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Partner of the Month
July/August page 3  Maxine Smith-Pendarvis Mount Vernon, NY That Monday night I was once again awakened out of my sleep by the telephone ringing. This time however, it was not Gene but a Doctor, telling me Gene was not responding and it appeared that he had a severe stroke. Those words marked the beginning of a time I now call, “living in a fog.” Everything was surreal. I functioned on the constant prayers of others and myself. I stayed with Gene as he took his journey from near death back to life; from his stay in the intensive care unit, to the respirator, to swelling of the brain, to out of control diabetes, to a feeding tube, to bleeding of the brain, to not being able to talk, or move the left side of his body. Throughout these appearances I saw my husband’s strength and faith as he fought for his life and made a remarkable recovery that the doctors consider a miracle. As a stroke survivor, Gene kept an upbeat, positive attitude. However two months after the stroke he told me he was very depressed and didn’t know why. He was obviously deeply depressed and I became very concerned because this was unusual for him. That evening after getting home I got a phone call from their relative telling me that Gene’s identical twin brother, Earl, had a stroke. Upon hearing this, I became overwhelmed, but I calmed myself and thought,” Earl will make it just like Gene did.” Earl is a stroke survivor. They are both residing at the same Rehab center, “hanging out” as Gene says. Earl’s stroke was on the left side of the brain; Gene’s was on the right side. At the time of this writing, Earl can walk, but is not presently able to express himself clearly in his speech. Gene is able to express himself in his speech but is not presently able to walk. Both of their determination for complete recovery is admirable. How has the experiences of the past 4 months affected me? It has changed my life from what I thought it would be. It has however opened up a whole new world of people, places and things. What have I learned? I have learned to “watch and pray”, to put my faith into action and to believe that God is preparing Eugene and I to do His work. I have also learned not to take life, anyone or anything for granted, because a day, twenty-four little hours can make a difference. ”
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