jakorte's blog

For us there ended up being a lot of funerals to attend.

First, my father died after a long illness, then my mother-in-law passed away the same year. We received a call that Jeff’s mother was in medical trouble and was being taken by ambulance to the hospital. I went to Jeff’s grandmother’s house, while Jeff and his brother were at the hospital. The front door bell rang, and when I answered it, I found Pastor David on the other side.

He came in and sat with Nannee and me as we waited for some news on how Sally was doing. After while he said to me, “You look very familiar to me.� Where upon Nannee replied, “Oh, no. You wouldn’t know Jodi. She’s Jewish!� I recognized the recognition in his eyes. It was then that the boys and some friends showed up and gave us the sad news that Sally was in a diabetic coma and not likely to recover. I remember clearly the very strong, very long hug Pastor David gave me.

Dad, and Sally’s passing were interspersed with my younger cousin, our best friends’ step-mother and 2 friends’ fathers (3 different friends), a great aunt and a great uncle on my husband’s side, and Jeff’s grandmother’s neighbor. With the exception of my father in Florida and my cousin in Connecticut, all of the funerals were officiated by Rev. McKinstry. We just kept running in to him, and developed a casual relationship, of sorts.

My husband’s grandmother had been developing some medical problems, so for a while, she came to live with us. In the beginning it was on and off, due to her independent and stubborn nature. One night while at our house, she used the air-horn alarm Jeff had given her, to wake us up and let us know she was in trouble. After emergency surgery, and some complications, Nannee passed away in the Toledo hospital. Pastor David was there with us as soon as he could be.

jak