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In 2007, I began my original website, Sonshine's Haven. In 2007, it was turned into a blog and used to keep family updated on my first husband's fight with liver cancer. He passed away November of 2009. We were married for 34+ wonderful years and this journals some of that grief process I've gone through.

I have since remarried another widower, but Mike is missed dearly, and will always be a big part of my life.

At times, all of us will be called to act as witnesses to the suffering of another. We will be unable to affect the outcome physically. Words will fail us. Prayer will seem futile. And yet, the act of bearing witness to someone else's trials is a sacred sorrow that offers and astounding glimpse of eternal joy." by Ginger Garrett

"Being willing to stay with a loved one throughout their travail, can be difficult....YES! But offering yourselves as faithful companions on a dark and dreadful journey can be an unmeasured blessing." (paraphrased by me)

2.20.2008

So Blessed!

Mike and I are SO blessed! We have family and friends who have come to our side and given so selflessly. They have spent hours listening to us, even crying with us. They have given their shoulders for us to cry on. They have come alongside us, and reminded us we weren’t alone, and that they care.

They have gone out of their way to pick us up at the airport, or take us to the airport to catch a flight. They have given their own hard earned money to make our life just a little easier. They have provided airline tickets to get a second opinion and to help us get Mike the best treatment possible. They have mowed our lawns, washed our cars, rotated tires, taken pup's in and out and fed them. They have taken us to dinner and brought over food. They have even contacted their own doctors to find help for us. They have given gifts of magazines and crossword puzzles to pass time in a waiting room. They have given us snacks, and even quarters for vending machines.

They have held fundraisers to bridge finances until we could get on disability. They have found ways to keep Mike’s job safe. They have given us flexibility to work around appointments, bad mornings, or long, tiring days. They have picked up the slack when it’s been all we could do just to crawl out of bed and face another day.

We’ve been added to so many church prayer lists too numerous to mention. Strangers come up and give us hugs, and friends of faith send prayers in a glance from across the room. Written words in each card, each email, each note, have lifted us out of many dark moments. The spoken and silent prayers have carried us through some pretty painful days.

We have learned invaluable lessons about love, about sacrifice, about faith, about friendship, about humility, about strength, about trust, about testing, about God’s love demonstrated through His loving children. I’m fairly confident there will be more valuable lessons still ahead, but one thing is for sure, nothing has gone unnoticed…and ALL of it has made a huge difference in Mike's and my life.

Thank you for your love, and being the support behind us. We could have never made it this far, without you, or without God’s mercy and grace. We love you dearly.

“We are assured and know that all things work together and are [fitting into a plan] for good to and for those who love God and are called according to [His] design and purpose.” Romans 8:28
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