Willie's Mom--September 2006

September 22, 2006:

Dear Sister Judith Ann, Bishop Jenky, Doug Marshall, Keith Steffen, Paul Kramer, Joe Piccione, Gerry McShane, and Jim Moore,

We are in Haiti and Willie’s Haitian mom came by this morning. We had no idea she was making the trip, but that is how things frequently work in Haiti. She had not talked to Willie in the States since May and wanted to know how he is doing. 

I told her that Willie had been hospitalized for the last three months, had heart surgery, and is now in kidney failure. I told her how the kidneys worked as filters for the blood to remove poisons created in the body. She seemed to understand quite well. 

More importantly, Willie’s Haitian mom seemed to know something was wrong with him at the very beginning of our conversation. I could sense his mother’s intuition about the trouble Willie is having. 

Incredibly, this morning in Peoria, there was a meeting between Willie’s adoptive family and the doctors involved in Willie’s care discussing further dialysis options for him. 

I showed her pictures I had taken of Willie with his family in the United States. He was smiling with his adoptive parents and another picture showed him playing with their dog. 

I showed Willie’s mom pictures of the three-story house where he lives. What could she be thinking when mentally comparing Willie’s house in the States to her cinderblock shack here in Port-au-Prince that doesn’t even have an address? 

These pictures were taken last year. She looked at them briefly and cried. 

When I asked her if she had questions for me, she said, “Is Willie going to live?” I told her I did not know. 

I asked her if she would like to talk to him on the computer. She replied that she would. We hooked up the computer and called OSF-SFMC ICU in Peoria and Willie was able to speak with his Haitian mom for the first time since May. She told him that she cannot do anything for him now and it is in God’s hands. She stated, “God begins things and He ends things”. 

Willie could hear her well and she could hear Willie well. I think their conversation will prove to be very important.