn it back on. Keep praying and hoping. She has the breath of life from the Holy Spirit. She knows, she hears and she understands. She is merely trapped in her body. 

Two weeks ago, Howie received a congratulatory phone call from our US Congressman for getting admitted to the US Naval Academy. When I shared this wonderful news with her, Miriam tried to cry with partially muted joy in her face. She had a prolonged response. She understood what this meant. The following day, a friend of our family congratulated Miriam and she gave  a smile.  Miriam and our family are so proud of Howie. He has been a big help during our time of crisis.

God is the center of our family. As Howie puts it, God is our GPS. God knows everything. We continue to trust in His infinite wisdom.

 Miriam remains stable and more wakeful. We are still waiting for functional recovery. I know she wants to thank everyone for praying for her and I am sure that if she were able , she would ask everyone to continue to pray for her recovery. She remains faithful to her Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

In His Time,

Alex

One Year and Two Months

Dear Family and Friends,

Miriam's progress has been slow. Very little to update. Her mom and sister Doris were in town to attend to her needs while I was on nighthawk shift. A great big help. Thank you Doris and mom. I cannot thank you enough for your agape love towards your sister. I am deeply touched and moved to tears.  

Miriam remains more wakeful ... more so at night. Doris shared some of their childhood memories and Miriam attempted to laugh again. A muted smile is all she could give. Yesterday, a well known and respected businessman dropped by to see Miriam. He shared about how wonderful and outgoing Miriam is. That he and his wife enjoy talking to her and love her company. I got carried away and started sharing stories about her. Miriam was pleased and gave us a muted smile too. Thank  you Lord.

We continue to pray and wait  for her miracles. Please do not give up praying for her.

In His Time,

Dad/Alex

Dear Family and Friends,

 Miriam is stable. Her progress remains slow and there is very little to report. She had a low grade fever and it was attributed to a very mild upper respiratory tract infection.She is better now.

Yesterday, a new nurse at the Skilled Nursing Facility was getting her orientation. I participated by telling her about Miriam's nursing needs etc. Then I began to share with her who Miriam was before her horrific stroke. I do this mini orientation to every new nurse or CNA. I want them to see her as a person not just a patient.  I started "bragging" about her and I know she  does not like me to talk about her gifts and talents from the Lord. I explained to Miriam why I was bragging about her and she reacted with a muted smile. Every little smile from her is progress for me.

This evening, I was watching a short TV program and there was a young mother who delivered her baby. It brought back memories when mom Miriam gave birth to our two wonderful boys. I began to cry and became thankful to God for allowing me to marry her.

 

Thank you all for your continued prayers. Please do not give up on her. God will deliver His miracle.

In His Time,

 Alex

Happy New Year

Alex: " I know my dear wife so well, that were she able to communicate, I know she would want to say this to everyone......"

Dear Family and Friends

Happy New Year to my dear family and friends. A new year means a new beginning. Goodbye 2011 and welcome 2012. 

Thank you for your unceasing prayers. I am expecting God's miracles as I continue to pray for all of you. I am unable to talk but I can hear and understand everything. I am thankful to God that I have all of you praying for me everyday. Please do not lose hope because God is faithful. He has been my Heavenly Father since I lost my dad at age 4. He will never leave me nor forsake me. 

I am expecting His miracles. They are coming soon. May the Lord bless all of you and grant you the desires of your heart.

In His Time,

Mom /  Miriam