Bill Lewis Comes Home

I sent this e-mail to family and friends this morning:

"Family & Friends:

We are so happy to report that Bill Lewis came home yesterday!  We had been told by his doctor on Sunday that he might be released by the end of this week, but Tuesday morning we learned that he was indeed being discharged that very day.  We arrived and found him disconnected from all his tubes and wires and things, up and walking, impatient to leave.  He has a long list of medicines that he will be taking, some for the rest of his life.  And he has to go back to the VA hospital often in the coming weeks and months, beginning with an examination by his cardiologist next week.  After all of the paperwork had been completed we got him in the car and started heading back.  He looked out the window and said this was the first time he had been outside in two weeks, and we realized that it had been exactly two weeks since he had been driven here by ambulance in the middle of the night.  He thoroughly enjoyed the trip back home; the first half-hour on the Blue Ridge parkway which has an entrance just down the road from the VA hospital; it is a beautiful drive, and he was just soaking up the blue sky and the fall foliage, glad to be alive and breathing the sweet air!  When we arrived in Highlands, we noticed a large group of people parked at the Community Building, just a couple of blocks from Jane’s house (where he will be staying for now) – a Mama bear and its two clubs were out on the front lawn of Mildred Wilson’s house, and folks were taking pictures on their cell phones:  a welcome home committee!  We are so thankful for all your prayers, and for God’s healing hand which we pray will continue to be on Bill." 

  
That was the second welcome home committee.  As we passed the Whiteside Overlook, we saw two dozen people lined up at the handrail taking photos of the "Shadow of the Bear," which appears this time of year in the valley below. 

Welcome home, Bill!