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Dear Angels:
As the days seem to fly by to get me to 80, I feel
more like I'm going on
90.
Things
seem be falling apart quick as a flash. I really
don't know what's
going on.
I seem to be able
to answer other peoples
questions but when I try
to figure out my
own I draw a blank.
I never worry about Edwarda (what would happen to her if something
happened
to
me first) Colleen and Ricky would be here but they couldn't
take
care of her alone especially
since Colleen got M.S. I still believe
in my heart
Edwarda will wake up
before I go but I'm starting
to worry.
I've wondered how many of you would have chosen the path I took. I
wonder if
you
would drop me a line saying yes or no. I really would like
to know.
It would help
me a bit.
I am asking crazy things and seeing too much. I need for Edwarda
some
white
soft
wash clothes. I use them to go over her feeding tube. (can't
have designs or
colored ones due
to the fact some color can enter her
through
the tube). The ones we
still use have been washed
so often they
are hard and
leave marks on her. For 37
years she always has been kept
perfect.
Now as
I look at her she looks tacky.
All the different people from companies that send her moisturizing
lotions and
soaps of
have retired and the new people stop sending so
lotion
is scarce.
Now for me I know a lot of people change the dish towels every so often.
Mince are
falling apart. I have been using the same 12 for 15 years.
Funny
how
different things get important.
I want you to know how
much I've appreciated all of your love,
compassion and
prayers, I need
them more now than ever. Please don't think
badly of me of anything
if
anything I do doesn't
measure up to your expectation.
You've kept us
going a long
time and somehow it's hard to
always be a taker
and not a
giver.
I'm working hard on the
book and will keep going at it till it's done.
I never knew there were
so many people from all over who would care for
someone
they didn't
know. But your all angels and wonderful. God will have to
repay you and
I
am sure he will.
The following is one of the nicest
articles I have ever seem.
Home / News & Events / Columns and Blogs / Blog - Catholic
Views
The Power of a Promise
April 26, 2007
I first came into contact with this story several years ago when
I was interviewing
Dr. Wayne Dyer on a radio program I was hosting. Dr. Dyer wrote a
book called
A Promise is a Promise - a true story of a mother who has
cared for a comatose
daughter for many years. Well, the many years is now thirty-seven
years, and
seventy-nine-year-old
Kate O'Bara continues to care for her daughter Edwarda
who for all these many years has been in a diabetic coma. Her care
is the
fulfillment of a promise. As she was slipping into unconsciousness,
Edwarda
appealed to her mother, "Mommy, don't ever leave me." "I will never
leave you,
" was her mother's reply and Kate O'Bara has kept that promise
steadfastly
since 1970.
Certainly, the road has not been easy. Florida Catholic
reports that the family
is $200,000 in debt and Kate herself is not well. When asked about
all of that,
her response is, "I rely on faith. If you don't have faith, you
don't have anything."
This is an amazing story of deep faith and profound loyalty. It
gets us all thinking
about the many Kate O'Bara's that are out there, quietly and sacrificially
caring
for children and adult children who are unable to care for
themselves. People
for whom the last resort is faith.
In the Aeneid, Virgil continually refers to the hero
Aeneas as "pius Aeneas,"
"faithful Aeneas." We often use the word "pious" to mean someone
who is
deeply religious, and that is a true definition, but at its root the
word means
"faithful." The virtue of faithfulness such as that exemplified by
Kate O'Bara is
a remarkable thing. There is something very special about it. We could
even
say that there is even something sacred about it. And the reason we can
use
the word "sacred" is that such faithfulness is a mirror of the
faithfulness of God to
us, his people. Throughout the Old Testament, the faithfulness of God is
highlighted,
with the understanding that we are to be faithful to the covenant because
he is faithful.
When we hear Kate O'Bara say to her daughter, "I will never leave
you," can we
not at the same time hear the words of Jesus saying, "Behold, I am
with you always?"
The story of Kate O'Bara can serve as an inspiration to all of us
to check our
faithfulness quotient. Are we faithful to those whom God has put
into our care? Is
faithfulness to a promise an important concept for us? Are we, by
our faithfulness
in our daily living, mirroring the faithfulness of God?
It's a huge challenge, but it's an important way to fulfill our
purpose here on earth
to make the world a better place with the help of God.
--Father Paul Keenan, Office of Communications
WWW.EDWARDAOBARA.COM
It seems much as things change they stay the same. I feel like I’m
starting
all over again. I seem to be getting the same questions as I got it
1970. People
asking about Mercy Killings, what’s it like to have to care for
someone
in a coma
and how can you do it. How often do you go out, do you
get lonely are
just some examples.
If God gave you the chance to
live your life over how much of it would you
change?Would you be able to tell people they should do the same thing you
do? I
answer,
I wouldn’t change anything I choose to do but I don’t believe
everyone
has to do
the same. I believe God will give us each the answer in
each particular
case.
When Edwarda fell sick in 1970
she was the exception, most people who
had
to make this decision would either let their loved one go or send them
to a
nursing
home where they stayed. Back in the 1970’s the nursing homes were
cold.
Some
still are but some are great. The trouble with that for someone like
Edwarda is she
could never ask for help, so she’d need a private nurse.
This may seem like an odd
letter for me but as I approach 80, I realize
I am not going to be here forever. I also had the advantage of having
the
Blessed
Mother as my caregiver since 1990 and I am Blessed for that. She
has
been and
still is a great comfort to me and I know she watches over us.
It is she
who have
brought all of you to be our angels and I am grateful to each
of you.
This last month we have had
a series of different visitors; a group of 32
people came by charter bus from Wisconsin to visit, a mother and dad who
had
lost their 2 yr old by drowning and couldn’t deal with it came one
Sunday
and 8
more times and can now accept it. The people have been great. They
come
with
different requests and most have been granted.
I’m back to sitting with Edwarda and holding her hand. People have
changed, before there was always someone to run to the store etc. Now
everyone
is busy with their own troubles. I don’t blame them the world is just
moving too fast.
I want to thank each of
you for all the kindness you have shown us.
Now all
I can think of is Frank Sinatra’s song “My Way”.
And now, the end is near and so
I face the final curtain.
My friend, Ill say it clear,
I’ll state my case, of which I’m certain.
I’ve lived a life that’s full.
I’ve traveled each and every highway.
And more, much more than this,
I did it my way.
Regrets, I’ve had a few, but
then again, too few to mention.
I did what I had to do. And
saw it through without exemption.
I planned each
charted course. Each careful step along the byway.
But more, much more than this,
I did it my way.
Yes, there were times, I’m sure
you knew. When I bit off more
than I could chew. But through it all,
when there was doubt,
I ate it up and spit it out. I
faced it all.
And I stood tall, and did it my
way.
I’ve loved, I’ve laughed and
cried. I’ve had my fill, my share of losing.
And now, as tears subside, I
find it all so amusing.
To think I did all that, and
may I say not in a shy way.
No, oh no not me, I did it my
way.
I hope and pray God is satisfied with
me doing it “My Way”.
I need to have a raffle and didn’t even have the chances printed doing
them
my way as I had in the beginning. If you can help and purchase some
chances it
would help us greatly.
Say a
prayer so I can concentrate enough to finish my book. The Blessed
Mother
has given me a deadline of two months so everyone will realize what a
wonderful gift
God has given Edwarda.
God Bless,
Mary Keep,
Kaye
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