A Room for a special one, for a night

Our house was directly across the street from the clinic entrance of Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore .. We lived downstairs and rented the upstairs rooms to out-patients at the Clinic.

One summer evening as I was fixing supper, there was a knock at the door I opened it to see a truly awful looking man. "Why, he's hardly taller than my eight-year-old," I thought as I stared at the stooped, shriveled body.

But the appalling thing was his face, lopsided from swelling, red and raw. Yet his voice was pleasant as he said, "Good evening. I've to see if you've a room for just one night. I came for a treatment this morning from the eastern shore, and there's no bus 'till morning."

He told me he'd been hunting for a room since noon but with no success. No one seemed to have a room. "I guess it's my face. I know it looks terrible, but my doctor says with a few more treatments..."

For a moment I hesitated, but his next words convinced me: "I could sleep in this rocking chair on the porch. My bus leaves early in the morning." I told him we would find him a bed, but to rest on the porch. I went inside and finished getting supper. When we were ready, I asked the old man if he would join us. "No thank you. I have plenty" And he held up a brown paper bag.

When I had finished the dishes, I went out on the porch to talk with him a few minutes. It didn't take a long time to see that this old man had an over sized heart crowded into that tiny body. He told me he fished for a living to support his daughter, her five children and her husband, who was hopelessly crippled from a back injury.

He didn't tell it by way of complaint; in fact, every other sentence was prefaced with thanks to God for a blessing. He was grateful that no pain accompanied his disease, which was apparently a form of skin cancer. He thanked God for giving him the strength to keep going.

At bedtime, we put a camp cot in the children's room for him. When I got up in the morning, the bed linens were neatly folded, and the little man was out on the porch.

He refused breakfast, but just before he left for his bus, haltingly, as if asking a great favor, he said, Could I please come back and stay the next time I have a treatment? I won't put you out a bit. I can sleep fine in a chair." He paused a moment and then added, "Your children made me feel at home. Grownups are bothered by my face, but children don't seem to mind." I told him he was welcome to come again.

And on his next trip he arrived a little after seven in the morning. As a gift, he brought a big fish and a quart of the largest oysters I had ever seen. He said he had shucked them that morning before he left so that they'd be nice and fresh. I knew his bus left at 4 a.m. , and I wondered what time he had to get up in order to do this for us.

In the years he came to stay overnight with us there was never a time that he did not bring us fish or oysters or vegetables from his garden.

Other times we received packages in the mail, always by special delivery; fish and oysters packed in a box of fresh young spinach or kale, every leaf carefully washed. Knowing that he must walk three miles to mail these and knowing how little money he had made the gifts doubly precious.

When I received these little remembrances, I often thought of a comment our next-door neighbor made after he left that first morning. "Did you keep that awful looking man last night? I turned him away! You can lose roomers by putting up such people!"

Maybe we did lose roomers once or twice But, oh, if only they could have known him, perhaps their illness would have been easier to bear. I know our family always will be grateful to have known him; from him we learned what it was to accept the bad without complaint and the good with gratitude to God.

Recently I was visiting a friend who has a greenhouse. As she showed me her flowers, we came to the most beautiful one of all, a golden chrysanthemum, bursting with blooms. But to my great surprise, it was growing in an old dented, rusty bucket. I thought to myself, "If this were my plant, I'd put it in the loveliest container I had!"

My friend changed my mind. "I ran short of pots," she explained, "and knowing how beautiful this one would be, I thought it wouldn't mind starting out in this old pail. It's just for a little while, till I can put it out in the garden."

She must have wondered why I laughed so delightedly, but I was imagining just such a scene in heaven. There's an especially beautiful one," God might have said when he came to the soul of the sweet old fisherman. "He won't mind starting in this small body."

All this happened long ago -- and now, in God's garden, how tall this lovely soul must stand.

The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart."

Friends are very special. They make you smile and encourage you to succeed. They lend an ear and they share a word of praise. Show your friends how much you care.

The New Priest - Confessional Training

The new priest, born and raised in Texas, is nervous about hearing confessions, so he asks the older priest to sit in on his sessions.

The new priest hears a couple of confessions, then the old priest asks him to step out of the confessional for a few suggestions.

The old priest suggests, "Cross your arms over your chest, and rub your chin with one hand and try saying things like 'yes, I see,' and 'yes, go on,' and 'I understand.'" The new priest crosses his arms, rubs his chin with one hand and repeats all the suggested remarks to the old priest.

The old priest says , ..."Now, don't you think that's a little better than slapping your knee and saying, "No crap... what happened next?"

Dirt Bike 1, Quirin 0

In a message dated 9/24/2007 3:39:41 P.M. Central Daylight Time, mquirin@weldtechservices.com writes:
Bock,

Back at work now and just catching up on e-mails - thought I’d pass this along. Was out riding my new dirt bike in Tennessee over Labor Day (yeah, I know I’m getting too old for that stuff) and had a pretty good crash and burn at 70mph. Hit the dirt head first and ended up with a “Hangman’s fracture” of my neck according to the neurosurgeon – one of my vertebrae broken completely in half. Now I have this cell phone tower on my head. Everything works though, and I’ll get out of this thing in 2-3 months. The really good news is my dirt bike sustained no serious injuries and I’ll be able to ride it again.

LePori stopped by this weekend and we downed a few Michs to help ease the pain. He’s doing well and living in Jacksonville.

Life is good,
Mark

For my Cousin Lisa

In a message dated 9/25/2007 4:38:41 P.M. Central Daylight Time, mrosepalmero@yahoo.com writes:
Hi Rick,

I was talking to Uncle Ron and Aunt Faye over the week-end. Aunt Faye is doing great. But they told me that Lisa (daughter) was diagnosed with breast cancer and will be operated on Wednesday. It will not be a full mastectomy. So please again ask the prayer group to put their hands together for Lisa. She is also having a D and C at the same time. I will give you an update as soon as possible.

Love Ya,
Aunt Mary Rose

Sarah Rogers - Out of Coma - Out of Insurance!

Dear friends,

I'm forwarding this e-mail as every little bit helps. Sarah Rogers, one of the girls in our local chapter of the Society of Women Engineers got into a bad accident and needs a lot of help. Please say a prayer for her and her family and read the e-mail below for the raffle details.

Thanks to all,
Nevena

----- Original Message -----
From: Secretary Central Florida SWE
Subject: SWE - Raffle for Sarah Rogers
As you may already know, Sarah Rogers, president of the UCF section of SWE, was in a tragic car accident on May 8, 2007. Her boyfriend was killed and Sarah was in a coma for over a week. She was moved to Indiana for critical care therapy. Her father had to move her out of that facility due to the cost and insurance no longer covering any of her care. Sarah still needs a great deal of medical care. Currently, her father is caring for her at home and taking her to therapy appointments.

Her mother is putting on a raffle to raise money for the medical expenses. Disney has donated a great package to this effort. Tickets are 3/$25 or 1/$10. More detailed information as well as a link to pay through paypal can be found by visiting the following site:

http://www.swe.org/centralflorida/2007_SarahRogersfund.html

Please do anything you can to help. Sarah is an amazing girl and her family really needs our help.

CORRECTION: Ryan Mahaffey's Dad's Funeral

I apologize, but I gave you all the wrong time for the funeral on Friday. It is at 10:00, instead of 10:30. I am sending you a copy of the obituary as well, since it will only be in the Daytona paper. It's a nice tribute. Again, thank you all so much for your support.


Leo Hubert Mahaffey "Hub"
Funeral services for Leo Hubert Mahaffey 82, of Bay Ridge Lane, Port Orange, passed Monday, Sept. 17, 2007 at Daytona Beach Health and Rehab, will be Friday Sept. 21, 2007 at 10:00 AM at Volusia Memorial Funeral Home Chapel, 4815 Clyde Morris Blvd, Port Orange, FL, with Minister Steve Johnson officiating, with burial following at Volusia Memorial Park 550 N. Nova Rd. Ormond Beach, FL, the family will receive friends on (today) Thursday, Sept. 20, 2007 from 5PM until 7PM.
Leo was born May 13, 1924 in Xenia, Ohio, known by his friends and family as Hub, he graduated from Xenia Central High School in 1943 where he was football captain of the Xenia Buccaneers, he earned a scholarship to the University of Miami of Ohio, but was called to serve his country immediately after graduating. He received an Honorable discharge from the United States Army in 1946; he was stationed in the Philippines, and was a PT Boat, also known as the Knights of the Sea, metal smith during WWII. He was a member of the PT Boat Preservation Association. Hub retired to Florida in 1985 after 30 years of service with Conrail as a Brakeman. He was a member and usher of First United Methodist Church of Port Orange and he enjoyed golfing.
Hub was preceded in death by his parents Leo and Mesie Mahaffey, and his brother Dean Mahaffey.

Hub is survived by his wife of 37 years, Rhonda Knight Mahaffey, of Port Orange, FL, and their two sons; Ryan, of Orlando, FL and Brock of Port Orange, FL, and their three grandchildren; Vanessa, Madison and Aidan. He is also survived by three sons from a previous marriage, Tim of Huber Heights OH, Mike of Cedarville OH, and Pat of Xenia, OH, and seven grandchildren, Jamie, Katie, Kelli, and Kasey, and two great-grandchildren, Jason and Justin.

Memorial Donations: WWII PT Boat Preservation
PT Boats Inc.
P.O. Box 3870
Germantown, TN 38183
Arrangements are under the care and trust of:
Volusia Memorial Funeral Home
4815 Clyde Morris Blvd
Port Orange, FL 32129

The following email was forwarded to me by Amelia Z...thanks. I am asking the Prayer Group and the "ASI graduates" group to say a prayer for Ryan and his family.

By the way that ASI Graduates group name was inspired by Novi.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

MELANIE writes...
I just wanted to update you all. Ryan's dad passed at 8:30 this morning. He went peacefully, just as he wanted. Many have asked, so here are the arrangements. There will be an announcement in the News Journal as well. The viewing will be on Thursday from 5-7 at Volusia Memorial in Port Orange. As of right now, the funeral will be there as well, on Friday morning at 10:30.

4815 Clyde Morris BoulevardPort Orange, FL 32129
(386) 673-5373
The internment will be at Volusia Memorial in Ormond Beach.
548 North Nova RoadOrmond Beach, FL 32174
Rhonda, Ryan and Brock are doing as well as can be expected. As you know, Hub hasn't been himself for the last 2 years, and the last year has been rather difficult for everyone. Rhonda in particular. Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers. We appreciate them. Our family is truly blessed to have you in our lives. I know that they are comforted by your love, support and willingness to step forward in any way. Both Ryan and Rhonda really want to have the kids with us for everything, so thanks for the many offers to care for the babies. Madison has always managed to put a big grin on her Papa's face when no one else could. They had a special bond. We know he would want her there. A couple people asked for Ryan's mom's address, so here is that as well.

Please forgive me for the impersonal group email.

Rhonda Mahaffey
810 Bay Ridge Lane
Port Orange, FL 32127

Thanks again,

Melanie

UPDATE Dale Malone HEART Health Prayers Needed

From Reagan M.
Thank you for remembering Dale in your prayers. The procedure was a great success. Dales son, James Harrell Malone, called this evening to put the final touches on the success and optimism for Dale. Briefly stated, the surgeon found the vein to be almost 100% blocked and after finding the right size "roto-rooter" to run up the vein, the surgeon said the surrounding vessels began to fill with blood. He was optimistic that Dale would surely feel better and have more energy. James was happy that Dale went to another surgeon for a second opinion and for acting on the second opinion. His GP and other Heart Surgeon had advised against the procedure because of Dales critical condition.

Never count the God factor out. Thanks again for your prayers.

Please keep my older brother, Dale, in mind for prayer on 9/12 as per the following. Dale's condition requires surgery but his health is so poor they will not operate on him. His new heart surgeon has advised him there is a smaller size balloon available now that could give him some relief and he recommended Dale to try this procedure. Dale almost destroyed his knee 20+ some years ago on a motorcycle and that is also giving him a lot of misery. Please keep him on your prayer list.

Thanks,
Reagan

=========================================================================

Could net get your cell phone earlier today. Have scheduled angioplasty for me at Harris Hospital downtown Ft. Worth Wednesday 9/12/07. Have to arrive at hospital 1:30 pm and procedure is scheduled for 4:00 pm. I was told to expect to spend one night at the hospital.

Have been struggling with a lot of pain in my motorcycle knee for the last two days and am not looking at email very much due to the pain of sitting in a chair.

Salutations, or Salud; whatever churns the butter. Dale

Jim...Carpenter...Macek Heart ByPass!!!!

Folks...Jim is a friend my family met when we first moved to Kansas. His daughter was tutored by my daughter Shannon. He has done ALL of the home improvements on our little house above the prairie in Shawnee. He is a hunter supreme. He shares his special game preparations. He is a great guy...even though he is a Jayhawk! Please read on...and while you do...say a prayer for a great, young guy who just got remarried one month ago! Thanks...Bock.

In a message dated 9/5/2007 2:42:02 P.M. Central Daylight Time, erbgarden@everestkc.net writes:
I just got a call from Jean, Jim’s sister. He asked her to call because he can’t be here to tile this week-he’s having heart by-pass surgery today! He’s only 42-the family is shocked, since he’s probably the fittest of the bunch. He didn’t see this coming. He’d been tired, and his normal Dr. didn’t think it was anything worth investigating, other than thinking maybe acid reflux was causing his sore throat. Jim wasn’t satisfied, so on the recommendation of a friend, he saw a Dr. at KU Med. Center. This Dr. found classic symptoms of heart disease, and found 3 blockages, 90-95% blockage is what Jean said. So, the surgery was scheduled right away.