There Was a Lot of Love in That Room

If you have read this blog site much at all you know by now I pretty much write whatever happens to be on my mind at the moment.

Ed and Rosemary Whatley are on my mind this morning. And there is a reason for that. I stopped by a hospital in Macon on the way home from my office last night and visited them both.

Dr. Whatley has been in the hospital for about a week after suffering a stroke. He is recuperating nicely and is improving daily. If anyone can beat a stroke it would be him. Not surprisingly, he was not in his room tonight when I stopped by the hospital to check on him. The nurse told me he had gone up one floor to visit his wife.

The old Morton salt ad is appropriate. When it rains it pours.

Rosemary fell yesterday morning and broke her hip. She is scheduled to have surgery today to fix it.


Very appropriately, they are in the same hospital. And when I visited Rosemary’s room, Dr. Whatley was by her side having dinner in her room.

And he was exactly where he should be. Not a perfect way to celebrate his birthday (which is today) but it was the best he could do at the moment. He has always had a way of making the most of whatever situation he found himself.

Two of their girls were with them making sure every need was met. The other two children were in route and I am sure are here by now. I can tell you this. There was a lot of love in that hospital room last night. It was the kind of love that can cause a lump in ones throat.

Since the beginning of time it has always been like this. Roles get reversed. Parents take care of their kid’s every need when they cannot take care of themselves. Then if they live long enough, the children end up taking care of the needs of their parents.

For the record and as a reminder to those who have read the articles here, I grew up next door to Ed and Rosemary Whatley. I have no remembrances of life without them in it. They are like family and their children are like brothers and sisters. We all grew up together. We played in each other’s back yards. We were in and out of each other’s house.

Our families have passed a pipe back and forth on special occasions for years as a symbol of a friendship between the families that go back several generations.

There really was a lot of love in that hospital room last night. And there is a lot of love from this writer as I think about the impact this couple and their family have had on my life.

If you are a praying person, please say a prayer for Rosemary today. Her surgery is scheduled for around 1PM. And while you are at it, say a prayer for her husband as he waits to hear the results of the surgery and as he continues to recuperate and rehabilitate.

And also say a prayer for their children: Jim, Linda, Nancy and Susan as they come together to serve and be there for their parents who gave them so much.

And maybe we should all say a prayer of thanksgiving for all the special people we all have known in our lives who have impacted us in such positive ways.

We should also ask God to show us how to be the kind of example people like these have been to us and others around them.

There was definitely a lot of love in that room last night. There was the undying love between a husband and a wife. There was the undying love between children and their parents.

And there was the incomprehensible love of an awesome God who is in control even when things can seem overwhelming.

What is seen is temporary. What is unseen is eternal.