[Dialogue] JAY'S COMPLETED LIFE

[David & Lin Zahrt]

Bill and Marianna,

I am responding to you by sending to the Listserve. I know some who 
have abandoned the Listserve because there is so much unconscious 
'junk mail'--personal correspondence sent to the whole list. It 
aggravates me also.

I hope this is appropriate and and taking the chance that it will be 
seen as such.

We were delighted with Jay and his life. We mourn his passing and are 
not sure that we will ever finish the process.

Thanks for the card and the memorial at Genesis Gardens in 
Blairstown, NJ. I have a vague recollection of the establishment. I 
think it is run by some RC Sisters. Is that correct? It seemed very 
appropriate for more than one reason.


I'll bet you don't know that we served in the Johnsonburg-Walnut 
Valley, NJ parish from Jun 1963 to Jan 1965. The parsonage was in 
Johnsonburg. We were delighted that Stan and Glenda Long were serving 
in Tranquility, NJ. Johnsonburg was 5 mi past Tranquility and 10 mi 
from Hope, NJ (I recall that literally and figuratively)!

We had to drive through Blairstown, NJ to get to Walnut Valley. There 
was a Methodist Church in Blairstown but I've forgotten who served 
there. Seems like his first name was Chuck.

When Jay was 2 1/2 we elected to have surgery on what was identified 
as an infected lymph node. We took him to the hospital in Newton, NJ. 
The surgeon was not aware of the complexity of the swelling. The 
operation severed the use of Jay's facial nerve. It also disclosed 
that Jay had a parotid tumor.

We subsequently went to Sloan-Ketterling Clinic in NYC and found his 
diagnosis was Von Rechlingheysens--a condition that fosters nerve 
tumors (and succeptability to anneurisms). It was recommended that we 
watch his condition closely, but do nothing invasive because of the 
complexity of nerve/blood vessel/lymph etc. in that area.

We watched it and the tumor grew with Jay. As he grew we kept him 
informed of his condition. To our delight he chose to live his life 
and decided not to be victimized by his disease. He knew it was 
complex and wanted to be certain that he did not end up on some kind 
of life-support system.

Trish, Jay's wife, and Heidi have worked to establish Memorial 
options. I am enclosing them in a second letter to the listserve. One 
of them is a result of Jay's close colleagueship with Reinard Knutsen.

Peace,

David
-- 
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
| David and Lin Zahrt
| Country Homestead Bed and Breakfast
| 22133 Larpenteur Rd
| Turin, IA 51040     <mailto:zahrt at country-homestead.com>
| (712) 353-6772 Phone    <http://www.country-homestead.com>

-- Doorway to the Loess Hills --
Where a change-of-pace is as good as a vacation,
And a sense-of-place is soothing to the soul.
	http://homepage.mac.com/lawrencebenne/Loess_Hills_Seminar/Menu24.html

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^