FRIENDS......

friend
n.
1. A person whom one knows, likes, and trusts.
4. One who supports, sympathizes with, .........

According to the online dictionary a friend is someone you like and trust, someone who sympathizes with you and supports you.

When we realized that our middle child, Anslee, who has Down Syndrome, had a hearing loss we were off to the ENT. He in turn recommended a specialist. As I set out Friday afternoon, August 29th, I expected that we would hear that she needed tubes again and I'd be out the door and on my way to McDonalds for a crabby patty and plankton sticks (for those of you that do not know about SpongeBob Squarepants that translates to a cheeseburger and fries). Well, that would be too easy, it turns out that our daughter has Cholesteatoma. Cholesteatoma, Cholesteatoma, Cholesteatoma, it kept resonating in my head, but not as much as the words 'operate right away' and 'fatal'. The specialist wrote it on a piece of paper, legibly I might add, so I could read up on it later. It is a collapsed ear drum that has been pulled into the middle ear, eroding the delicate bones, preventing the sloughing of skin from the ear canal, causing the skin to form a tumor that can cause paralysis of the face if it grows in the facial bones and death if it grows into the brain. Here is where the rubber meets the road, I love God, we have been successful in raising our children to love God, so the logical side of my brain reminds me of her eternity in heaven with a heavenly Daddy that will hold her close and love her unconditionally. I know she will never know pain and will speak clearly and never face the cruelty of this world. I have faith, I have accepted His sufficient grace, I know His promise to prosper me, I KNOW HIS LOVE FOR ME!

What does this have to do with friends? Well, when I collapsed into the seat of my car, picked up my phone, I called my best friend, my husband, the man I have loved for 17 years, as always he promised that we would get through this together. What else would such a dedicated, godly man, a man of character, say? Then I called my other best friends, one being my mother-in-law, shocking huh? and Nay-Nay, my red neck, white trash, cheetah wearing, flamingo loving, self proclaimed Auntie to my children, all too loud, BFF. Then there was the call made to my dear friends, Jimmy and Kelley, in Lugoff at 1:15am. When I requested, "If she does not make it, will you conduct her funeral?", only to hear a comforting, "Yes". His wife prayed with me, she is a mom too, she knew there were no words of comfort, she listened to me cry. I called another person, whom I like and trust, my pastor, who offered to hold a special prayer time. Then there is Lynn and Dennis, two of the most reliable, God loving people I know. When I shared with Lynn what was going on, I had total confidence that she would be in prayer. I'd say these people, (along with my family that rallied around us in love too!) fit the definition of friends, I'd say they surpass it. I thank my God for you. I love you, friends........thank you!