cousin in a coma

I usually don't blog about things of a spiritual nature in any form, but tonight i shared a very touching moment with my cousin Angie. It was a month ago this Saturday that her husband Jeremy was bucked off his horse, while he was holding their 2 year old daughter, up in Idaho on the family ranch. This accident left Jeremy in the ICU in Ogden with a traumatic brain injury. He was in a drug induced coma for 11 days. He had 6 broken ribs, and a bruised lung as well.

Growing up i was very close to Angie. Every summer my family would drive up to Idaho and play for weeks on the family's ranch there. She and i would spend countless hours playing in the barn and exploring all over the farm. When we'd part ways at the end of the summer, we'd always spend the rest of the year writing each other letters using our Lisa Frank stationary. She introduced me to wrangler jeans and Garth Brooks, and i shared all my barbies and Tinkerbell lip gloss with her. As the years went by and we got caught up in our own lives, the letters became less frequent and the friendship and code words we'd shared faded away.

After my LDS mission i took a road trip from Phoenix to The Ranch to see her on her wedding day. We had grown so far apart i didn't even know how she met her husband or any of the details. She was all grown up and starting her own life of which i wasn't really apart of any more. Nor was she a part of mine.We were cousins, and we heard through our parents how each other was doing, but never touched base. We sent each other Christmas cards and photos. We hugged at the family reunion and i held her baby for a photo. But the closeness, gone.

Angie just left my apartment a few minutes ago. She has being living in the on-campus housing at the University of Utah while her husband slowly recovers in the rehab hospital. She has been at his bedside for about a month now. For the month that she has been in Utah with this hardship of a situation we have been in almost daily communication. She has texted me with updates, and i have sent her texts of encouragement to cheer her up. Tonight i made her dinner (My world-renowned Green Chili Enchaladas). Tonight i sat alone with Angie and talked to her for hours. It was just us, like it had been 15 years ago in the Big Red Barn up on the Ranch.

We talked of faith and miracles. She told me with tear-filled eyes about the dozens of tender mercies she and Jeremy had been blessed with. We tried to count the many families we knew who were praying for them. We discussed the many LDS temples world wide that had Jeremy's name on the prayer lists. And there it was, my testimony leaving my lips and entering Angie's heart. A testimony, that i honestly haven't shared in a while because of my own personal struggles this fall, ( none of which were as drastic as a coma) My own spirituality which lately had felt a bit flat-lined had been revived in the simple words Angie and i had exchanged. My cousin and Her husband haven't been to church in ages, and here she was beside me feeling the same awakening. I cherished it. It was a connection that she and i had never had before. I remember now how great if feels to share your faith with others, and to feel edified by what they add to it.

I love my cousin Angie and her family. I am so greatful that her husband will be ok, and that he gets to go home on wednesday.I love that they have been so blessed during this experience, and that i can feel and partake of these tender mercies they have been shown by a loving Heavenly Father.