So at the beginning of this week I had the awesome pleasure
of being able to take a nice long drive up to Ohio so I could visit my old
teammate Preston and some other amazing pro-lifers from Created Equal.
Survivors had worked with Created Equal for two weeks during our tour in
Florida and what a great time it was! Survivors was both refreshed and fed by
Mark, Seth, and their crew and that was in fact where we happened to pick
Preston up, who came with us after CE’s tour ended back to California. Preston was
truly a welcome addition and has very quickly become just like a little brother
to me. So how could I pass by the opportunity when a bunch of lovely ladies
invited me to their graduation parties and Preston told me I could crash with
his family if I came up? So I drove up to Ohio on Sunday and had a blast
partying on Monday and remembering the sacrifice made by those who fought for
our freedom on Memorial Day. On Tuesday I was super excited to go out with Seth
and Preston to Ohio State campus where Cailin joined us and we did some
pro-life outreach with the graphic images. I have to admit after having been
gone from Survivors for a month I almost felt a little rusty out there talking
to students. But in no time it seemed I was as outgoing as ever asking students
what their opinions on abortion were. It was a short day as rain had delayed us
getting to the campus that day, but overall was very productive.
One of my conversations was with a young man named Tyler who
stopped to talk a little hesitantly. He thought that I wouldn’t want to talk to
him knowing that he was pro-choice and I informed him that one of the reasons
we come to the campuses is to talk to those students who are pro-choice. So we
started having a lengthy discussion about being pro-choice. So with every point
he made I made a counter point showing him the flaws in his argument. He kept
saying “well I guess I never thought of it that way” or “I guess that’s
true”. It was incredible for me to see
someone who was getting it; it was like light bulbs popping up all over his
head as he understood. After talking for about 15-20 minutes he had to get to
class but thanked me for talking and wished me good luck in talking to others
about what was going on. I had a few
other good conversations that day, a few rough ones as always, but that’s to be
expected when you talk about abortion on a college campus.
I was blessed by an awesome friend and fellow pro-lifer
Amanda to be able to take a day and go have some fun at Cedar Point. It was a true blessing, as well as a true
headache after getting banged around on some coasters. But perhaps the biggest
blessing was to have Amanda come with me on Thursday to experience working with
graphic images for the first time. Being at Liberty we’ve never worked with the
images much as many in Administration disapprove of the use of them. While I
sometimes understand why, I also think that we need to embrace the fact that so
many injustices in the world were never changed until the true picture of what
the injustice was was shown. So it was
an honor and a proud moment of mine to see Amanda jump into debate on her own
with a young man who said he thought abortion was murder but was justified if
the woman had been raped. We get this view a lot, and sadly many of these people
fail to realize the trauma that an abortion procedure inflicts upon the rape
victim after she has already been traumatized enough.
The same day I also had a young woman come up to me with a friend and so I asked her what she thought about abortion as per usual with anyone who lingers by the pictures. She said she had had one herself but that the people at Planned Parenthood had told her “It’s just tissue”. My mouth dropped a little, it always does when it’s my first time that I hear a young woman bring to life what I’ve heard that other women have said. To hear something with your own ears or see it with your own eyes is far more different then having the story told to you secondhand. So we talked for a bit, turned out her friend had a little one because she made the decision not to kill her child in the womb. Crazy isn’t it? I talked some more to both young woman about the different aspects of abortion and how it kills not only the child but hurts everyone involved in both mental and physical ways. I’m sad to say that my trip to Ohio had to end after Thursday after I received a call to tell me that my grandfather was on his death bed.
It was very sudden, receiving that call Thursday night, if you knew my grandfather and just how much of a young spirit he was you would be utterly surprised. My grandfather had been having problems with his hip a few weeks previous, but when my dad hadn’t heard from him for two days he asked a church friend to stop by. Then when his friend said he couldn’t get in the house because it was locked so tight we decided to call the cops. They broke into the house on Tuesday to find my grandfather dehydrated and needing a trip to the hospital but even then we had no idea it was as bad as it was. When I started typing all this I was sitting in a Hospice home in Charlottesville holding my grandfather’s hand. It seemed that what had happened was his heart started to give out because he elected not to have a surgery to repair it last year. Again if you knew my grandfather this would not seem strange as he disliked doctors and asking/getting help. So my grandfather was experiencing the shutdown of his liver and kidneys, all while his heart was going into overdrive.
You may have guessed from my tone already that my grandfather has passed on. I know many of you had been praying for him and my family and for that I am so thankful. I’m so happy and blessed that I was able to race back to Virginia from Ohio (blessed that my car made it!) and spend the time with my grandfather before he passed. But it’s made me increasingly aware of death. My brother and I were with him by his side when he passed on Sunday morning a little before 4am. I will forever remember the words I went to say to my brother in the sitting room to tell him “Matt it’s time”. I know this all probably sounds eerie, but does it make sense that I need to put my thoughts to writing to help me heal?
I’ve never seen a loved one die in front of me, and it’s just ever so strange, because my grandfather didn’t show weakness, it just wasn’t his style. He was so sweet Friday though, I had gotten to the Hospice home just a little after they transferred him there and hugged my relatives quickly, but then rushed right to his side to sit by him. I never can leave anyone alone when they’re going through pain. I sat there holding his hand, and as I talked to him he started to squeeze my hand. That little squeeze of the hand I’m sure will carry me through rough times in the future. He was so sweet Friday, which again is you know my grandfather sweet is not a word you would generally use to describe him. So I stayed with him most of Friday, Matt stayed overnight with him, I stayed Saturday all day with him. I was originally planning on going back to the house on Saturday night at the nurses urging, but when my brother got there that night and looking at my grandfather I knew it wouldn’t be long. So I asked Matt if he would stay with me and we both stayed the night. I played some of my grandfather’s favorite music and around 3:50am in the morning my grandfather took his last breath with Matt and me by his side.
It still feels so unreal, being in my grandparents’ home this week has been nothing shy of hectic as we try to sort through everything all while planning the funeral for this weekend. There are so many memories in this house, my brother and I growing up would come here every summer for two weeks to spend some time with my grandparents. I have no doubt I’ll probably be a train wreck come Friday and Saturday, especially with all the family here. I keep sitting in this bedroom expecting to hear my grandfather walking through the house talking to my grandmother and telling her to get Matt ready because he’s taking him golfing with him. That was our summer’s for so long, my grandfather would take my brother golfing and my grandmother and I would sit at the house sometimes and watch old movies like ‘Pride and Prejudice’ or ‘Anne of Green Gables’.
Well I imagine those of you brave enough to read this far are already tiring of this all and wondering why you even come here to read in the first place. But again I really do thank all of you who have and continue to keep my family in prayer during this hard time. I’ll be writing soon again I wager about some big changes that will be taking effect in my life soon.
Love to you all,
Missionary for Life
The same day I also had a young woman come up to me with a friend and so I asked her what she thought about abortion as per usual with anyone who lingers by the pictures. She said she had had one herself but that the people at Planned Parenthood had told her “It’s just tissue”. My mouth dropped a little, it always does when it’s my first time that I hear a young woman bring to life what I’ve heard that other women have said. To hear something with your own ears or see it with your own eyes is far more different then having the story told to you secondhand. So we talked for a bit, turned out her friend had a little one because she made the decision not to kill her child in the womb. Crazy isn’t it? I talked some more to both young woman about the different aspects of abortion and how it kills not only the child but hurts everyone involved in both mental and physical ways. I’m sad to say that my trip to Ohio had to end after Thursday after I received a call to tell me that my grandfather was on his death bed.
It was very sudden, receiving that call Thursday night, if you knew my grandfather and just how much of a young spirit he was you would be utterly surprised. My grandfather had been having problems with his hip a few weeks previous, but when my dad hadn’t heard from him for two days he asked a church friend to stop by. Then when his friend said he couldn’t get in the house because it was locked so tight we decided to call the cops. They broke into the house on Tuesday to find my grandfather dehydrated and needing a trip to the hospital but even then we had no idea it was as bad as it was. When I started typing all this I was sitting in a Hospice home in Charlottesville holding my grandfather’s hand. It seemed that what had happened was his heart started to give out because he elected not to have a surgery to repair it last year. Again if you knew my grandfather this would not seem strange as he disliked doctors and asking/getting help. So my grandfather was experiencing the shutdown of his liver and kidneys, all while his heart was going into overdrive.
You may have guessed from my tone already that my grandfather has passed on. I know many of you had been praying for him and my family and for that I am so thankful. I’m so happy and blessed that I was able to race back to Virginia from Ohio (blessed that my car made it!) and spend the time with my grandfather before he passed. But it’s made me increasingly aware of death. My brother and I were with him by his side when he passed on Sunday morning a little before 4am. I will forever remember the words I went to say to my brother in the sitting room to tell him “Matt it’s time”. I know this all probably sounds eerie, but does it make sense that I need to put my thoughts to writing to help me heal?
I’ve never seen a loved one die in front of me, and it’s just ever so strange, because my grandfather didn’t show weakness, it just wasn’t his style. He was so sweet Friday though, I had gotten to the Hospice home just a little after they transferred him there and hugged my relatives quickly, but then rushed right to his side to sit by him. I never can leave anyone alone when they’re going through pain. I sat there holding his hand, and as I talked to him he started to squeeze my hand. That little squeeze of the hand I’m sure will carry me through rough times in the future. He was so sweet Friday, which again is you know my grandfather sweet is not a word you would generally use to describe him. So I stayed with him most of Friday, Matt stayed overnight with him, I stayed Saturday all day with him. I was originally planning on going back to the house on Saturday night at the nurses urging, but when my brother got there that night and looking at my grandfather I knew it wouldn’t be long. So I asked Matt if he would stay with me and we both stayed the night. I played some of my grandfather’s favorite music and around 3:50am in the morning my grandfather took his last breath with Matt and me by his side.
It still feels so unreal, being in my grandparents’ home this week has been nothing shy of hectic as we try to sort through everything all while planning the funeral for this weekend. There are so many memories in this house, my brother and I growing up would come here every summer for two weeks to spend some time with my grandparents. I have no doubt I’ll probably be a train wreck come Friday and Saturday, especially with all the family here. I keep sitting in this bedroom expecting to hear my grandfather walking through the house talking to my grandmother and telling her to get Matt ready because he’s taking him golfing with him. That was our summer’s for so long, my grandfather would take my brother golfing and my grandmother and I would sit at the house sometimes and watch old movies like ‘Pride and Prejudice’ or ‘Anne of Green Gables’.
Well I imagine those of you brave enough to read this far are already tiring of this all and wondering why you even come here to read in the first place. But again I really do thank all of you who have and continue to keep my family in prayer during this hard time. I’ll be writing soon again I wager about some big changes that will be taking effect in my life soon.
Love to you all,
Missionary for Life
