Hospitals

I've spent most of the day at the hospital. My wife's older brother had an operation earlier in the week to remove some cancer from a lung and he took a turn for the worse today.
If I had my choice, I'd rather be fishing or picking guitars, but being there with her brother's family is important. People in waiting rooms are often bone tired and a simple comment can cause them to laugh uncontrollably or it can cause them to weep. They want so desperately to hold on to the person who is sick and they feel so helpless because nothing they say or do makes a difference. So they pray and they reminisce and become lost in their precious memories. They want to keep the image of the loved one in their minds so strongly in the hope that it will somehow help pull them through.
I have witnessed this many times in my life and sometimes the sick folks make it through and sometimes they don't. I hope for my wife and her brother's family that he makes it through cause I know from experience that it is very hard to lose someone you love so dearly. There are words of comfort, but none really do the trick. So keep him in your thoughts and prayers.