Another Time Another Place

After having lost the first copy I ordered of this book, I ordered another one online.  It is Well by Christopher Faddis documents the journey of his wife, Angela, battling and succumbing to cancer. 

I first learned of this couple, via Facebook, through mutual church friends shortly after her diagnosis.  A fundraiser page had been set up that later turned into an update page.  I remember being surprised at seeing such a young wife and mother being diagnosed with stage IV cancer and how sad I felt for the family who lived a half hour down the highway from my family and me in Winston-Salem.  When I stared following their story via Fb they moved to Arizona shortly after which is where the couple had met and first started their married life.

Over the next several months, I continued to follow the updates and pray for this family even though I did not know them personally although we had mutual friends in common, both here in NC and in AZ (then come to find out later in MD).  The way they, and especially Angela, handled this trial struck a chord in me.  Their faith in spite of such a grim prognosis was inspiring and I kept hoping a miracle would occur but alas, Angela passed away in September 2012.  I have blogged (directly and indirectly) about Angela several times throughout those 17 months.  A search of her name on this blog will pull up those previous postings if you're curious and would like to read them. 

Adam and I had started reading this book a last month.  It was a bit surreal to read the words that I had read on the Facebook updates and to be transported back to 2011/2012 when I spent so much time praying for the family.  After misplacing the book, I could not wait to get the second copy so we could pick up with where we had left off in the new book.  The book arrived in the mail yesterday so we continued reading last night.  We ended up reading many more pages we expected to read due to the gripping and compelling story.  We have one chapter left to read and I'm a bit sad to think we will be at the end of this book so soon.

However, last night when reading the next to last chapter, I almost fell off the couch when I saw these words in the text:

  SURRENDER WITH JOY

On September 7th, I got a call from an old friend, Tom Booth.  Tom is a Catholic musician who writes beautiful and prayerful music for the liturgy and prayer.  Angela and I had seen Tom and his band only weeks before her diagnosis in Greensboro, NC.  In fact, Angela would say that seeing Tom in concert and praying with him was in her eyes a preparation for what was to come.  "It was like a mini-retreat to get me ready," she would share.  Tom was coming to town from Tucson and was going to be near my house leading a women's retreat.  He wanted to know if he could come see Angela. 

First of all, the heading reminded me of this post I had made a few days after Angela had died.  Then, as I read the words that followed, I couldn't believe that I had been at the same church concert Chris writes of here.  The Tom Booth concert at St. Paul's on April 3, 2011 had been the first official Young Adults activity the newly formed IHM YA group had attended. 

When we had our picture taken with Tom after the concert, he joked that he was also a member of the Young Adults group with just a few years added.  Then, a few years later, in February 2013, as I sat in the beautiful Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis in downtown Santa Fe, NM, I was pleasantly surprised to hear one of Tom Booth's songs being sung during the mass.  As I sat in that pew reading the words to Tom Booth's song on the page before me, I had thought back to the awesome mass held at St. Paul's where Tom sang, spoke, and performed.  I remember marveling at how neat it was to be able to make a connection between NC and NM!  Now, yet again, I'm making another connection as I read this book with a boy from CA.  This couple who had enjoyed the impromptu visit with Tom Booth in AZ had also been in the very same church as I back on April 3rd just weeks before she was diagnosed.  The video (and one of my favorite Tom Booth songs that he happened to sing as the Meditation Song after Communion during the church concert) from his visit with Angela is shown at the end of this posting.

How incredible it is for me to think that I sat in the same church listening to the same words and music as this couple I prayed for in 2011/2012 simply because I followed their story on Fb and we had mutual friends.  What a small small small world it is.  It makes you wonder how many of us cross paths with folks we may again encounter in the future?  Would we all treat each other with more compassion and kindness?  Or would we continue in the same manner as we had been?  Think of what a world it would be if we all unplugged from our technology, looked outside our bubbles, tore down our walls, and shared with others we are HERE and standing by their sides?  I can imagine that kind of world...can you?

I was reminded that I need to Just Open Yourself and surrender to God's will for your life.  Who knows what He has in store for you?  That is the take away message I have from last night's readings and as I reflected on the words just before falling asleep.  I should not be anxious and worry about jobs or where I will live after graduation for God will provide and will show me where I'm needed as my dear friend, Marci, reminded me.  Let us all try to embrace Angela's positive outlook and belief in God's provisions for our lives a little bit more.