Praying for Charlie

Well I'm now at the very end of my vacation. I didn't get as much done as I'd planned, but under the circumstances, that couldn't be helped.

Friday morning, Chris got a call from his mother - his grandfather had taken a massive heart attack a few hours prior. It didn't look good...and the family were preparing for the worst. Suddenly, my measly plans of tying up my wrapping and starting the Christmas decorating seemed rather minuscule, and the bigger job of being someone's girlfriend took over. There was no question - I had to go with Chris to be there for him. He's really close to his grandfather, and was taking the news pretty hard. We got ready and on the road as quick as we could.

En route, we had a call from Chris' brother Shawn - their dad had called him to let him know that Charlie Sr. was doing a little better. He'd been taken off his ventilator, and was remembering things. We headed straight to the hospital - to ICU. Charlie Sr. was really drugged up, but he seemed to recognize Chris (off and on). The whole family took turns in and out of the family room and being at Charlie Sr's bedside. Apparently, he had actually flatlined in the early hours of the morning, having to be resuscitated...

The family received a Christmas miracle, though...for Charlie Sr. beat all odds, and to the surprise of his doctors, and us all, he's now doing amazingly well. He's got a long road ahead of him, of course, but for an 89 year old man who just recently suffered a major heart attack, he's doing fantastic. He's got great color, has total recognition of all of us and his surroundings, a great appetite, and a strong will to get out of there and live a long life yet! He's a stubborn old bird, and I think the worst thing he may have ahead of him may be being told he has to take things easy and rest more than he's used to. He's having an echo cardiogram tomorrow - this will reveal how much damage his heart suffered. Hopefully he's got a long life ahead of him yet. We love you, Charlie, and we're praying for you -- keep getting stronger...xo.

So we were in Truro from Friday onward to today - just getting home at about 6pm. The Maritimes received the first snowstorm of the season today as well. It made for a tricky drive home - but the scenery was spectacular, and just a little more Christmas-y. Here's hoping that your Christmas season is filled with its own little Christmas miracles, too.