Sleepless Night

Hadn't planned on posting anything today but....I had a hard time getting to sleep last night. Then kept waking up. And one person kept being in my thoughts. I met Heidi about 21 years ago, I think this month. We were missionary companions in New Hampshire when we were assigned to serve together. We were a bit of an odd couple. I'm reserved and very deliberate. Heidi is a walking musical, busting out in various lyrics and tunes from Broadway shows and other musical pieces she had learned over the years. We were a dynamic duo back in those days. Lots of fun and lots of success.

I haven't kept up with Heidi's life for a while but thought I'd check her blog last night, just see what was up. What I read saddened my heart. Heidi and Phil married about three years ago. She's sort of like me that way, waited a long time for the "right" one to come a long. Phil seems like a wonderful man, a good provider, loving husband and doting father to their little girl, about 2 years old now. But since early in their marriage Phil has been battling colorectal cancer. It had metastasized to his lung at one point. I don't recall all of the details but I know he has had a couple of surgeries. He is a professor at a university in Alabama, where they moved shortly after their wedding. Heidi has been a stay at home mom during that time, loving every minute of her life.

Phil has gone through chemo and I don't know what other treatments to put this beast in check. However, from the sounds of things, their meeting with a thoracic surgeon last week did not offer much hope. Sounds like things have advanced to a stage where surgery is not an option, chemo is no longer effective.

How can something that is your dream be so starkly snatched away, just like that? Seems that when you wait so long for that dream to become a reality, you might feel like you are "entitled" to a life of joy and happiness for many years to come. But Heidi doesn't think like that. The title of that post? I.CAN.DO.HARD.THINGS.