[Oe List ...] Hello

[aiseayew]

Dear A.M.
    I may have been unclear.  Mary Lou's life is not completed, it is just
irrevocably moving in that direction.  I am sure there are lots of laughs
and awesomenesses still to come.  I know there are giggles every time Naomi
takes my three grandchildren over to visit her.  Connor (3) thinks climbing
up on Mary Lou's bed for tickles is really great.  Kathryn (2) is convinced
she can drive Mary Lou's wheelchair as well as Mary Lou can (although Mary
Lou is weak enough that she really can't take the kids on her lap for more
than a minute or two).  Austin (8 this month) is far more serious because he
senses the bigger story.

She is still in a position to address as many lives as cross her path and
does so with great love and compassion.

Take care and greetings to the family,
Margaret
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "A. M. Noel" <amnoel at comcast.net>
To: "Order Ecumenical Community" <OE at wedgeblade.net>
Sent: Thursday, July 08, 2004 8:30 PM
Subject: Re: [Oe List ...] Hello


>   Dear Margaret,
>   Thank you for sharring the completed life Of Mary Lou Petersen.
>   A.M.Noel ----- Original Message ----- 
>   From: "aiseayew" <aiseayew at iowatelecom.net>
>   To: <OE at wedgeblade.net>
>   Sent: Thursday, July 08, 2004 4:15 PM
>   Subject: [Oe List ...] Hello
>
>
>   This is Margaret Aiseayew and I have just gotten added to this list
> (because I became immeasureably confused in all our list shifting and lost
> track of my request to get connected here).  I just sent this message to
the
> colleague dialogue list and since I haven't participated on this one I
have
> no idea how many of you may be on both. so I will apologize in advance.
It
> was really the desire to send this message to the OE dialogue that pushed
me
> to try and figure it all out one more time.  Hope this finds you all well.
> Thanks for being there.
>
>   Remembering our Colleagues--especially Mary Lou Peterson
>   Since we have been spending some time reharsing our journeys and
> remembering our colleagues, I thought I would like to catch people up a
bit
> on Mary Lou Peterson.  She interned in Rochester and was assigned at least
> to St. Louis, Atlanta, Pittsburgh and Chicago with sojourns in Indonesia
and
> Mexico.  Since some of us were as known through the assignments of our
> children as we were by our own, I will rehearse that hers are Rob Jinks
> (married with three girls and a boy) and Michelle Jinks Warnimont
(divorced
> with two sons), both of whom now live in the Chicago area.
>
>   Some of you may know that a couple of years ago Mary Lou was diagnosed
> with ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease/Tuesdays with Morrie, etc.).  We all have
> those in the circle with whom we have been closer or remained closer than
> others.  This is the case with Mary Lou and me.  She had been a
participant
> in, lurker on the dialogue for awhile, but as managing her computer became
> more difficult she separated from the list.
>
>   Just four years ago she went with me to New Mexico to visit Esther.  We
> went horseback riding and mountain climbing.  Before I moved out to Iowa
to
> be with Dad, I helped her move from her condo on North Sheridan into
> independent living in the Presbyterian Home in Evanston, Illinois.  I went
> back less than a year later to help her move into the Nursing Home there.
>
>   Mary Lou's spirit is as effervescent as ever.  For all of those of you
who
> remember her exceptional problem solving skills, she has applied them in
> every way you can imagine as her physical ability has diminished.  She
even
> took a position on the resident board that worked with the home
> administration to make the entire Presbyterian Home facility more
accessible
> to the variety of handicaps represented in the population there.
>
>   Her condition is deteriorating at an increasingly rapid pace.  She is
> dependent on others for nearly all movement as control of her extremities
is
> gone.  Her swallow reflex is almost gone (they have put in a feeding tube)
> and you can hear it in her voice.  Our phone conversations that used to
last
> until all the news was shared, now last ten minutes at most.
>
>   I share this with you, probably selfishly, to disperse the intensity of
my
> care.  Then I say that there have been times I have learned only after the
> fact of the journeys and struggles of some of my colleagues and have felt
> cheated that I did not have the opportunity to at least send energy their
> way.  Some of you may have read some of the work of Larry Dossey on the
> effect of prayer in the medical milieu.  His research showed that the most
> effective prayer of all was "Thy will be done."  I suspect it is the most
> useful because it helps us let go of our own desire to control reality and
> leaves the subject of the prayer free to do their journey.
>
>   I guess I want the highest possible quality of life, considering the
> prognosis, to flow through Mary Lou for all her remaining days.  Some of
you
> may wish to participate in enhancing it.  Thanks to you all for listening.
>   Grace and Peace, Margaret
>   _______________________________________________
>   OE mailing list
>   OE at wedgeblade.net
>   http://wedgeblade.net/mailman/listinfo/oe_wedgeblade.net
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> OE mailing list
> OE at wedgeblade.net
> http://wedgeblade.net/mailman/listinfo/oe_wedgeblade.net