A Special Thank-You!

I am sure to leave someone out... if I do, please say something... it is not intentional.

First of all, allow me to explain the babysitters. NO children under the age of 12 are allowed in the unit. Ron would have to put on a mask and walk out to the family waiting area to visit the children. I felt that I needed to be with him as much as possible, because in this treatment one can have tough side effects, and it can get a bit lonely. I am usually very picky about babysitters, if I even leave my children... Even though I tried to be wise and the babysitters worked hard to help my children, it was difficult for the kids, and different for this stay-at-home-mom. They are doing fine now, and I am sooo grateful for everyone's help.

Thank you, Ben and Sonya Blowers (pastoring the Allegheny Wesleyan Methodist Church in Columbus), for helping numerous times babysit my two older children... You have a very nice church and a lovely family... the girls still talk about Shayla. And, thank you, Beth Blair (Pastor's Wife from Zanesville Bible Methodist) for referring me to this kind family.



Thank you, Martha Brugger (also a pastor's wife from Marion... I hope I am getting this all right, a fellow Bible Methodist!) for watching my older children overnight one night, and on another occasion taking them to the Columbus Zoo.



Thank you, Amy Sowers (a dear friend and homeschooling mom from my church), for watching my older children one weekend.



Thank you, Karen Beatty (a long-time friend of the family, and also from our church) for watching them for several nights.



Thank you, Trisha Perkins, Kimberly Brown, and friends for watching them the last weekend of Ron's stay at the hospital. It was neat knowing that my children were getting to sleep in their own beds.

And... BIG THANK YOU to Ron's parents for staying with me in Columbus and watching Hope so that I could get to her easily to nurse her. I know that the past few weeks were very tough for the both of you.

Thank you, GBS, our church family, relatives, and loved ones, for the nice cards.

Thank you to Josh A for visiting regularly, providing preaching CDs, a bag of cookies, and the other nice gifts. You were such an encouragement to Ron.

Thank you, Melonie M, for being my travelling buddy and for helping to rescue me when my car wouldn't start.

Thank you, Pastor Manley, for visiting Ron... He really enjoyed your company.

Thank you to my parents for spending a day with Ron, me, and the baby.

Thank you to Gloria Jean McGinnis for visiting, and helping me when I had a choking spell ;-)
Thank you to 8th Street Wesleyan Alliance Church for the prayer shawl.

Thank you to the many friends who have prayed with and for us, who gave gas cards, and other gifts while we were there... wow, what a blessing you have been!!!

Thank you, Brother Brugger, for stopping in for a visit.

Ummm, maybe I shouldn't have done this... I know there are so many others who deserve recognition, and I want you to know how much everything has meant to us. May God bless you!

Thank you to our church...
You know, they did something really neat. Personally, I really don't like Halloween... I really don't want any part of it, so I thought it was so cool when I found out that they were having a special thing for the church children and teens so that they wouldn't get involved in other Halloween-ish stuff, and my two older children got to go to the little kids part. I think it was a harvest type of thing, and they had a good turn out from what I heard. I heard that the teens were outside playing a guitar (might have been Ron's), and singing Christian music around a chimnea (not sure how it is spelled).

It was a little sad to me, as we normally take our youth group to their activities, not to be able to go to Youth Challenge... but, I heard good reports from our young people that they had a great time... Our pastor is the President over Youth Challenge, and the teens had a blast watching his face turn red during some funny part of the service. I received a late night call from some of the teens one night, just reporting in on all the fun. That was really cool! I also heard that Youth Challenge had prayer for us... now that was really encouraging... youth pastors and youth praying for a fellow youth pastor in desparate need of prayer... well, your prayers were answered, and Ron got out of the hospital rather quickly, and he seems to have gained lots more energy and he seems to be getting a little more back to normal... although, they are not planning on doing anymore scans for probably two or three months... just pray that his cancer will never come back (Lord willing), because stem-cell and bone marrow transplants are very difficult for one to go through... I don't want to see him have to go through that ever again!!!

Thank you to one of my teens who called me a couple of times while we were in Columbus... Thanks, Jenn, you made me not feel so left out!

And, a major thank you goes to the West Broad Street Missionary Chapel for giving me, my children, and Ron's parents and sometimes brother, a very nice apartment to live in while Ron was in the hospital! THANKS SO VERY MUCH!!!

Thank you, Dr. Devine, other docs, nurses, FELLOWs, PCAs, housecleaning, Nutritional Services, Social Workers, transplant coordinators, all the people who were involved in removing and storing his stem cells, etc... Thank you for working hard to make sure Ron did well through this! For giving him excellent care! For giving me good training! For working hard to beat cancer!

If I have forgotten you, please pat yourself on the back, and count yourself thanked... It is almost 2 in the morning, and I need to get off of this computer!

THANK YOU!!!