Six years ago my former wife died following surgery to remove a brain tumor. It was less than a week after our 31st anniversary and just 4 days after discovering the tumor. It was a shock to the kids and me. In my darkest moments, I prayed that God would let me die also.
Five years ago I had a heart attack at the age of 56 and almost had my prayer answered in the affirmative. However, He had a different answer for me. Since I was dating a nurse at the time, she convinced me that it wasn’t the acid indigestion that I thought it was. We went to the emergency room instead of to my funeral.
Four years ago, that nurse and I were married. God answers prayers in His own way and in ways far better than we can imagine in our hours of darkness. My father died 33 years ago at the age of 61. I turned 61 this year with 4 stents in my heart, which will allow me to have more years to enjoy on God’s earth.
Laura and I are planning to enjoy our years together and to see the beauty of that earth in those years. This year’s adventure is a trip along the east coast of America and Canada.
I’ve been able to attend the graduations of 3 of our children (one with a doctorate) and two of their weddings in the past 5 years. This year my oldest son, Josh, completes his Oral Surgery residency and begins his private practice with a classmate near Birmingham, Alabama. We’re attending the festivities on our way back to the Midwest to visit friends and relatives. Then it’s off to the east coast and we’ll continue our blog that we started last year.
We’ll be gone from early June until sometime in September if all goes according to our current plans. We’ve also been informed by my oldest daughter, Jessie, that she is expecting in November so we’re looking forward to becoming grandparents soon after we return. We’re planning an early Christmas gathering of the family (probably in mid-December) in Minneapolis to introduce ourselves to the new arrival.
In the meantime, here are a few pictures from our recent visit to Miami and the Everglades, where we celebrated my 61st birthday and the sale of our Dubuque house. The first one is from our air-boat ride in the Everglades. The second and third are from South Beach in Miami. The fourth one is a view from our boat tour of Biscayne Bay.
Ed
evertstouring 