Calling the family together...

By now I have learned that when the phone rings and my brother Ron's number is on the caller ID, there isn't going to be good news. Ron, being the oldest in the family, has a certain leadership role among the siblings and is usually one of the first to talk to Mom when new developments occur with Dad's condition. Ron called last Thursday (July 15th) and said that Mom and Dad had gotten the results back from Dad's latest CT Scan and there was something that they wanted to discuss with the rest of the family. Ron asked that I help him call all of the family to meet at Mom and Dad's that night. Just a few short hours after I called all seven children and their spouses met at Mom and Dad's to receive the news. It was an awe inspiring sight to see all of my siblings together in love and support for Dad. There is such strength in uniting our faith together in behalf of our father, I was so grateful to be there with my family.

Mom had taken Dad to Dr. Von Welch's office earlier in the day to have him explain to Dad all about the images from the CT scan and help him understand the magnitude of his condition. Dad's CT scan showed three "shadows" on his liver that were determined to be cancerous lesions. Dr. Welch explained that the cancer in Dad's back had metastasized to his liver and that the lesions were growing rapidly. Because Dad has had so many complications in his abdomen over the past few months, there have been multiple CT Scans done and a comparison could be made in regards to the size of these lesions. In just the past few weeks the legions have tripled in size. The prognosis is not great and it was concluded that Dad's cancer is spreading and is terminal. Dr. Welch is a very compassionate and caring doctor and has been involved in Dad's care for many years. Dad said that Dr. Welch put his arm around him and offered to help in any way that he could. He even offered to meet with our whole family to answer any questions or provide clarifications on the diagnosis. What a blessing and tender mercy to have such a wonderful doctor and friend be there for Mom and Dad when they needed his expertise the most.

Mom and Dad both took turns talking to the family and showed us the x-ray image from the CT scan so we could see for ourselves. After we all passed around the x-ray and asked questions, something beautiful happened. Dad started to speak and began to talk to us about things not of a medical nature, but of a spiritual nature. It was so special and almost sacred that I don't how to put down into words the feelings that he shared with his children. He didn't want to talk about possible treatments like chemotherapy or more radiation and he didn't want to talk about how much time he had left with his family. He just wanted to talk about the temple. He looked at each one of us and said that the thing he wanted most was to be together with all of his children in the temple one last time. There was such power in the words he spoke. His testimony was so strong. He said that he could leave this life if only he knew that his family was all together in the temple. He kept saying it over and over again. He spoke with tears in his eyes and was sincerely pleading with his family to prepare themselves to be worthy to enter the temple. It was a truly amazing experience.

I am so thankful for my parents and for their truly unwavering faith in the gospel of Jesus Christ and the plan of happiness that allows each one of us to return to the arms of a loving Heavenly Father and be together forever as a family someday.