I've had better weeks

I know, I've been missing for quite a while. My excuse is that in December I was busily doing my Christmas knitting...then I was catching up on the knitting that didn't get done by Christmas and then the earthquake in Haiti happened which inspired one of my friends from work who is a fellow knitter to want to have a bake sale/craft show at work to raise money for Haitian earthquake victims, so I spent the past two weeks knitting my little fingers off and conning a number of my knitting friends to do so as well.

The bake sale/craft show was yesterday and we raised over $2,000 (it's not all in yet). The best part is that my friend who had the great idea wasn't even in town for it as her son got invited to the Hollywood screening of the movie Flipped since he's in it and has a speaking line. Which means that I kind of had to run it myself yesterday, as much as I could leaving others in charge while I got some work done and attended my usual 2-hour Thursday meeting. We had people giving $20 for a brownie and at least one wanting change from his dollar for a cupcake (FOR HAITI!!!). We didn't say anything or give him The Look he deserved, just gave him the two quarters he wanted and then rolled our eyes. I had a guy claim meetings for the entire day when I asked if he was going to support our bake sale. Really? Meetings from 8:00 to 3:00??? It was a lie, but a better lie would have been, "Yes." I wasn't there all day, I wouldn't have known. People are pathetic, I find.

I had been planning on getting more knitting done for the sale, but I lost two days this week when I got the news at work on Monday that one of the truly great guys at work collapsed at home on Sunday and was in the hospital with swelling of the brain, in a coma and unresponsive. I spent Monday and Tuesday crying. Especially Monday when I got a phone call telling me that my co-worker who is a true friend was given two days to live. I simply didn't feel like knitting and even went to bed at 7:00. Tuesday wasn't much better and I went to bed at 6:00 - oh yeah, I was fighting bronchitis all week, too. Wednesday we heard that he opened his eyes briefly when his wife stroked his head, so I managed to keep it together Wednesday. We got no news yesterday (besides, I didn't have time to cry with as busy I was with the bake sale/craft show), so I went home with all mascara intact for the second day in a row. I know that I'm praying for a miracle and am unproud enough to ask absolutely everybody I know to also pray for a miracle. Last night one of my co-workers went to see him and today she said to me, "Kathleen, he's not going to get better. We have to accept that he's going to pass." She wasn't meaning to be harsh, I think it was her way of dealing with it and not crying. She's a much stronger woman than I am.

Honest to God, I can not imagine losing Ed. My heart breaks at the thought of never seeing him again....never going out to lunch for sushi with him, never stopping at his desk just to chat. When we first got the news on Monday, I looked at Mary (my knitting abandoning for Hollywood friend) and said, "I love Ed." She hugged me and said, "You love everybody, Kathleen." "No," I said...she replied, "Okay, you love everybody but John." And we both laughed sadly, because it's true, I don't love John. I don't even like John. While I don't wish ill on him, I wouldn't be sad if he got laid off. I even told J who sits next to Ed that I can't stop by and see him anymore because seeing Ed's empty desk saddens me too much. All week long people have stopped by my desk for news, because I'm that person in the department...the one everybody goes to when they want to know what's going on. Not because I'm the busybody, but because I'm the closest thing there is to a secretary who binds the different sections into one department.

So, even though I've been a complete slackass in the blogging department (not because I'm not totally fond of you guys, but because I suck), I am asking for prayers for Ed (or if you don't believe in such things, good thoughts), because we (his wife, two kids, brother, sisters, parents, co-workers who love him sincerely) need a bloody miracle. We need and want Ed back the way he was, sitting at his desk and making me smile because he is such a lovely person, and I truly love him as a dear friend...a few times this week when I said, "He is one of the good guys." I got "He's a great guy." in return. One of the engineers in his section said to me, "I love him." I replied, "I know, A, I love him, too." And we cried.

Another of our engineers was going to the hospital tonight (or this weekend) to see him, and she's supposed to call me with information. She's with me on the hopeful but practical side of things. Desperately hoping and praying for a miracle, but supposedly preparing ourselves for the worst...but I know that I am not and will not be ready for the worst, if (or when) it happens.

Please pray for Ed. Thank you.