Tuesday and Wednesday Last Week

Over the next few days I am going to recap what I remember from the last week after Meghan died.  It was a whirlwind and bustle of activity interrupted by periods of reflection, gratitude and grief.

This may take more than one post but I want to remember and I want to share what I can.  I know many of you may have questions.  Hopefully this will answer some of those.

Last Tuesday morning Pam and I were up early and out the door by 7:30 AM to get to the build site for the Oakland County Habitat for Humanity (Detroit) chapter.

We found the home in Madison Heights and put on our 'duct tape' name tags and tool belts.  The house had the walls and framing done.  We were working or raising one of the trusses.  First we had to cover it with 1/2 plywood, then with 1" styrofoam insulation.  We worked on it for a couple of hours and were ready for a break when Pam called Adam.

Backing up for a minute, Meghan had spent time Monday at the hospital but returned home late Monday.  When I was speaking with Adam about it, she asked that Pam call her mom on Tuesday.  On Tuesday, when Pam called the house and got no answer, she called Adam.  We found out Meghan was in the hospital again and it did not look good.   We rushed back to the Roadrunner, got our passports and were on our way to Petrolia, Canada when Adam called back and said that she had died about 10:30 AM.

I won't go into a lot of detail here, but Adam, Meghan's parents, her church deacon and the doctor were all with her when she passed away.  She spoke with them and they had some time together.

We got to the hospital about 12:30 PM and met Adam and Meghan's dad Bill.  Her brother Brad arrived at the same time from Barry, Canada just outside of Toronto.  We spent less than an hour at the hospital and then went over to the Bakers home for the rest of the day.

The neighbors and friends were fantastic.  Food started pouring in like I have never seen it.  Small towns are like that I guess.  People know what happened and they just drop things off so eating and food is the least of the concerns.

After being there all afternoon, we left about 5:00 PM to go meet Kelly at Detroit airport.  Adam stayed at the Bakers.  Kelly arrived at 9:15 PM and we drove back to Haas Lake RV park about an hour away from the airport.  As with most days last week, we got back home after 11:00 PM.

On Wednesday morning, we made the two hour drive over to Petrolia where we spent the day.  There was a private viewing at the funeral home for a couple of hours.  That was the hardest part of the whole time for me.  I have never seen the face(s) of sadness, grief and mourning like I saw then.  I know it is part of the process but it was rough.

Also on Wednesday my brothers Marty, Brad and Reid were trying to figure out how to get to Petrolia in time for the funeral on Friday.   Marty and Elena were in Arizona and their passports were in California so they did not .  Amy (Reid's wife) had to stay home in Albuquerque to handle the family business on Friday which was payday.  Brad and Sue along with Reid represented the Warner relatives.  It was great to have them here.

A number of Meghan and Adam's friends from the Toronto area stayed with the Bakers.  About midway through Wednesday, they started getting ready for the visitation on Thursday.  It was another great thing that happened~ everyone began retrieving pictures of Meghan and planning how to display them.  It was the project of the day and they jumped into it with focus and energy!

When they were done, they had five easels and over 800 photos.  They culled it down to 300 and printed out a few hundred.  They loaded all the pictures onto a computer at the funeral home and it was one of the best slideshows I have ever seen.  There were three monitors throughout the funeral home and her life and times were continuously on display.  It was very well done.

That is about all I want to go into on this post except:  

Though it was difficult, I have never experienced God's grace and mercy and comfort like I have the last week.  The hundreds of people who commented on her Facebook or here with "...we are praying for you and Adam and Meghan's family..." -- believe me, your prayers have been and are being answered.

The first and most consuming prayer:  "Please heal Meghan" was answered with a 'No'.  I believe it is one of the mysteries of life.  We may never know why but so far He has freed us from asking 'why' or being consumed with the 'woulda, shoulda, coulda' type questions.

But God answered other prayers with a big 'Yes'.  We could see God's comfort and strength and mercy at work last week.  It truly got us through those times.  And it continues to be a great help.  Please keep it up for Adam and for Meghan's family and us. 

Thanks today for viewing the Roadrunner Chronicles.  We appreciate it!