Friday, April 4, 2025
For the whole law is summed up in a single commandment, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” ~ Galatians 5:14
Written by Mel Steele | Stephen Ministry Coordinator
It was about five in the evening of January 15, 2019, as I stood at Fran’s bedside to tell her I was going to prepare our dinner, when I asked her how she was doing. Her hospice nurse had just left with plans to return tomorrow. While Fran looked comfortable as the concentrator in the next room pumped life-giving oxygen through a tube into her cannula, I asked if she was anxious or in pain as hospice had left me medication to address both. She said, “No, I’m fine.” I asked if she wanted to move to her chair before dinner to watch TV. She said, “No I’ll just close my eyes for a minute and rest.” I went to the kitchen to start dinner. As she lay there, we were on a path of just over four years dealing with a lung disease her pulmonologist had told us was incurable. Five years earlier, we had successfully worked through a breast cancer crisis together, as we had other challenges in the 60 years we had been together. Earlier that week she had seen her Stephen Minister whose visits had always been a comfort for her. I also had a Stephen Minister, a retired physician, who had also helped me understand the disease and treatments Fran was receiving. About 20 minutes later, I returned to the bedroom to tell Fran dinner would be ready soon. She didn’t respond to my voice, and I was shocked when I realized she had passed away peacefully in the short time I was gone. I immediately made calls to Pastor Kelsey, to hospice and then to my son to break the news. They all came to my side in minutes. Later, as I managed the sadness and pain of my loss, I also joined Pinnacle’s Grief Support Group where each member of the group shared their pain as we worked through the stages of grief. I’ve never been one that felt like I heard God speak to me, but I know that we are taught to love one another. My experience that day and the weeks that followed told me I did not need to hear God’s voice for comfort as our Stephen Ministers, hospice, our pastor, my family, and our Grief Support Group surrounded me with love the whole time I journeyed through this crisis.
Prayer: Lord, be with us through it all, through the celebrations and the crises. Be steadfast in your love, O God of our salvation. Amen.