A time for prayer

My niece Leah lies in a hospital bed in Michigan, where she has been for nearly three weeks now. She is unable even to squeeze her mother’s hand. She is 32. In September of this year, she was diagnosed with stage IV non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and the treatment so compromised her immune system that she now has a fierce infection that doctors are trying to beat back. She remains under heavy sedation, while her mother and other family members visit daily. Diane, her mother, tries to keep her spirits up but it is moment-to-moment struggle. I have not seen Leah for years – her uncle Roger and I divorced years ago – but I have remained close to the family and I feel the pain in their voices when we speak on the phone. There is no more helpless feeling than seeing someone you love gravely ill – as so many of us know. So, a request: please keep her and them in your version of prayer. They could use it now.