Leonard & Brenda

Leonard and Brenda Lowry made the front page of our local paper today. I've known Brenda since I was 16. She cut my hair for many years, and through those years we became good friends. I miss that she no longer cuts hair, but her life, in so many ways, has turned for the better. Leonard and Brenda on their wedding day.

You see, her husband Leonard of 3 years in April, was diagnosed with cancer right before Christmas in December, 2007. He went to his chiropractor, who very fortunately, took an x-ray. The x-ray went just far enough the doctor could see something suspicous. He told Leonard to see his family doctor. The wheels kept turning from that moment on. Literally. He was directed to a surgeon who ordered a PET scan. Leonard was diagnosed with stage III inoperable lung cancer. The cancer had spread to his lymph nodes, around his heart and his windpipe. He began chemo and radiation treatments. His throat was sore, very sore. He took medicines to numb the pain to eat. He was able to drink lots of milkshakes, not much more. All of the medicines over a 3 month period did not cause Leonard to lose weight or even really get sick. Brenda told me he slept a lot. She was very protective of that. She let him sleep, monitoring phone calls and visits so he could rest.
Leonard and Brenda after his diagnosis in December.

In March they were told the treatments were not working and another PET scan found another tumor in the opposite lung. His life expectancy was shortened from approximately November of this year, to just weeks or possibly days. Brenda was beside herself. Leonard seemed to take it in stride. Mom and I saw them at a local restaurant one evening. Just looking at Leonard you would never, ever know he was sick. Leonard has a beautiful smile. That's all I could focus on when I spoke to him. His spirit was very alive. And that's exactly what his smile was saying to everyone who took the time to visit with him. It was truly unbelievable.


On April 11th the doctors told Leonard his left lung was full of cancer. Another examination found a new growth on his lower spine. Leonard and Brenda went home to tell their families. That's an hour long drive to home. They also visited a funeral home to make final arrangements. He picked out his casket. The very next day Leonard became sick. He had a tremendous headache and was ready to go. He was ready to go. A quick phone call to the hospital and a room was waiting on him when he got there. IVs were inserted and more tests were done. There were lots of prayers being said during this weekend.

The following 2 paragraphs are from the paper:
"On Monday, April 14, tests results from a bronchoscope showed Leonard's lungs were full of pneumonia and infection. On April 15, an MRI on Leonard's back came back negative. The spot on his spine was gone. On April 17, the oncologists came into the room saying a team of oncologists had reviewed the PET, CAT, MRI and bronchoscope tests results and declared Leonard was cancer free. All of it, including the original cancer in his lymph nodes and right lung."

“In a six-day time period, I had gone from days maybe weeks to live to completely cured,” Leonard said.“We looked at each other...laughed...cried...,” they said. “Should we call somebody? Who do we call first?”“All the doctor could say while he was pointing up with his finger, is ‘it was the the Man upstairs.'”

That's right, on April 17th, Leonard was declared cancer free. No new signs, no old signs of any cancer whatsoever. Amazing. Simply amazing. There's only one answer in my opinion. Divine intervention. The Good Lord was not ready for Leonard. Somewhere, somehow and at some time this will all be answered. Leonard has a strong spiritual upbringing and knows this could not have happened without Him. That's the only answer we need to know. We are happy to have you Leonard. May you celebrate "another" retirement, birthday, great bowling scores, more grandchildren and all other surprises that are in store for you.

Goodby Dear Friend, We'll Miss You...

Today marked one of those new beginnings for a great co-worker, employee and most of all, friend. This is Ralph. He's the best. I've worked with Ralph since 2000, really before that, but we didn't know each other very well then. He's worked for the department for over 17 years. He's a United States Veteran and proud of it. You can see his cake. It reads, "Ralph's Finally Hittin' the Bricks Best Wishes on Your New Horizons" and to you dear friend I hope you have some wonderful new horizons. You deserve them.

I'd like to tell you a little bit about Ralph. He's very private. (I did get his permission to do this blog segment. He just wanted to know if he had to read it. I told him "no". But I do have permission in case you are wondering.) He refers to his family as just that, family. Sometimes we'll hear about the son, the daughter, the son-in-law or the daughter-in-law, the grandkid, I think you get the picture. Heather (another co-worker) and I thought maybe this was a weird cult thing. Maybe Ralph just didn't name his kids. And maybe they found spouses without names too. It was just too ironic. Anyway, Ralph is private, friendly, onery, I mean ONERY, and a complete class act. A God given class act. I haven't met too many of these in my 39 years. Or maybe I just didn't adore them like Ralph. You see he's from the old school. He knows when to speak his mind, when he does this, he's kind. He's kind, he's fair and the thing I like most about Ralph, he's honest and has a GREAT sense of humor. We have to have one in the setting we work in otherwise we wouldn't look as good as Ralph does when we retire. Ralph has this dancing twinkle in his eyes that I am going to miss. It's that kind thing I told you about earlier. He's kind, but his mind will be reeling with all that oneriness that I told you about too. He's just too kind to let that sneak out sometimes, but sometimes he can't resist. He's all about family, loyalty and good times. Good times because you only live once and loyalty to know the Good Lord up above is watching those good times. Isn't that right Ralph? Oh, I forgot, you won't be reading this. I should go on...Ralph is leaving the department on a good note. That's the time to leave. He's healthy, vibrant and has a wonderful family to spend those good times. He says he's headed to the mountains on his motorcycle this summer. Heather and I wonder, is he really going by himself? Remember he's private. He may not share "those things" with these two girls, but that's okay, that's Ralph. And I might add, we really do believe him. We wish Ralph the best. We really do adore Ralph. He has endured a lot with us. Marriage, births of babies, death and divorce and ultimately the best of friendships. Oh, I need to add, some pretty darn good jokes too! This was a bittersweet day. That's the best I can describe it. We are happy to see him happy. We are sad not to see him as we once did. Best wishes, you deserve the very best of beautiful new horizons. Goodbye dear friend, we'll miss you...

I threw in this picture for Ralph IN CASE he reads this. This landmark greets us "hello" every morning and "goodnight" every evening. Ralph will have many new landmarks on his horizons, but this one shall be imprinted forever somewhere in the folds of his heart.