the heart mom lunch

On Saturday, I attended a luncheon given by Intermountain Healing Hearts for "Heart Moms". At this luncheon, the guest speaker was Paul Cardall's mom. For those of you who don't know him, he is the oldest survivor of CHD that I know of and he just received a new heart last September. In my mind, his mother is the ULTIMATE heart mom. She has been a heart mom for 37 years. Before the days of internet and cell phones, she had to face the fear of her child's life hanging by a thread and she did all of this not knowing about others who may be living the same fate. Time and time again, Paul beat the odds and is still alive to talk about it. It was great to hear one of the original heart moms tell her story. During her talk, she read this poem and I like to think that this is how it is for Bridger and I.

All is Well

Death is nothing at all,

I have only slipped into the next room.

I am I and you are you

Whatever we were to each other, that we are still.

Call me by my old familiar name,

Speak to me in the easy way which you always used

Put no difference in your tone,

Wear no forced air of solemnity or sorrow

Laugh as we always laughed at the little jokes we enjoyed together.

Play, smile, think of me, pray for me.

Let my name be ever the household word that it always was,

Let it be spoken without effect, without the trace of shadow on it.

Life means all that it ever meant.

It is the same as it ever was, there is unbroken continuity.

Why should I be out of mind because I am out of sight?

I am waiting for you, for an interval, somewhere very near,

Just around the corner.

All is well.

Henry Scott Holland (1847-1918)

Canon of St. Paul’s Cathedral