How do I find the words?

Dearest friends and co-workers,


    Dr. Bob's Adventure...what an amazing adventure it has been. And those of you who knew Bob, know what a good man he was, that he loved life and lived it to the best of his ability, no matter his health at the time, good or bad. He was one in a million and I know in my heart I will never meet another person, man or woman, as truly good and kind as he. I could wax poetic about my beloved, but instead, there is a poem by Rudyard Kipling that I love and want to share. My mind has always gone straight to Bob whenever I've read it, and he will forever, be to me the very words brought to life, and now in my memories. It follows:

If

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too:
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise;

If you can dream---and not make dreams your master;
If you can think---and not make thoughts your aim,
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same:.
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build'em up with worn-out tools;

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings,
And never breathe a word about your loss:
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on!"

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with Kings---nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much:
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And---which is more---you'll be a Man, my son!

Rudyard Kipling

 

 

And lastly, I want to say to everyone, one last time, that we would never have made it as far as we did w/o your love, prayers, help and encouragement. I hope the words don't sound trite, because a truer thing I've never written. I still believe and so did Bob, that all your intercessions on his behalf, helped him achieve remission and do so well after the transplant...prayer is a powerful thing!

So thank you, thank you, thank you! I love you. Bob loved you. Your kindnesses will never be forgotten.

Love and prayers,
Mo (& Bob, from Heaven)

http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/thereporteronline/obituary.aspx?pid=164799822#fbLoggedOut
 

Tough Update

Hi all,

Well, as my gal Deb used to say, it's a bad news day for the bears. Bob has had a rapid deterioration in the last 2 days and I'm here to ask for continued prayers and good vibes. Over the last 2 weeks, he's had more problems with coughing and choking and that put a damper on his appetite. I think that in turn has made him weak again and affected his breathing, so that he needs morphine to breathe comfortably. Even though he's only had 3 doses over the last 48 hrs. he has become lethargic and unable to eat or drink anything today. He answers me with one word responses...negatory on the pain/shortness of breath issues...then quickly drifts back to sleep. Well, I'm not going to get into all the physiology here, just wanted to let you know he's had a decline...again. I say that b/c he's bounced back before....I think he's on his 4th life at this point...and I hope and pray he will again. We were so hoping to get him to his niece Donata's wedding on the 18th this month. So, one day at a time.

With love and thanks,
Mo and Bob