No one ever said why the first year of marriage would be hard. I assumed it was because we were learning each other and learning how to live together. That was not the case with Coy and I. Our year was rough, lots of ups and downs. We've grown stronger this past year, more than I can even put into words. When my Uncle died, he was there to hug me and my family, even willing to postpone the wedding if necessary. When my Uncle Alan had a heart attack, he laid in bed and prayed with me and went on some hospital visits. And when my grandpa, which I will talk about in a minute, had his heart attack a week and a half ago, he rushed to the hospital right when he found out. He held my grandpas hand and told him that he loved him. If that's not a real man, I don't know what is. I love him more than anything and I love that he loves my family through the rough times and the great times.
On Monday, December 19, my grandpa was having chest pains and had my grandma call my dad to come and take him the the hospital. My dad, just losing his brother to a heart attack in May, rushed to my grandparents house and rushed him to the hospital. He had to bang on the emergency room doors because they only opened from the inside. They needed to find a wheel chair but couldn't. So, my dad carried him in.
When they got my grandpa on the table, he flat lined. My dad left the room and went into a private waiting room with my grandma, step brother and his wife. My mom called me not long after that and I rushed to the hospital. Right when I got to the private waiting room the doctor came in and said that my grandpa had died three times and that they needed to rush him to Sacramento. He didn't give us hope when he said he wasn't sure if he would make it to Sacramento. I think we started to mentally prepare for life without my grandpa because we all cried and promised my grandma we would always be there for her.
Finally, my mom and our pastor got to the hospital. The pastor took us into the room with my grandpa before they were going to take him. We prayed with him and he opened his eyes and squeezed our hands. For some reason I felt like it would be okay if he could just get to Sacramento. I feel like, even though he didn't know it, he was reassuring us that he would be okay. Well, we called our family to let them know that he was on his way to Sacramento, my sister left work and rushed home.
We left for Sacramento not knowing if my grandpa had made it. When we got there he was getting checked out, he had made the trip. They put a stint in and removed the clot! The doctor said the next 24 hours were crucial because we didn't know if he would have brain damage or kidney damage from such low blood pressure for so long. My sister looked worried, she said most of the time they do have some sort of damage. We got to go see him even though he was sedated.
The next morning he was awake and we got to talk to him. He understood us and tried to talk to us but there was a breathing tube down his throat. He was so alert, and wanted to talk to us so bad but he couldn't. Later that night they took the tube out so we could finally talk to him. He was so thankful we were there and told us all how much he loves us. They found pneumonia on his lung and pumped him full of medicines to get rid of it. The next morning it was gone.
The doctor told us that he is their Christmas miracle! He didn't have ANY brain or kidney damage, didn't have ANY broken ribs from the CPR. The doctor from the Woodland emergency room, we were pretty sure he was Muslim, called my grandma and told her that it was "your prayers and your God that saved him." We really thought that was powerful and God was so evident.
On Christmas Eve, my grandpa got to come home to be with his family for Christmas. He is so strong and such an inspiration to us all. God's not done with him yet and neither are we. I'm so proud of my grandpa. He's one of the most Godly, humble and giving man I have ever met. I'm so thankful for God's evident hand in this situation. I don't think we could go through losing this wonderful man, not yet. :-)
