During our first summer living in Austin, we were surprised by heart surgery and a 44 day hospital stay for Margaret. I continued writing daily devotions based on the Catholic lectionary, although they were often finished just before my self-imposed midnight deadline, when they were posted on davesandel.net. The devotions in this book (from June, July and August 2021) tell Margaret’s story, which was remarkable for our family and for some of her care-givers. Rob Neely, her surgeon, paid close attention to Margaret (and me) before and after the surgery. During the surgery, he likely saved her life not just with the deft and delicate touch of his scalpel, but with his thumb, which he held for an hour on a spot that would not stop bleeding.
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During these six weeks and two days there were many stories, heroic tales of moments with nurses, doctors, her case manager and diabetes educator, food service workers, maintenance folks, and other patients. God’s blessings poured over Margaret day after day. All God’s children’s lives are precious, and Margaret might be even more sure of that now than she was before.
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Remarkably, there are 44 signatures on Margaret’s heart pillow, which all cardiac surgery patients receive. Just the number of days she was in the hospital. Sweet.
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Finding Her Way Toward Healing is available on Amazon as a paperback for $6.76 and a Kindle book for $1.99. The Kindle version has searchable color pictures and also links to lectionary passages and other pictures.
November 1, 2021
So Dave, please confirm that this book includes the devotions you wrote during the 44 days, right?
November 1, 2021
Yes, that’s right, Don. The book includes those devotions, and those in August, when Margaret was first at home recuperating.