Strongest Man

 In a text, he was referred to as the "strongest man I ever knew."  Some of us knew him before he got sick.  He was strong, for sure, and nimble and fast.  He loved to play basketball, and he did it well.  He danced with his wife.  

At a young age, he was diagnosed with ALS.  It is a terrible disease that takes away parts of a person, bit by bit, a little at a time.  The average time a person can live with ALS is 2-5 years.  Wayne lived well over twenty with it.  He is the strongest man some have ever known.  

He was determined and self-disciplined and some might say stubborn.  He did not feel sorry for himself, he reached out to touch the lives of those he knew when they were struggling.  Few of us have had struggles like he.  Many of us fail to get past our own navels when we struggle.  Not so, Wayne.

When his wife died of meningitis caused by a tainted spinal injection, he lost his main caregiver.  She was the physical strength, he was the emotional strength.  Most anyone would have been angry or bitter, for it seems the tainting of that medicine was due to neglect and possibly greed.  But he was neither angry nor bitter and would ask, "why should I be? I am a blessed man."

He buried his firstborn, after years of struggles with that child, struggles that would have crushed a weaker man.  But he was not crushed because he was a strong, strong man.  

Some believed he would not make it to the dedication of the inner-city daycare that bears his name.  Not only did he see the dedication, he witnessed the 20th anniversary.  He cared for people.  Many of us do.  But, he cared for people when anyone would have understood his throwing in the towel and giving up, for there was only the inevitable end to look forward to.  He looked forward to so much more than the ravages of his disease.  He gave so much more than a man in his position would have been expected to give.  He was a strong man who was an inspiration to all who knew him.

His struggles ended Thursday night.  He will be deeply missed by all who loved him, especially his only surviving son.  He truly fought the good fight.  We grieve, not as those without hope.  Many have expressed the comfort they feel imagining he is in some church league basketball game to be followed by a time of dancing with his Diana.  

Still We Are Family

Covid has kept us from gathering, from seeing those we miss and love, still, we are the Otter Creek family.  Covid has not kept us from being in touch, from sending notes and emails, from praying, because we are the Otter Creek family.   

All over, there are people grieving.  We anticipated the outcome.  The actuality hit us as hard as we expected.  We have prayed and prayed and prayed.  They were not selfish prayers.  They were prayers for four daughters, a husband, parents.  Our prayers were not answered in the way we wanted.  In fact, our prayers feel unheard.  We choose to have faith that God was listening and Jesus was intervening, even as we have myriad emotions from sadness to anger to gratitude for having known her.  Our Otter Creek family has lost the physical presence of this very bright light, but her influence will continue to shine on us as family. We grieve as a family grieves.

After a long battle, our sister Katherine left this earthly realm to gather with the saints who are living in the presence of Jesus.  She fought courageously.  She fought with a faith that was awe inspiring.  She lived in gratitude for every moment.  She loved her family well, her girls, her husband, her parents, her Otter Creek family.  She knew where she was going.

As the Otter Creek family, we have people to care for; her precious daughters, her dear husband, her parents will need us in the days to come.  We will be there.  It is what family does.  We will try to be Jesus to this sweet family as they go through the hard work of figuring out what life looks like from this point forward, and they will move forward for they would not honor Katherine if they did not.  It will be a difficult struggle, but with God's help, they will make it through.