Thursday, February 14, 2013

Happy Valentine's Day

John 15:12-13
"My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends."

Sorry it's been a while since we posted. Tammy's recovery has been so smooth and steady that there haven't been as many things to write about as there were the first time, when there were more ups and downs. We get busy and we don't think about posting anything because the news is not much different than the day before. But we will try harder to post more frequently.

We love Valentine's Day. We are madly in love--have been for 33 years, officially, though it's really been much longer than that for me. We don't need Hallmark to tell us to tell each other that the other one is special, but it's still fun.

This one was especially fun, because Tammy got to have flowers again. With the relapse last spring, Tammy was on a strict diet of nothing "living" in the home, like pets or plants. That time has passed. We should get our cats back soon, and today I got to bring home some flowers for Tammy. I still think she's the prettiest girl at the ball, and with her in the picture, it's hard for me to notice the flowers.

Tammy is doing amazingly well. Her counts continue to improve, and she continues to inspire the doctors and nurses. She is a model patient, and God has indeed blessed her with a quick and thorough recovery. She's not completely there yet, but she's well on her way.

Tonight, as we ate dinner, I told her how much I enjoyed today, thinking about the blessing she is in my life. Last May, when she was preparing to go back in the hospital for her second bone-marrow transplant, the doctor told her that she had about a 25 percent chance to be here at this point. It doesn't matter what else is going on in life; if I need a lift, I think of Tammy and the fact that she is still with us and still a blessing to everyone around her. It's another chapter in our love story every day.

As you celebrate your own version of Valentine's Day, we hope you have a love story to share. We hope you and your loved ones appreciate each other more each day. And we hope you count on the love exemplified by Jesus Christ as an example of how to experience ultimate love.