Grateful

I am grateful to God for unexpectedly preserving Kevin's life a year ago today. For the amazing chain of events.... for Joe's presence and coolheadedness in time of great panic, for a neighborhood where people walk their dogs with cellphones ready to call 911, that Eric listened to the voice that told him to turn down Alabama St. to find Kevin collapsed with no pulse just days after Eric completed his CPR re-certification, for the EMT crew that rushed him to Duke after advanced CPR and three AED shocks failed and he flat-lined... but still tried "just one more time," successfully shocking Kevin en route to the hospital, for the new cooling procedure that Chris initiated at Duke and that both the ER team and the cardiac intensive care unit carried out, for Allan's speedy arrival at the hospital, for the prayers lifted up in Durham, Philadelphia and around the world for Kevin's life and full recovery during his coma, for my support team who gathered around me at the hospital and wouldn't let go, for the immediate physical response and loving care of family, friends, church and mission, for the cardiologist who diagnosed the underlying problem, for the surgeon who replaced his faulty heart valve via a new cutting edge open heart procedure and the HEARTS program that rebuilt our confidence in starting to exercise again.
While the outcome was incredibly, abundantly more than we all expected (he woke up with NO brain damage), it was certainly a hellish way to celebrate 15 years of marriage.

So today we celebrate two anniversaries. 16 years of marriage and 1 unexpected year of life. May we continue on this life journey together, intertwined with God and in deep community with others.