Accident Update

Edit: Tuesday morning, April 21

Both the men are doing well. George is home and has been to church a couple of times in a wheelchair. Sunday morning he walked in all by himself–no wheelchair, no crutches, no cane. He still returns weekly to Las Vegas to have his burned leg tended, but has made tremendous progress.

A couple of weeks ago, Dustin was transferred to a rehab unit here in Lake Havasu, and he also has made great strides. Continue to pray for him, please. He has developed blood clots in both legs, and faces more surgeries on his legs. His spirits are high, though, and his attitude concerning the death of his son, Daniel, is remarkable.

God is a good God. We thank him for sparing the lives of these two precious men.

Edit: Wednesday afternoon, March 25th

George is having surgery today to graft skin onto his badly burned leg. I have called Michele, but was connected to voice mail, so have not heard how he is doing. I did speak with his mother, Laurel, who is also in Las Vegas, but she did not yet have news of his surgery.

I expect he will do very well. He continues to improve every day, is eating adequately, and has less pain than previously.

Amazingly, Dustin is to be released from the hospital by the end of the week. God, most gracious and loving, has heard our prayers, and has exceeded our expectations. (Edit: April 21 As it turned out, Dustin was not released when it was thought he would be.)

Edit: Tuesday morning, March 24

Both men continue to improve; on Monday Dustin was much more alert. It is Jerry’s understanding, according to a phone conversation, that Dustin has been told of little Daniel’s death. “It was very rough,” Dustin’s mother told Jerry.

We so appreciate your prayers and other support.

Tonight and tomorrow night convene our Christian Intervention classes; the lesson this week is What alcohol and drugs do to families. We are believing God for a special anointing and visitation of the Holy Ghost during these sessions.

Though unconfirmed, I have been told that the woman, who driving while intoxicated, and who crossed the center meridian and crashed into Dustin’s vehicle, has been arrested and may be charged with man-slaughter. I hope she has someone in her life who can minister to her.

Edit: Monday morning, March 23

After church yesterday, Brandon drove Jerry and me to the hospital in Las Vegas where we visited with George and Dustin and with their families.

George has been moved a step down from ICU, where he is in a private room, but still connected by telemetry to the nurse’s station. He wears an oxygen mask and still experiences extreme pain, especially from his leg that was so badly burned. His spirits are high, as are Michele’s. We had a lengthy visit with them and a peaceful prayer before we left.

“We are pleased with his progress,” the nurse told us as we visited with Dustin. Dustin’s eyes are closed most of the time, but after we had been in there awhile and had told him who we were and that we loved him, he began muttering, and I believe he said, “I love you.” Later, Misty fed him spoonfuls of a milkshake. It was strawberry, and he didn’t seem to want it.

“What kind do you want?” Misty asked.

“Chocolate,” Dustin was able to say, and so Misty went to the cafeteria to buy a chocolate shake for Dustin.

Again, thank you for your prayers and other forms of support for these families and for us.

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George and Dustin, though severely injured as previously reported are making progress. Please continue to pray for them and for their families.

Misty has found some comfort in knowing that her son is now safe in the arms of Jesus.

Previous posts concerning this incident have now been made private.

My Brother, Junior

Junior in Henderson, Nevada, originally uploaded by Shirley Buxton.

I was excited about it for days and when we began circling the arrivals area at the Las Vegas Airport on the Friday before Easter, I could hardly contain myself. It was our 4th time around when I spotted my brother, Farrell E. Forrest. Junior, he was to me, for he bore our father’s name and I had never called him anything else.

It has been years since we had been together, and there he stood, distinct and sorted out from the bustling crowd as though a spotlight had beamed him. Junior, my brother, my baby brother. He urged out his shy smile, released the handle of a luggage piece, and we embraced there on the walkway–Good Friday in Las Vegas.

Junior had flown from Toronto that day, although he had been in the States for a few days. His home is near Pittsburg, but for several months now he has lived in Antofagasta, Chili. He is an electrical engineer and is vice-president of something or other connected with the Dunlop Corporation. He did his college work in Ohio and immediately on graduation went to work for Dunlop (maybe one of its subsidiaries, not sure), and has continued with them until now–a couple of breaks in there I’ll write of later.

Junior is 64–doesn’t look it–at least in big sister’s eyes, and is the sweetest man you will ever meet. He is smart, humble, soft-spoken, courteous and beyond excellent as a father and grandfather. He speaks glowingly and with obvious great affection of his late wife, Rose, his only daughter, Sandy, and of his two grandchildren, Brad and Moriah.

I had emailed telling him not to eat any airport food along the way and that we would stop for dinner after picking him up. A Cheesecake Factory was near and we pulled in there, snagging a beautiful outside table where, in the picture above, you see him. We talked and ate and smiled and lingered…then it was time to go, and we drove to Lake Havasu and to the door of the London Bridge Resort Hotel.

It’s Spring Break here, and though it was 11:30 at night, the parking lot was jammed and huge boats on trailers were blocking the driveways. Young people ran about in various stages of dress and undress.

“Hope it’s not too noisy, and that you can sleep all right. It’s Spring Break here, and Lake Havasu is one of the major destinations for college students,” I mentioned at one point. He was aware of it and thought he wouldn’t have any trouble sleeping.

We would pick him up for breakfast at 8:30. Jerry helped him in with his luggage and left him standing at the check-in counter.

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My devotional blog is here.