On Eagle's Wings

Bob John Giuda

Description

Seemingly, things in Senator Bob Giuda's life were going accordingly to plan, or so he thought.  He was serving in New Hampshire as a State Senator, living and going about life as normal - until tragedy hit home.  This powerful read is the insightful path to Bob's very personal, heartfelt journey in dealing with the love of his life being in a permanent vegetative state.  On Eagle's Wings is a must read that caught fire on the Internet through Facebook, reaching readers worldwide.  People from all over the world sent letters and messages to Bob after reading his posts.  This encouragement is what lead to the writings in these pages.  Suffering was never meant to be done alone, this book will help you and encourage you on your own personal journey.

Forward

Chapter 1: The Day the Music Die

Chapter 2: Sharing the Fear

Chapter 3: Beginnings

Chapter 4: Critical Care

Chapter 5: Boy Meets Girl or "What Were We Thinking"

Chapter 6: It's About the Ride

Chapter 7: Whidbey Magic

Chapter 8: The Volcano

Chapter 9: The Weekend That Clinched the Deal

Chapter 10: About Landing on Aircraft Carriers

Chapter 11: In Memory of Three Friends

Chapter 12: Threads

Chapter 13: Strays and Wounded

Chapter 14: Transition

Chapter 15: Kids

Chapter 16: The Thread of Faith in Our Lives

Chapter 17: Go Your Way - Your Faith Has Saved You

Chapter 18: The Rest of the Story

The Posts

Epilogue

Sujets

• Religion
• Christianisme
• Spiritual Growth
• Christian Living
• Inspirational
• Philosophie et théologie
• Love and Marriage
• Belief
• Faith
• Hope
• Inspiration

Informations

• Publié par: Franklin Green Publishing
• Date de parution: 10 janvier 2023
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781936487516
• Langue: English

Extrait

ON EAGLE S WINGS
A TRUE STORY OF FAITH AND LOVE IN THE WAKE OF TRAGEDY
ON EAGLE S WINGS
Senator Bob Giuda
On Eagle s Wings: A Story of Faith and Love in the Wake of Tragedy
Copyright 2023 by Bob Giuda
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher, except as provided by USA copyright law.
No patent liability is assumed with respect to the use of the information contained herein. Although every precaution has been taken in the preparation of this book, the publisher and author assume no responsibility for errors or omissions. Neither is any liability assumed for damages resulting from the use of the information contained herein.
Published by Franklin Green Publishing
Print ISBN: 9781936487509
Cover and Interior Design by Bill Kersey, KerseyGraphics
Editor: Mary Sanford
I dedicate this book to God, the Author of All Life, and to the most precious gifts He has bestowed upon me: His Son Jesus Christ; my beautiful wife Christine; our three amazing children Joseph, Lauren, and Stephanie; and our grandsons, Hunter and Braden. I m also profoundly grateful to the many friends who have prayed for us and supported us along the way. And finally, no words can suffice to express my undying gratitude to the men and women who, day and night, tirelessly care for Christine and for the many among us unable to care for themselves, often under daunting conditions and never adequately compensated for their calling. Your work is truly God s work. Thank you, all of you, for showing me the way .
Contents
F OREWORD
C HAPTER 1: T HE D AY THE M USIC D IED
C HAPTER 2: S HARING THE F EAR
C HAPTER 3: B EGINNINGS
C HAPTER 4: C RITICAL C ARE
C HAPTER 5: B OY M EETS G IRL , OR W HAT W ERE Y OU T HINKING?
C HAPTER 6: I T S A BOUT THE R IDE
C HAPTER 7: W HIDBEY M AGIC
C HAPTER 8: T HE V OLCANO
C HAPTER 9: T HE W EEKEND T HAT C LINCHED THE D EAL
C HAPTER 10: A BOUT L ANDING ON A IRCRAFT C ARRIERS
C HAPTER 11: I N M EMORY OF T HREE F RIENDS
C HAPTER 12: T HREADS
C HAPTER 13: S TRAYS AND W OUNDED
C HAPTER 14: T RANSITION
C HAPTER 15: K IDS
C HAPTER 16: T HE T HREAD OF F AITH IN O UR L IVES
C HAPTER 17: G O Y OUR W AY -Y OUR F AITH H AS S AVED Y OU
C HAPTER 18: T HE R EST OF THE S TORY
T HE P OSTS
E PILOGUE
Foreword
F EBRUARY 18, 2018, WAS NO DIFFERENT FROM ANY OTHER DAY . I prayed the Rosary with my loving wife, Christine, just before first light-one hand holding the beads and the other resting on her forehead as I quietly recited the prayers. It s a sacred time, this early morning awakening, and as I was praying, the RN on duty quietly came into the room to make sure Chrissy was OK, to refill the nutrition and water supplies for her feeding apparatus, and to check the gastric tube that has fed her since the day she was stricken. As he was leaving, he turned to me and said, You know, I really hope you write that book.
He was right, and though that comment was made several years ago, the idea of writing a book eventually became an imperative. Intuition told me it was important to share the spiritual road my family has traveled. Christine always listened to the keen voice of her intuition, and it never steered her wrong-or me.
This book provides some vignettes of important events in our lives, and it also contains the entire compilation of four years of Facebook posts I published since the journey began. They include personal musings and observations about life and death, sin and forgiveness, hope and despair, uncertainty and purpose, love and family, and above all, faith. It s not so much my gift to you as it is Chrissy s gift to us. It s her legacy to a world desperately in need of inspiration and a renewal of faith.
I wrote this book to try to make sense of the spiritual, emotional, and physical turmoil that rocked us in the aftermath of an inexplicable tragedy. It shares with you my battle to use misfortune for God s purposes, because when all is said and done, life is really all about finding our way to Heaven. It starts with God, and it ends with God-the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end.
Our quest to turn this tragedy to God s purposes began in earnest when my wife s out-of-the-blue catastrophic brain aneurysm shattered our lives. The very next day, I began writing Facebook posts to keep family and friends apprised on Chrissy s condition. But the posts quickly became much more than just updates. As you read them, you will feel the desolation and joy, the anger and peace, and the horror and beauty that we experience when tragedy befalls us. Every chapter and every post has a message; some will have more meaning for you than others. I hope each one brings you closer to our Lord and Savior.
My prayer is that this book takes you places you ve never been before, emotionally and spiritually. I hope you ll learn to pray more perfectly, live more fully, and love more deeply as a result of reading it. And most importantly, I hope that you will know the infinite love Almighty God has for you, and His desire to bring you to eternal joy and glory in His presence in Heaven.
In faith,
Bob and Christine Giuda
CHAPTER 1
The Day the Music Died
T HE HANDWRITTEN MESSAGE FROM MY ASSISTANT WAS TERSE : Senator, your wife has fallen. Your daughter called and wants you to call her ASAP .
He had knocked on the closed door of the senate conference room on the third floor of the New Hampshire State House. It was 1:18 p.m. on January 18, 2017. As a newly elected state senator, I was keenly interested in the caucus discussion, as we were getting acquainted with our newly formed NH State Senate colleagues and beginning the discussion of our legislative priorities. But suddenly the importance of the caucus evaporated. Something had happened to my wife, and that was all that mattered. I excused myself and called home. My daughter s voice was filled with fear as she explained what had happened. Mom was in the kitchen, and she suddenly grabbed the back of her head, yelled Ow! Ow! Ow! and knelt down on the floor. I told her to go to your recliner and rest, which she did. But when I looked a couple of minutes later to see how she was doing, she wasn t there. I ran into the dining room, and she was lying on the floor in the foyer to the master bedroom, arms at her sides as she had apparently tried to get to the bedroom to lie down. It seems she had realized something was very wrong and laid down rather than risking a fall. Dad, I m scared, and I don t know what to do.
Christine, my wife, was in good health, and everything my daughter said screamed out Stroke! I returned to the conference room, apologized for the interruption, explained the situation, and asked the senate president for a state police escort to my home. Ten minutes later, I was headed up I-93 at 120 miles per hour. All I could say was, Please, God, let her be okay. The sixty-five-mile drive seemed to take forever, but at last I arrived home, slammed the car into park, and ran into the house. A lifelong friend came racing up the hill after he saw me speeding through town with my emergency lights flashing. He was the just-retired fire chief for our small, rural New England town nestled in the shadow of 6,812-foot Mt. Mooselauke, in the western reaches of the White Mountains.
After what seemed like an eternity, the ambulance arrived and the EMTs came into the house. While I was racing home, I had called my next-door neighbor and asked him to come down to our house to help my daughter. Together, they had lifted Christine up off the floor and moved her onto our bed. When I arrived, she was lying on her back, unresponsive, with occasional tremors and spasms shaking her right arm. Her eyes were open but unseeing, and she began to vomit. I quickly turned her on her side, clearing her mouth and protecting her airway to make sure she didn t inhale vomit into her lungs. The EMTs, unaware of the critical importance of time in dealing with brain injuries, were fumbling around trying to take her vital signs. My friend, the former fire chief, recognized the gravity of the situation. He said, Guys, she s in bad shape; just scoop her up and go. They brought in the gurney, strapped her in, rolled it out of the house and into the ambulance, and headed for the nearest hospital, twenty minutes away. Lights and siren provided grim affirmation of her perilous condition. I drove right behind them in my car, refusing to let Chris out of my sight.
My heart sank when another ambulance came speeding up the road in the opposite direction with lights and siren blaring, did a U-turn, and stopped on the shoulder. Our ambulance pulled up behind it, and a paramedic from the other unit ran to Chrissy s ambulance. I since learned that EMTs can only do so much, and this rendezvous meant that the severity of Chris s condition was such that she needed the higher-level skills of a paramedic and couldn t wait to get to the hospital. I was scared, my mind racing as I watched Chrissy fighting for her life. The only thing I could do was pray, and I prayed every prayer I knew-the Lord s Prayer, Apostle s Creed, Hail Mary, Glory Be, Memorare, Hail Holy Queen, and Prayer to St. Michael. When I ran out of prayers that I knew, I made up new ones, begging God to spare her life.
We arrived at the hospital, and they took her in for an MRI. After what seemed like a very long time, the doctor came to the waiting room, looking grim. It s bad, he said. She s had an aneurysm rupture, and the damage is devastating. She needs to get to Dartmouth Hitchcock as quickly as possible. The weather is too poor for the DHART medevac helicopter, so we ve reassigned the DHART critical care ground ambulance to take her by road. Fortuitously, the DHART critical care ground unit had been sent to this hospital fo