My DH was alternating among fogged lucidity, deep coma-like states, and deep deep sleep for over a week. The neurologist said he had seen patients like my DH and that he was having seizure-like events. God called my DH home on January 31, 2010 while he was cradled in my arms singing "Amazing Grace" and "One Day Jesus [will call my name; as days go by, I hope I don't stay the same; I want to get soooo close to Him, there's no big change on that day that Jesus calls my name]." The funeral was on February 3rd. So much to do because he was only 52 and we had not made arrangements. God helped both directly and by and through family and friends. My DH is no longer in pain, he no longer has jolting or lightening-like forces torturing his body, and he is now whole and complete and rejoicing in heaven. As for me, I am still very much in a fog, but I am holding tightly onto God and trusting God to help me find the way out of this fog and into the life He has planned.
I thank you all for your loving support and prayers. I will get back in touch in a few weeks. For now, I need time ... You remain in my prayers.
Oh Sharan, what a beautiful tesitmony of your faith. I'm glad your DH's suffering is over, and we know this is just a temporary separation. God bless you and your family.
Sharon, you have a beautiful faith and you will be comforted by God I know during the coming months as you adjust to life without your beloved husband. You are a young woman and I wish for you a fulfilling life .
My deepest sympathy to you and your family during this difficult time. You are now both free from the grip of this terrible disease. I agree with Joyful* - you are young, and there is a fulfilling life waiting for you. Comfort and love to you.
Sharon I am so sorry to hear of your DH's death, but your faith is truly inspiring. Thank you for sharing it with us. you are right, Your husband is now at peace, and with a little time, you will be too. God bless.
Sharan, my heartfelt condolences to you and your family at the sorrow of your loss. Your dear husband in safe and whole in God's hands now as is my dear wife. Could be they are sharing in how much they love and miss us as we do them. God bless you and give you comfort.
Sharan, my deepest sympathy to you and your family. You wrote a beautiful ending to his life on Earth, and a testimony to your faith. My thoughts and prayers are with you.
Oh Dearest Sharan, God has blessed you with a beautiful good-bye. How precious those moments must have been. You are truly and inspiration. I can only hope that I may be that strong. Arms around and around, Susan
Sharan- please accept my sincerest condolences. You have shown courage and grace in the most difficult of circumstances. Heaven just gained a new angel/ Hugs
Dear Sharon, My deepest sympathy. I also lost my DH on Jan 24th, so I share your pain...Your strong Faith will see you throgh this. You are young, it is time to think about you...I know that is what your DH would want you to do....love and Hugs, Rosalie
Sharon: Thank you for writing this for those of us that have not walked where you are walking yet. You express yourself beautifully. I beleive that our faith will sustain us.
My sincere Sympathy and May God hold and comfort you at this time.
Sharan - may you feel your Lord's arms around you, feel His warmth and comfort, may His peace be with you in the minutes, hours, days, weeks, and months to come.
Sharan, My deepest sympathy7 to you and your family on the loss of your husband. Celebrate his life and share ll your good memories as you start your new AFTER.
Sharan, so very sorry for your loss. I am glad you can envision your husband rejoicing and take comfort in that. May the fog lift for you as you continue to adjust.
Sharan, I have been praying for you. You lost your dh four days after I lost mine. My mother and I have been praying and checking for you daily on the message board. You know I understand where you are at right now. But take comfort in knowing mine is with me now, as is yours. In a place where AD reigns no more. I pray you will find the peace I have. My heart aches but I know this is better for him and that makes it better for me. With all my heart and with much love, Dianne
Hi Sharan. Thank you for sharing your thoughts with us on this dying experience. I know that Gof still has work for us to do. You have been a good Witness and that is the greatest commandment. We should celebrate, especially considering the long goodbye we go through. Love and hugs to you. bill
Sharan, I am praying for you at this terrible time in your life. May God grant you peace and assurance that all is going to work out for the best for you. As a Christian, faith is a blessed thing. It gets us thru and your testimony is one of great faith. May God bless and keep you in this time of sorrow.
Sharon, I am so happy for your loving husband, and I sympathize with you and your family in your loss of him here on earth. What a wonderful testimony you have. It says volumes of the life that he lived in his short 50 some years and the legacy that he has left you and your family. I am sure that you are facing some long hard days and nights but you are not alone. Please keep in touch with us.
Thank you all for your outpouring of love and support. I want to share something I experienced with my DH (Mike) that I hope will bring you comfort, courage, and strength. On 9-9-2009, God laid it on my heart to ask Mike if he had seen Jesus, angels, or God. I know that people sometimes have such experiences as they approach death. When I asked Mike if he had seen any of these, his answer to each was "no." After a couple of minutes, he said "I did feel God's presence." I asked him to close his eyes and go back to the time that he felt God's presence. After a couple of minutes, I asked him if he could feel what it felt like to be in God's presence. He said "yes." I asked him to tell me what it felt like and he said "light." I asked him what that felt like and he said "light in a spiritual sense of no negativity." I asked him if he felt anything else. He said "loved ... forgiven and loved." I asked him what that felt like and he said "like God is filling him with His love." After a few moments, I asked him if he felt anything else and he said that he felt "like I don't have any burdens." I then asked him if he felt anything else. He said "accepted ... completely accepted." Awed by his description - especially given the depth and breadth of the damage caused by his dementia - I dared to ask one more time "do you feel anything else?" He said "peace." I again asked him what that felt like and he said "an overcoming peace." I was a bit perplexed by the use of the word "overcoming" because it didn't seem to fit and I thought he meant to say "overwhelming," but I was wrong. When I asked him to explain what he meant by an overcoming peace, this is what he said: "the peace that's in this moment, an overcoming peace that overcomes everything else so it is just peace." I have never heard a more apt description of the peace that passes understanding spoken of in the Bible. In case you are wondering how I could remember it so well, I took notes and then converted it into a kind of guided meditation that I used to help Mike feel God's presence at various times between 9-9-2009 and 1-31-2010 when God called him home.
I share this information with you in the hope that you will know that God is also taking care of your loved ones; that even when we cannot reach the heart and soul of our dearest loves to give them comfort and love, God can AND does. I was so blessed to have had the opportunity to witness and be a witness to Mike's experience of being in God's presence despite the ravages of dementia that had stolen our lives, Mike's memories of our lives together while he remained alive and trapped in his body, and so much more ... the more you each know about. Mike's description of what it felt like to be in God's presence to him here on this Earth in his disease-riddled body is amazing in and of itself. I can only imagine how wonderful, powerful, amazing, awesome, and glorious it must feel like to be in God's presence without the limitations imposed by dementia.
What God did for Mike and, frankly, for me through Mike is what God is doing for you and your loved ones ... even now, even as you read this message and wonder why you haven't had this kind of experience or as you reflect on similar experiences that you have had with your loved ones ... no matter, either way, God is with you AND your loved ones and is giving you all love, compassion, tolerance, mercy, forgiveness, and hope (yes ... hope) to strengthen you both for this time and the time to come.
As in the poem entitled "Footprints in the Sand," we all have had and will have times where we ask God "where were you when I needed you?" My message to you echos the message God gave in the poem, my dear sweet child it is at THIS time that God is carrying you, not only you but also your loved ones.
My prayer for you is for God to make His presence so obvious and so tangible to you and to your loved ones that His presence and His love for you cannot be ignored or written off as a happenstance or coincidence so you can KNOW all the way to your toes that God is with you and will never ever ever ever leave you.
Sharan thank you so much for taking the time to share your inspirational story. I needed that today. I have been feeling blue and oh so lonesome as Jim's birthday approaches on Wednesday. Knowing he is celebrating his 63rd birthday with our Lord and the Angels can now make me smile. Thank you, Arms around, Susan
Sharan*, your post reminds me of my experience some years ago, I don't remember if was before or after DW's brain tumor, but I was almost home from work when I felt this overwhelming feeling of peace, but also of knowledge...I suddenly knew the answer to all the world's problems, but couldn't remember what they were when the feeling left me. It lasted maybe 4 or 5 seconds, and if that is what you feel at death, then I'll take it. It was awesome, that's all I know.