Our Christmas in 1981 was bittersweet for us. Lynda was home for the Christmas holidays and we had such a good time with her but she we took her back to Millcreek after the holidays in early January. We were only expecting her to stay another few weeks. When I think about why we didn't just keep her after the holidays it's like watching a movie that you've seen before and wanting to say to the actors in the scenes, "Oh, DON'T do that! There's someone in your house. Don't go in!" but you've seen the movie and you know she goes in and you know what happened next.
After Lynda died, I found myself looking at the pictures and the timelines and wishing with 20/20 hindsight that we had made another choice. The script was already written. The parts were already cast and the scenario for Lynda's future was changed for the next 30 years. This is a picture of the last Christmas that my sweet streak of lightening had a perfect little body.
It is a strange coincidence that she had on the same plaid jumper in the picture that I made at Scott Center in February after the stroke. At this point she was still paralyzed and needed support to sit up. She couldn't walk and was extremely agitated and in pain most of the time.
This was actually a great improvement from where she was while in the hospital at LeBohneur. She could no longer speak. For 30 years Lynda lived a different life after the stroke but after a year she stopped crying in pain.
When Lynda went to heaven on August 3rd, I know she no longer looks like the broken person that lay in the hospital room in ICU. I don't know if she will look like the little girl pictured below or the adult Lynda she would have been. It doesn't matter because the Bible assures me that I will recognize her and she will know me. More quickly than you can move from picture number 2 to picture number 3---God can transform our broken bodies into a new creation.
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