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Saturday, July 16, 2011

Life is Unfair...learning to deal with Grief

Today my heart is beyond sad. It is aching and breaking.
Our dear friend, Katie Parsons May went home to be with the GOD she loved and served.
Her battle with pulmonary hypertension has ended.
PH won this battle but Christ won Katie for eternity.
Sweet Katie had been waiting at UCLA's medical center for over 3 weeks waiting for a double lung transplant. Her disease had made her lungs almost unfunctional. Her heart was in failure too, but in better shape than her lungs. So we prayed and prayed for her heart to be strengthened.
Two days ago, she developed an infection and her kidneys began to fail. Yesterday she went to surgery and had a port inserted and was started on dialysis. We were all so hopeful. And then her heart, which had been working so hard, just gave out and Katie left this life and entered eternity.
I am not sorry for Katie. She is forever free of pain. She is now healthy and whole. And she is in the presence of JESUS, and is joyful. She fought a tremendous fight. She was courageous beyond belief. she cared for others until the very end.
Not only was she probably THE MOST BEAUTIFUL GIRL I have ever seen physically, but her inner beauty even outshined her outward beauty. Katie had incredible pain in her life and yet she kept living.
AND then she and JOHNNY found each other.


Both of them had suffered extreme losses, and God brought them together.
On November 20,2010, I was privileged to be at their wedding. It truly was a celebration of life and hope and God's incredible grace.
That evening Johnny said he wanted to love and care for Katie for however long he could. Whether it be 6 weeks, 6 months , 6 years or 60 years.
God gave them an incredible 8 months together.
And Johnny loved Katie so well. She never doubted his love. And for those of us who knew her, that was the greatest gift she ever received.
Thank you Johnny May for loving sweet Katie so well.
And tonight my heart breaks and aches for Gary and Jeanne and for Hannah and Tots.
The Parsons have many many people who love them all over the world.
I imagine hundreds of people all over feeling this incredible loss and hurt and sadness that i feel and my family feels. There are so so many of us who are lifting the Parsons and May famiiles up to Our Lord tonight.
You see, the Parsons family makes everyone they are with feel special. Feel like you are so important and worth investing in. They love well. they teach us to love better.
And Katie Noel May was definitely a Parsons. She loved and cared for others with abandon.
So tonight, I am reminded again that life is unfair. That life doesn't work out the way we want. That the good can die young while evil people live.
But I want to remember Katie for the grace she extended, for how she loved others so incredibly well. How my life will always be blessed by the most beautiful blonde gal I have ever met.
That she would want us to go on. She would want us to live and she would tell us that she is forever happy now.
My heart aches for us...for all of us who knew and loved her. for all of us who know and love the Parsons and the Mays.
We will miss you terribly Katie. But our lives have been so enriched by knowing you and loving you.
Thank you Katie. and Thank you Jesus that you gave us Katie for a season.
Looking forward to eternity.

2 comments:

  1. thank you for writing about Katie. She was the most extraordinary person. What a gift it was to know her, love her, and be loved by her.

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  2. I don't know you, but I went to grad school with Katie, and this writing has brought tears to my eyes, because what you say about her is so, so true. I went online to search for her service, as a friend told me it might be online, and my search lead me to this blog entry. Thanks for giving words to my sadness, even though I only spent about a year with her. She was truly such a special, beautiful, life-full spirit.

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