[nfb-talk] Fwd: Jim Merryfield is Passed Away

[David Andrews]

>
>
>Greetings to all of y'all,
>
>    The message you see below comes from Lauren Merryfield (formerly known
>to some of you as Lauren eckery.  It is shocking news and I trust that all
>our prayers and thoughts will be with Lauren in her time of need.
>
>Hi,
>It is with a mixture of sadness and relief that I write that my beloved Jim
>died this evening at 6:15PM, August 19th, 2007.  He was exactly
>58-and-a-half years old to the day.
>
>Jim's heart muscle was weak.  He had both bacterial and viral infections in
>his lungs and they spread to other organs.  The hospital staff worked really
>hard to keep Jim going, but he was tired, and needed to be at peace, with no
>more pain and trouble breathing.
>
>Jim was the sweetest person I've ever known.  He was so helpful to me,
>without complaint, and hopefully, I was of help to him.  We think that our
>marriage probably prolonged Jim's life by years.  We were blessed to have
>celebrated our tenth anniversary May 30th of this year.  This is a much
>longer time together than we had thought we'd have.
>
> We had many enjoyable trips, shared our love of all kinds of music, loved
>God in our own weird ways, considered ourselves part of the beauty of nature
>around us,  and we dearly loved our kitties together.
>
>We will probably have a special memorial service for Jim in September when I
>can walk again.  Our minister will help us with this service.  He and our
>Caring Circle know that Jim is gone and will continue the visitations to my
>home which they had begun when I was discharged from the hospital last
>Thursday.  The Visiting Angels will continue to come to help me with my
>ankle issues.  I will have physical therapy and occupational therapy to help
>me while I am a wheelchair user and as I am able to walk again.
>
>Jim wanted his body donated to science, so this has been arranged.  I
>considered an autopsy but we're pretty sure what got him, and I wanted to do
>as he wished.  We won't have funeral expenses that way so this will be
>helpful.
>
>I don't know for sure if Jim is with Mikey, but I hope so.  Speaking of the
>cats, they hid earlier today, no matter who was here and tonight they all
>came out into the living room even when Kim, from Visiting Angels, was here.
>When I went to the restroom, Jaspur followed me there and gave the most
>plaintive, long meow.  I know he knows he has lost his Daddy.
>
>Jim's Mom, sister Ann, and friend, Phillip, were all with Jim today in the
>physical sense.  I was with him in spirit.  I know he understood why I
>couldn't be there, since I cannot handle the eight steps out of our
>apartment building.  Right around the time he passed on, I felt a brief
>feeling of relief.  I would like to think it was Jim telling me he is now
>okay.
>
>I hope Jim's family will not forget about me because they are family to me,
>too.  They gave me and the world a very ornery, and dear person to love!
>
>Jim visited me in the hospital last Sunday, and we said that we loved each
>other.  The last time I talked with him, it was brief because he was having
>trouble breathing.  This occurred on Friday afternoon, the 17th.  Again, we
>said that we loved each other.
>
>I do not know what I will do as far as big decisions go, but there is time
>for all of that later.  I hope people won't ask me too many questions that I
>can't answer yet.  If they do, they'll just get "I don't know," because I
>don't know.
>
>The one thing I do know is that I loved Jim as much as I could love anyone
>and I respected him greatly.  We had a lot of fun and humorous times
>together in spite of the illnesses and pain issues.  I will always love Jim
>with all my broken but mending heart.
>Thanks
>Lauren
>"Think about it, when we are kind to someone we are definitely not
>unloving -- when we are kind to ourselves, that is loving ourselves -- when
>we are kind to the Earth, we are demonstrating
>love in action. " --Marie T. Russell
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>