Howard and Lise

"Miracles come in moments.  Be ready and willing." - Wayne Dyer

Miracles come in moments. Be ready and willing.
Wayne Dyer
Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/miracles.html#1kOKOPYmtW6HtYUH.99

It doesn't happen often but at times in my life I have met someone for the first time who I could swear I have always known.  That's how it was last year when I met Howard and Lise.  Howard is Stan's first cousin though Stan did not know him until last year.  Howard and his wife Lise live in Timmins where Stan brought his mother for a visit to see her critically ill sister last year.  Howard has lung disease.  He and Lise started coming to Toronto last year, shortly after meeting Stan so that Howard could be evaluated at Toronto General.  About two weeks ago, they moved here when Howard was put on the waiting list for a double lung transplant.  They rented a small apartment downtown to be near the hospital.  The list of those needing lungs is long and on average recipients wait about a year for their surgeries.  Howard doesn't have a year.

The thought of losing Howard is unfathomable.  In the time we have known them, Howard and Lise have become part of our family but not a new part.  They're are more like a piece that we never knew was missing until we found it and fit it in place.  The fit was perfect.

My Kabbalistic friend David tells me we are in a window of miracles - a time to ask the universe for the miracles we so need or desire.  It is Chanukah and he reminded me the holiday is not just about latkas and jelly doughnuts.  Another highly spiritual friend tells me that there is an opening to connect to the energy in the universe for these next few days.  She doesn't connect that opening to Chanukah but that's really not relevant.   The window is apparently open and I'm taking full advantage.  I've asked for a number of things, nothing directly for myself, but of course desiring the healing of those I love is, I admit, still somewhat selfishly motivated.  At the top of my list are two thing - Howard and my sister Cath who is dealing with some health issues of her own.

Yesterday Howard's condition declined and he has now been hospitalized.  His name has been bumped up on the transplant list.  As scary as that is, I am choosing to believe this is a sign of the miracle that is manifesting itself in front of our eyes.  Howard will get his new lungs. Cath will get the healing she needs.  I'm praying.  We are all praying.  If you feel so inclined, please join us.  We need all the help we can get.