January 13, 2013
Dear Family and Friends,
We are extremely grateful for your continuous prayers for Meghan and our family. In early November, Meghan spent 3 nights at the hospital recovering post surgery, just to return shortly thereafter to the PICU for another 10 nights with new medical issues. Meghan was home for 1½ weeks before she returned to the ER yet again. Unfortunately, she was admitted for additional 28 nights, with another unrelated medical issue.
Although we emailed all of you a few times for urgent prayers, we wanted to inform you that Meghan is finally doing much better and is home again! Our hearts are filled with JOY! Meghan has battled through these traumatic weeks with great strength, courage and grace, gifts given directly from God! Either Mike or I stayed with Meghan 24/7—never leaving her side, to make sure that she was always well cared for and that she was with someone from her family who loves her beyond words. Mike came every single evening after work, without fail, to bring Lauren, Michael and Shannon to Mott Hospital to give personal kisses, hugs and love to our precious Meghan! Meghan would light up when they arrived, smacking her lips for kisses! You would be amazed to see how her face transformed when she was surrounded by her whole family!
Without going into the medical details about her lengthy hospital stay, we can say, without reservation, that Meghan endured a great deal of distress the past few months. Even when things seemed as though they couldn’t get any worse, Meghan would smile, which would relieve some stress from our day. Each day, we encountered new medical terms, which meant whole new medical challenges. We thank God for getting Meghan through these past few weeks and for holding our family tenderly and giving us peace.
Mike and I want to give a very special thank you to Lauren, Michael and Shannon for loving her unconditionally, as they enjoyed spending so much of their time at the hospital to make Meghan happy. They were great witnesses to the doctors, nurses, staff, and other families with how to truly LOVE one another. Shannon even shared her gift of music with the other sick children in the hospital. She went around to each child’s room on several consecutive evenings (including Christmas Eve), to play Christmas music on her flute for them. They were so happy to see her and to hear live Music! She brought many of the parents to tears, as they, too, were spending Christmas at the hospital with their sick children. Our Christmas was quiet and holy. Our greatest gift was simply being together as a family. We ordered dinner, ate it on a plastic tablecloth with plastic tableware and sparkling cider, and we spent Christmas by Meghan’s bedside……It was simple, holy—and together!
As we ask for continued prayers for Meghan’s recovery, know that we pray for you daily. Here is a quote by Saint Therese of Lisieux that we hung above Meghan Marie Therese’s bed in the hospital next to her prayer cards on the wall for all doctors, nurses and caregivers to see when they examined Meghan:
Our Lord does not look so much at the greatness of our actions,
Nor even at their difficulties, but at the LOVE with which we do them
May God bless you today and always.
The Salter Family