Hugh Hollowell

This is sort of out of character for me. I generally don’t share much about my personal life on these pages, but, while there is no danger of my turning into John, I do have to say I had an awesome Valentine’s Day weekend.

Renee and I had dinner out on Friday, then I made supper at home on Saturday, we swapped gifts (I got this awesome handmade 10 page card/book and tons of Dark Chocolate) and then we went out for ice cream! (I got cookies and cream, she got chocolate fudge).

It was a very good weekend indeed. How was yours?

(Renee tells her side of the story with considerable more detail and pictures on her blog)

Yesterday was Renee’s birthday and, honestly, it was not going so well. You see, she was in the hospital after a weekend of scary heart issues and she was a bit depressed at the prospect of spending her birthday in the hospital.

Around noon, some friends of our stopped by and that cheered her up. Then the doctor came by and told her she could go home, and that really cheered her up.

As we were packing up to leave, some friends called and said they were coming by the hospital, but I told them we were leaving, so they planned to come by my house instead. We are not home long, when they show up, complete with birthday cake and ice cream and presents and birthday cards. Renee was glowing at this point…

And then, some more friends dropped in to see her (and eat birthday cake and ice cream) and then more friends stopped by and brought more cake and hugs and well wishes. And while all this was happening a friend who had been out of town called to say she was dropping by the hospital on her way home, and we gave her the good news.

After everyone left, we went out to eat at one of Renee’s favorite restaurants and then stopped at a coffee shop and reflected over a latte at how awesome our friends are. As we pulled up in my driveway, the friend who had been out of town pulled up behind us and came up and we all sat, and laughed and reflected and laughed some more and played with kittens. When she left, Renee turned to me and gave me a big hug and told me that this had ended up being her best birthday ever.

The remarkable thing about all of this is that none of it was planned or coordinated. It all just happened out of genuine love and affection for us. That is the value of community.

To all our friends who emailed, prayed, visited, brought cake, ate cake, called and visited… thank you for making my girl’s birthday special and thank you very much for loving us.

Well, they have sprung us from Wake Med. All that is left is signing a bunch of papers and packing up our stuff and we are out of here!

The final word is simply, we do not know why her heart did what it did. It just did it. This scares me a bit, and that all I got for an answer when I asked “what should we do if this happens again” was to call her regular doctor tomorrow scares me as well. I mean, if he does not know, who does?

Renee asked me to thank all of you for your prayers and well wishes. It was scary for us, but knowing that we were loved and being prayed for made all the difference in the world.

Right now Renee and I are sitting in the Emergency Room at Wake Med. Her heart started doing weird things early this morning and when they did not stop, we came on in to the hospital. Something similar happened back in January, resulting in surgery and a weeklong stay in the hospital, so we were a bit reluctant to come in.

It looks like we are here for at least a few days. They are admitting her this afternoon as soon as a bed opens up.  Right now they are adjusting dosages, consulting people on the telephone and, for all I know, checking the magic 8 ball. Hopefully, they will get this resolved quickly.

And, to add insult to injury, tomorrow is her birthday and it looks like we will be spending it here, eating cafeteria food and wishing we were wherever you are.

I don’t know any more than that right now, and my cellphone will not work here in the hospital, so don’t call me. If you have not already gotten an email from me about this and you want to know the room number when we get it, shoot me an email and I will add you to the list.

Thank you in advance for your love and your prayers and I will let you know something real soon.

Mi novia Renee riffs at her blog on what it means to Love Your Neighbor.