|
Current Issue:
|
|
Encore Issues | PW | PC(USA) |
|
|
This was it, they realized. Marian Lloyd—age 82, widow for 12 years, mother of three, Forbearance choir member and retired bookkeeper—was dying from pneumonia after a series of small strokes. They were silent as they watched the thready pulse, shallow breathing and falling numbers on the machine by her hospital bed. Fred, her oldest, held her hand. Allison, her middle child, stroked her hair. And Jim, her youngest, stood by the foot of the bed, watching and waiting. Fred’s wife, Gwen, stood with her hand on her husband’s back. Allison’s husband and their two children watched by the door, while Jim’s wife, Bethany, stared out the window. Rev. Hustisford, Forbearance’s pastor, arrived, led them in a brief prayer and then, quietly and almost imperceptibly, Marian’s life came to its end. Arrangements were made and the service was held at Forbearance, but unfortunately, as it turned out, the family unity of Marian’s last hours began to unravel as the complications of sibling relationships surfaced in the ensuing days. Can Marian’s children deal with their feelings of loss and put their squabbles aside? Find out in the May/June 2006 issue of Horizons. Call 800/524-2612 Charlotte Johnstone is a member of Immanuel Presbyterian Church in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She (and the cast of Forbearance Presbyterian Church) welcomes comments. Write to her at Horizons, 100 Witherspoon St., Louisville, KY 40202-1396, or email wjohns4949@aol.com. |
|
|
| Home | May/June Index | Features | Resources | Departments  copyright © Horizons, Presbyterian Women |