John and Montie Part 2

John went home from the hospital a couple of days ago. That certainly doesn't mean he's healthy and fine. I think it just had more to do with the fact that the hospital felt it had done all it could do. He still hasn't regained full and complete consciousness. He still speaks just a few words at a time.

I keep thinking of Montie; particularly during that first day John was in the hospital. When I arrived at the emergency room there were several others from church already there. I was able to stay for awhile but had to leave to take care of some business. When I returned that afternoon, some of the people who had been there earlier had left but others had come and taken their place.

By that afternoon John had been stablized but the doctors still weren't sure what had caused his condition nor did they know what would happen to him. He was sedated and was having an MRI done. There was Montie, uncertain of her husband's condition. She was obviously concerned about what had happened and what might still happen.

While waiting for the test to finish, she came over and sat next to me. She asked if I would do something for her. Of course I told her I'd do anything I could. I was thinking she would ask me to run an errand or do something then and there to assist her. In typical Montie fashion though, her request was not about herself or her family. She asked me if the next time I had the opportunity to speak at church if I would talk about the importance of giving.

She mentioned an illustration I had used a few years ago that stressed how easy giving could become. She told me she felt we as a church weren't doing enough particularly in the field of missions work. She wanted to know if I could use that illustration and speak about giving. At first I was caught off guard considering the time, place and circumstances of her request. As the day went on though and now as more time has gone by I realize that was just another example of this lady displaying the character and faith so many of us have come to expect from her. I told her I would.

Over the past few weeks she herself has shown all of us how she continues to give even in the face of her own situation regarding John. Visitors to the hospital were asked to write down their thoughts when they came to see John. It's her hope that when John recovers, these thoughts and expressions can be put into book form. She wants the book to be available for sale with any and all proceeds going toward missions work. With her husband in the hospital, she made sure food (good food) was delivered to the church building during the funeral of one of our members.

At this Thanksgiving like many others, I will give thanks for my family, our health and our safety. I will be thankful for the love of God. This year however I will also give thanks for being allowed to know people like John and Montie. The great thing though is I know I won't be the only one thinking that way.

John and Montie

I got a call yesterday that John appeared to have suffered a stroke yesterday morning. If you don't know John, it's your loss. He's an elder at the South Knoxville Church of Christ. John's not a man who leads by words. He leads by example. He doesn't talk about the importance of missions work. He shows its importance by organizing medical missions trips to Latin America. I believe he cares as much about the work in Honduras as he does about the work in Knoxville.

I went to the hospital yesterday as quickly as I could. John was still in the emergency room. His wife Montie was in the waiting room with several members of the South Knoxville congregation. Just like John, if you don't know Montie you're missing out. Montie is to me, the female version of Barnabas. She is an encourager. She was obviously concerned about John's condition and kept people updated as visitors came and went.

As John was having an MRI performed, she began a conversation with another of our deacons, Steve and myself. The focus of her concern and conversation was what we as a congregation could do to keep our shut-ins involved in the worship. She wants us to begin streaming services live on the Internet so those at home are able to watch. That in turn led her to talk about what we can do as a group to continue to stress the importance of giving so the church can do more for people.

Her husband was being examined to find out how severe his stroke was. He was sedated and hooked up to a breathing tube. She was focused on what we as Christians could be doing for others. On one hand, this seemed unbelievable. Then I realized I was talking with Montie and remembered this wasn't so extraordinary after all; that's just her.

I was reminded of something I read about President George W. Bush when he would meet the families of troops killed in the Middle East. He would come away from those meetings so encouraged by what the families had to say that he would comment on, "the comforter being comforted." That's how I felt yesterday.

I went to the hospital yesterday out of my concern for John but also to think I would in some small way comfort Montie. Yet when I walked back to the car I realized I was the one comforted, encouraged and made to look at the greater good. We'll all be praying for this family just as we have for the last 24 hours. I know that as I pray for John's health and hopeful recovery though, I'll also be saying a prayer of thanks for these two people. I'm thankful to know them and work with them. I'm thankful they have the focus they have and I'm thankful they are who they are.

The End of the Flood

People in Nashville are continuing to recover from the flood that hit back in May. Many will be rebuilding homes and business for months to come. Two stories came to light from opposite ends of the emotional spectrum though that somewhat closed the story on the flood.

The Grand Ole Opry returns to its home at the Opry House tonight. The show is sold out and an incredible line up of artists are scheduled to perform. Brad Paisley, Keith Urban, Martina McBride, Blake Shelton, Dierks Bentley, Josh Turner and Jason Aldean are some of the contemporary artists scheduled to appear along with many of legendary performers that have been members for decades. It will be a night of celebration for the Opry and the community. In many ways the Opry returning home marks the end of the recovery from the flood. This event will bring what a lot of people call "closure".

On the other side of town though, there is closure without the happy ending. Just yesterday the body of Danny Tomlinson was found in the Harpeth River. Mr. Tomlinson had been missing since he was swept downstream during the flood. His family and friends have spent hours and days time and again searching the river hoping to find his body. His sister was the one who found him. Today Metro Police positively identified the body.

What an odd coincidence; these two stories from the same town. In a way they both mark an end to the flood recovery. One is a story of happiness and history. The other is a story of loss and sadness. Even though it is believed that Mr. Tomlinson was the last person still unaccounted for from the flood, there's still a long way to go in some of these neighborhoods.

I hope that everyone is happy the Opry is back home. I'm a big fan of the institution and its place in American music history. I just also hope that all the families still mourning their losses can one day celebrate in their own way.

Los Angeles

Cleaning out some files, I found this little piece I wrote on July 26, 2000. It's about a time I was out west. I had been in Sweet Home, Oregon and one of my brothers who lived in Oregon at the time came to meet me. We had to drive all night from there to San Bernadino which is east of Los Angeles. That's a long drive in one night. We were excited about going through L. A. since he'd never been there before. Anyway, here's what I wrote about it ten years ago.

We started out way the heck up north in the mountains. It was already dark and we're going east of L. A. It's been dark a long time now.

We just talked and passed the time all the way out of the mountains into the valley and basin. You got tired but wanted to see L. A.; at night in all her lights.

It was flat for so long after we got to the San Joaquin valley. Then we finally hit those long, big hills just north of town. Eight lanes of traffic both ways. It's three or four in the morning and there's as much traffic as we're used to seeing in the middle of the day.

You were asleep when L. A. finally came into view. It was there on the right. I tried to wake you up. I yelled at you but you were so tired you never got to see it.

I looked for both of us. It was a long way from where you and I came from.

Sorry you missed it. You still might see it sometime. But it won't be the same.

Thinking About Katrina

As we've all been reminded over the past few days, it was five years ago that Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast. As some of you know, I was fortunate to have been involved in a small way with the clean up efforts in Ocean Springs, Mississippi; across the bay from Biloxi. The pictures I've included are some "before and after" shots of a home in Ocean Springs that belonged to the Lawler family.

I was at Bristol Motor Speedway with one of my brothers the Friday before Katrina hit. I'd been able to visit with a friend I hadn't seen in a few years. That was a great night of racing. The weather was perfect. 2005 had been a great year for me professionally and personally. I distinctly remember standing in the infield of that track after the race, looking up into the emptying grandstands and thinking of how great life was. How odd that within hours thousands of lives would be disrupted beyond anything we or they could have imagined.

Years ago I had a job that allowed me to visit the Gulf Coast. I always enjoyed trips to that area whether it was to Mobile, Biloxi, New Orleans or elsewhere. By Wednesday after Katrina, I was online and on the phone trying to find people and places that could use help. That's when I was introduced to Ocean Springs, on the eastern side of Biloxi Bay.

My first trip down there was with Kevin Smith a few weeks later. We took my Expedition loaded with supplies and hauled a U-Haul trailer. We had no idea what we'd get into. The fact that it was the same weekend Hurricane Rita hit made us even more anxious about what we'd find and what we were getting into. What we found were people working together. We never once heard the irate complaining that was reported on from New Orleans.

I could write page after page of everything I saw, heard and did. I guess the biggest thing that stands out to me now is the same thing that stood out five years ago. Both then and now, if you watched the coverage on television, you'd think that New Orleans and only New Orleans was affected by Katrina. The Mississippi Gulf Coast was hit just as hard if not harder yet that area never got the media attention. It's frustrating but understandable.

See all they did in Ocean Springs, Biloxi, Bay St. Louis, Waveland and the other small towns up and down Highway 90 was work hard to rebuild. They didn't scream long and hard about how they'd been forgotten. You never saw the mayor (or former mayor) complaining because the federal government didn't do enough to help them. You never saw the people in those areas with their hands out waiting for everything to be done for them.

Black and white, rich and poor, they just went to work rebuilding their lives. I know it. I saw it. Neighbors and strangers, locals and visiting help all working together to rebuild neighborhoods one house at a time. I'll help you and you help me was the attitude. It was nice to see then and nice to think about now.

I hope to return to the area sometime. I wish I could've gone back before now. I'd like to see some of those neighborhoods after five years. There was plenty of work still to do after my last trip. Something tells me that with the lack of media coverage, it's gotten done. I guess that's not worth reporting on.

Just Like Tom T. Hall...

..."I'm 40 now." He's been called a poet, story teller and philosopher and he did it first so I'll let him explain it.

There were barefoot dreams of catching outlaws
There were school dreams of catching footballs
There were young dreams of finding great romance
There were armies and I took the chance
There were avenues of glory and some deep despair
That put subtle shapes of silver in my hair

Well I'm 40 now and I'm a man
But I can't resist the urge to put dreams in my plans
So many hopeless dreams and I broke some vows
Maybe life begins for me, I'm 40 now

There were summer nights and there were good days
Life was water and I made waves
Oh I was crazy then so I made some breaks
Maybe God can look the other way
Either good outweighs the bad or we forget the bad
I'm thankful for a few friends I've had

'Cause I'm 40 now and I'm a man
But I can resist the urge to put dreams in my plans
So many hopeless dreams and I broke some vows
Maybe life begins for me, I'm 40 now
Well I'm 40 now

Back to Nashville

I'm sorry for the lack of updates here. My family and I were in South Carolina for vacation for the last week. Here's what I know concerning Nashville and the flood recovery.

My sister was able to move back into her apartment this past Friday. If I'm not mistaken, that's a month and two days after the flooding. The elevator still doesn't work which means she has to walk three flights of stairs that still smell. I don't think she cares though. She's just happy to be back home.

I plan to be in Nashville this upcoming weekend. I'll be leaving Friday night and returning Sunday night. The main thrust of this trip relates to a job I'm working. I still hope to get some updates on the recovery in some of the neighborhoods we visited in May. I know some more things have been collected from folks here in Knoxville and I'll be taking that over.

I'll post more when I return.

Nashville Flooding...3 Weeks Later

I'm sorry it's been a week since the last update. We're going on vacation later this week and I've been busy getting work done and getting things ready.

It's been 21 days now since my sister was forced out of her apartment. There is still no power to the building though the work goes on. She met with a representative from FEMA yesterday. Apparently she's eligible for some money from the government because she's been displaced. She was told she'd find out how much within 48 hours. Hopefully then by tomorrow she'll have a better idea. I think she'd just prefer to be back in her own home.

Don't know if you caught tonight's NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams. The "Making a Difference" segment focused on volunteers helping clean up in and around town. It looked like one of the groups shown was working in the River Plantation neighborhood we visited. I also saw several people wearing shirts from Service International. That's the group that Lipscomb is working with.

Today's picture is of the big sink hole that opened up on I-24 southeast of Nashville. You might have seen it on the news but you've not seen this particular shot. This was taken by David Pratt, a friend of mine shortly after it opened up. He was on his way to Orlando and got caught in the long back up on the interstate. I read in the paper the other day that it eventually grew to be 40 feet long and 20 feet deep. Fortunately there's been no significant rainfall in the last week or so.

Check out http://tennessean.com/ when you get a chance. On their main page they're now showing pictures of the cleanup. After seeing the shots of the Opry House and Opryland Hotel during the flood, it's pretty amazing to see the "after" pictures.

Nashville Flood...Now Mudslides

After the weekend rain they had, mudslides are a big problem. There are now homes being damaged that weren't even affected by the flood two weeks ago.

It's been two weeks now since my sister was displaced and there's still no report on when power will be restored to her building. The Codes Department will have to inspect it once the power is on.

I've sent emails to some friends in the area to find out what kind of damage they've suffered at their homes. Still haven't heard anything from many of them.

Here's a couple of more pictures. One is looking out of my sister's window toward the Pinnacle building. They were still pumping water from the basement Wednesday, eleven days after the flooding stopped. The other is from the Beech Bend subdivision near Bellevue.

Nashville Flooding...It's Raining Again

Local folks might know this but the rest of you may not. Nashville and the mid-state has been getting the one thing they don't need...rain. It's been raining pretty hard there since this afternoon. There are flash flood warnings posted. As if that's not bad enough, it's expected to continue off and on through the weekend. Of course you can't keep it from raining even though they probably don't want to think about getting anymore for a long, long time.

I didn't realize I hadn't told what my sister's name is until someone emailed to ask. It's Priscilla. This is the 13th night she's been out of her apartment. There still hasn't been any word given on the electrical inspection for her building. That's the first step needed before they can even think about when the second and third floor residents can return.

Today's pictures are another one from the River Plantation neighborhood. I've also posted one from the Red Cross shelter at Lipscomb. It's in what used to be McQuiddy Gym. It's now a part of the Student Activities Center next to the new Allen Arena. It's been home to 400 people for the past two weeks.

Nashville Flooding...Random Thoughts

This gives you an idea of what downtown looks like. Several of the streets south of lower Broadway are closed. There are semi trailers like this parked everywhere including on the grounds of the new symphony hall. All of them are with different disaster recovery and flood clean up companies. It's odd to see semi tankers filled with water parked on the sidewalks.

If you've not already found the websites, here are a few that will show you some incredible pictures from the time the flooding started until now.

www.tennessean.com They have several slide shows. On the main page, toward the middle right, look for the Pep Boys video link. Their security cameras caught the flooding of a store not far from downtown. If you think this water just crept in, you'll know differently after you watch it.

Websites for the Nashville TV stations also have slide shows available:
www.wkrn.com
www.wsmv.com
www.wtvf.com

I've had a few folks email me and call. I love it that they're wanting to know what else can be done. If you're not able to go over personally to volunteer, I can tell you that cleaning and building supplies along with water will continue to be needed for a while. I saw an announcement today that the city declared the water is 70% safe. They didn't say what you're supposed to do with the other 30% though! If you would like to donate money or gift cards to Lowe's or Home Depot, you can send them to the South Knoxville Church of Christ, 4604 Chapman Highway, Knoxville, TN 37920. Just mark it attention Nashville Flood Relief. One way or the other we'll make sure it gets to people that can use it. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions.

Nashville Flooding...Continued

These pictures show what the River Plantation neighborhood looked like yesterday. These were taken on just one road in one neighborhood. It looks like this all over town. I've posted some information below for anyone that is interested in going over to help clean up, clean out and rebuild. I'll post more information as it becomes available. If you know of more agencies and contact points feel free to email me or post them in the comments section here below the post.


Lipscomb, Service International partner to recruit daily teams of flood clean-up volunteers

Leaders from Service International (SI), a non-profit disaster relief organization headquartered in Chesterfield, Mo., are partnering with Lipscomb University and several Nashville churches to provide clean-up efforts for residents whose homes have been damaged by the flood.

SI was founded in 1993 and has since provided disaster clean-up services around the world including during the 2005 Katrina clean up. Lipscomb will provide housing for what is expected to be more than 80 out-of-state SI-trained and experienced volunteer leaders.

No special training or professional skills are required to volunteer for clean-up through SI. At present, Lipscomb expects to host SI through June 5 offering additional volunteer opportunities to the community.

How to Volunteer

• At 8 a.m., come to Western Hills Church of Christ in Bellevue, 7565 Charlotte Pike, Nashville, TN 37209, or to Bellevue Church of Christ, 7401 Highway 70 South, Nashville, TN 37221.
  
• Every volunteer must sign a release form. These forms will be available at Western Hills Church of Christ this weekend or you can go to www.serviceinternational.org.
• Ages 16 and older can volunteer; however, anyone between the ages of 16 and 18 must be accompanied by a parent or guardian.
  
• Wear sturdy shoes, long pants (no shorts). Expect to get dirty!
  
• T-shirts and work gloves will be provided.
  
• A simple sack lunch will be provided.
  
• Transportation to the clean-up site will be provided.
  
• Crew chiefs will be assigned to each work site to give clear directions.
  
  

Nashville Flood...Market Street Apartments

This is what the front of my sister's building looks like now; at least part of it. The rest is taken up by work trucks and the appliances that were taken out of the first floor units.



The interior photo is of one of the first floor units. Notice the water still on the floor almost two weeks after the flood. Since the A/C isn't running and the sewer overflowed, I'll let you imagine what it smelled like.

Stay tuned. I'll add more images for you. I'm just glad I finally figured out how to add pictures to this site!

Nashville Flood Relief...Take 2

I don't know where to begin. It's amazing what a person can cram into one day sometimes. I'll probably break this up into several posts so I can keep my thoughts straight and make it easier to read. I wish everyone who donated items, money and gift cards, everyone who wished us well, thought and prayed for the people in Nashville (specifically my sister) could have been there. I wish you could have seen, heard and felt the gratitude. We told more than one person not to thank us; we were only the delivery service. The picture above shows what the back of our Ford looked like when we got to Market Street Apartments this morning.

A very large portion of the cleaning supplies, gloves, masks and bottled water went to the apartment complex. The building manager couldn't believe that people from three hours away were willing to donate to total strangers just because someone knew one person who lived in the building. The smell was unbelievable but they cleared a place in what used to be the office for us to unload.

We left downtown and headed south towards Lipscomb University. The Red Cross has a shelter there in the old gym which is now part of the Student Activity Center. They weren't able to use much of what we had but we met a lady from just up the street who could. She had a man working to clean her home who himself is homeless now. They took more cleaning supplies, personal care products, water and some food. She commented on how impressed she was with the support that churches have shown.

Next we headed to Bellevue which is one of the hardest hit areas. We drove through the River Plantation and Beech Bend neighborhoods. It was unbelievable to see the amount of trash in front of homes; basically everything that had been inside. Imagine everything that is in the first floor of your home laying in your yard including the walls. That's exactly what it is. It's just like the Mississippi Gulf coast was after Katrina.

We offered what we had to everyone we saw. Of course many people are working their jobs during the day and cleaning/repairing at night so we didn't see everyone. One poor older lady just asked if we had bleach. That's all she wanted even though we tried to offer more. One man only asked for hand sanitizer and felt bad because we gave him such a big bottle.

We also gave a lot of food and personal care items to a friend and co-worker of my sister's. It's a lady that she works with who lost everything including her home. Yolanda and her husband B. J. just moved into a guest house of the doctor she and my sister work for. As if this situation wasn't enough to deal with, Yolanda just found out she is pregnant.

It's getting late and it's been a long (but rewarding) day. I hope that summarizes things well for now. I'm working on getting contact information for anyone who wants to go over to assist in the clean up and rebuilding. A few of you have also asked me about sending more items and/or money. I'm working on getting that figured out as well. If you have any questions, most of you have my email. I'll try to answer as quickly as I can. I'll also post here and you can use the comment section under the posts. Thanks for caring!

Nashville Relief Part 1...It Started WIth A Phone Call

Everyone is aware of what took place in Nashville May 1-2. My sister lives downtown, between 1st and 2nd Avenues. We texted and talked several times over those two days. For the longest time she thought she'd ride out the storm in her apartment. She's on the third floor so there didn't seem to be any reason to worry.

On Sunday the 2nd, when water started flowing into her parking lot, she decided it was time to leave. It took her about an hour and a half to drive what is normally a twenty minute trip to a friend's house. It didn't seem like a huge inconvenience at the time. We thought she might be there for one, possibly two nights.

Tonight will be the tenth night she's been out of her home. There is still no electricity to her building. At least she has a home even if she can't get back into it yet. The people in the first floor of her building (along with thousands of others) have nothing. The picture above is her building.

So a few days ago I was wishing I had the time to take a trip over there; to help her and anyone else I know (or don't) when my phone rang. It was Montie Downs and if you know Montie you know she's going to make things happen and get things done. So there she was asking about my sister and whether she was affected. To make a long story not quite as long, as a result of that, John Downs and I loaded and I mean loaded our Expedition with everything from rubber gloves and masks to bottled water, food and cleaning supplies tonight.

Lisa and I are heading out tomorrow. We'll start at my sister's building and go from there. Many of you helped make it happen. Besides the Downs, Jody Miller deserves special praise for getting us to this point. Geoff Mabe did a great job of rallying folks to the cause. Then there's many of you, the ones that gave so much in items, money and gift cards.

Now obviously not all of this is going to my sister. I'm sure the bulk of it will go to the tenants and staff working on cleaning and fixing the first floor of the building. I can tell you the effort has already been appreciated.

I'll keep you posted so hopefully you'll check back from time to time. I hope to gather information tomorrow about helping rebuild homes in case anyone is interested. I'm sure this won't be the only trip from this area that myself or perhaps one of you will make to Nashville in the coming weeks. Keep collecting items! I'll post all relevant info here but you're free to email me as well. Thanks for your support.

The Longest Day Ever With A Happy Ending

I ran a marathon Sunday; not really. In reality I participated in a marathon. I ran part of it but ended up walking (as quickly as I could) a lot of it. I've had a lot of people ask me why I wanted to try to run 26.2 miles. My response has been that it sure seemed easy back in November. That's when I committed to doing it. Besides, it's one of those things I always told myself I'd do in life along with racing a stock car on some local short track.

I was actually doing well in preparing for it. Then in January I ended up with a stress fracture in my right foot. After it healed I had every intention of resuming my training. You know what they say about the best intentions though. I never did run again until Sunday.

26.2 miles is twice as long as I've ever run before. I ran a half marathon three years ago. It probably was idiotic to try to attempt it. At least I finished. For several miles on Sunday I wondered if that was even going to happen.

I started pretty well. I never broke my stride for the first nine miles. Then I started to feel that pain come back into my foot. I knew it was that stress fracture. I thought about quitting at the halfway point but didn't. Once I made the turn to continue at the 13.1 mile mark the rain started and man did it rain.

I knew by the 15th mile this was going to be about finishing and not about how quickly I could finish. It was at about this point I quit seeing any other runners. The marathoners had just about all passed me. Those too far behind me to see must have been in really bad shape. All the half marathon runners had turned the other direction at the halfway point. I didn't see anyone else for almost ten miles.

It quit raining around the 22th mile. Just about the time I dried out it began to really rain hard and this time it stuck around until the end. At mile 24 a guy passed me who I had passed hours before. I tried to stay with him but there was just no way. Almost everything in me said to quit. I was hurting too bad. The pain wasn't just in my foot at this time. By now every muscle in my legs, arms and shoulders were hurting. I was feeling pain I'd never felt before. It makes sense because I'd never done anything like this before.

As I finished the last mile thunder and lightning joined the rain. The finish line was on the 50 yard line of Neyland Stadium which holds 108,000 people. I wondered if there'd be anyone in there except the race officials. After all it was late, the rain was pouring down and there was thunder and lightning. A bowl full of metal bleachers isn't the first place people want to be when lightning is flashing.

Then I entered the stadium. I can't remember if I felt more joy, pain, excitement or exhaustion. Just then I heard a woman's voice screaming. I remember thinking that was typical. I should have figured some nut would be out in that weather cheering on the back of the pack. Then I looked up as I came throught the tunnel. It wasn't just some woman. It was my wife.

She'd been there for an hour waiting for me. The few remaining spectators had taken shelter in the concourse under the stands. Lisa was the sole spectator in that otherwise empty stadium. Those last fifty yards were the easiest fifty yards I had run since the first fifty at the start of the race hours before. To my eyes and ears it looked and sounded like she was cheering an Olympic athlete who just earned his gold medal. Unbelievable. I'm not often truly overcome with emotion but I'll admit I was there. Those few moments made all the pain, exhaustion, hunger and near despair worth it. Those are the moments I'll never forget of a day I'd otherwise probably like to forget.

The foot still hurts and I'll probably have to wear a brace on it for a while. The rest of my muscles are already feeling better. That memory though will last a lifetime. Those are the kinds of moments we should live for.

Now if I can just find a stock car...

Help Needed

John Troute is a man I know. He is a Christian. At one time or another he's been a deacon, a song leader and a Bible school teacher. He is a veteran. Right now John is a man who needs a kidney. That's a difficult situation under any circumstance. According to the information I have, his situation is more complicated than just getting on the national donor list.

Apparently due to John being a year older than the allowable age, he has to find his own donor. He must receive a kidney from a living person. I've been told that in order to qualify as a living donor, an individual must be physically fit, in good general health and free from high blood pressure, diabetes, cancer, kidney and heart disease. Gender and race aren't important but the donor needs to be between the ages of 18 to 60. Finally, they must have blood type B. John had a brother who might have been the perfect match. Unfortunately he died this past year.

If you meet these qualifications and would like to consider this or need more information you can reach John and/or his wife Pansy at 740-335-5908. They live in central Ohio but I understand they would consider coming to a qualified hospital close to the donor or arranging for the donor to travel to their area.

If you would like to help but don't meet the qualifications listed above please forward this information to anyone and everyone you know. I would appreciate and I know this family would certainly appreciate the assistance. Please keep them in your prayers.