• Registered: Wed, 06 Sep 2006
  • Posts: 107

Topic: Joe Coburn home at last

Joe went home to be with the Lord on Wednesday.  Those of you who read the blog already know this but some don't read them. He died peacefully at home on Wednesday morning and we had services yesterday and today.  All our children were able to make it in even with the bad weather forecast and all 5 of my siblings came from all over to support us.  Our daughter was with me when Joe died and it was a comfort to be there when it actually happened and not to be alone.  Hospice was a fantastic experience and allowed me to keep Joe at home til the end.  He was diagnosed July of '06 although he had symptoms almost a year before that.  So he lasted 29 months after diagnosis so he put up a great fight and was never in pain from the cancer.  We will miss him terribly and I keep wanting to jump up and check on him or expect to hear him call me. It will take awhile to get used to this but I have lots of friends who have been through this because we live in a retirement community and  the prayers of our friends willl sustain me  as Joe's journey is over but mine continues.  I will continue to write on the blog for awhile  www.joesinformation.blogspot.com    Thanks for all your support and I will stay in touch with all my friends here.  God Bless.  Mary Anne

  • From: Wisconsin
  • Registered: Sun, 07 Sep 2008
  • Posts: 1,990

Re: Joe Coburn home at last

Mary Anne,

My thoughts & prayers are with you and your family. Just know that Joe is now in a better place & no longer suffering or in pain.  He will be with you, in your heart & memories,  forever.

Love,
Darla

"One Day At A Time"
  • From: Endicott, New York
  • Registered: Sun, 01 Jun 2008
  • Posts: 457

Re: Joe Coburn home at last

Dear Maryanne,

   How wonderful that your daughter was able to be there with you when Joe passed into the arms of the Lord. It meant so much to me to have my cousin here with us when Butch passed, and also that he was able to be at home, with people he loved. Hospice was just great - I just got a Christmas card this week from Butch's hospice nurse - so sweet to remember me, I thought. One lesson this has taught me is the kindness of people - we are surrounded by it, every day. I pray that you find comfort and solace now, in your time of grief. We will all be thinking of you, and be right here for you, if you need us.

Love - Joyce

jclegg's Website

  • Registered: Fri, 06 Jan 2006
  • Posts: 258

Re: Joe Coburn home at last

Maryanne,

You have shared an amazing journey with all of us.  Thank you! 

I hope there is a huge Christmas party in heaven with all of cholangio patients we've lost, and they are thinking warmly about all of us just as we are of them.

Maryanne you are an amazing woman.  Joe could not have been loved and supported more.

Stacie

  • Registered: Wed, 06 Sep 2006
  • Posts: 107

Re: Joe Coburn home at last

Thank you all for your kind words.  Joe was such a huge presence in the house I just can't believe how empty it seems.  Of course we have Christmas and the wedding of our daughter this weekend but I keep almost forgetting that he is gone.  I mean, I think of things I want to tell him or ask him. Then I will go a little while and not think of him and feel funny because of that.  Next week when everyone leaves, I am sure reality will hit in a big way.  I had a doctor appointment with our regular doctor today (routine) and the nurses all came in and gave me hugs and then the doctor did also.  We have been going to him for 19 years. When I run into someone I haven't seen, that is when it all washes over me again.
Sorry for rambling but it helps me get my feelings out and figure out where I am. 
I wish everyone the best Christmas possible.  For some of us it will be the last with our loved one and for some it will be ther first one without them.  May God comfort us all wherever we are may we all be thankful that He sent Hi Son for us on the holy day.  Merry Christmas.  Mary Anne

6 Reply by tiapatty (edited by tiapatty Tue, 23 Dec 2008 01:54:16)

  • From: Chicago, IL
  • Registered: Sun, 15 Jun 2008
  • Posts: 710

Re: Joe Coburn home at last

Mary Anne,

I have read quite a bit of your blog and from what I can see, the world was lucky to have Joe in it and he was lucky to have you.

I posted a link to this poem elsewhere but I think it is appropriate here as well since your family, like mine, finds itself celebrating a joyous occasion at this incredibly sad time.

On Joy and Sorrow
Kahlil Gibran

Your joy is your sorrow unmasked.
And the selfsame well from which your laughter rises was oftentimes filled with your tears.
And how else can it be?
The deeper that sorrow carves into your being, the more joy you can contain.
Is not the cup that holds your wine the very cup that was burned in the potter's oven?
And is not the lute that soothes your spirit, the very wood that was hollowed with knives?
When you are joyous, look deep into your heart and you shall find it is only that which has given you sorrow that is giving you joy.
When you are sorrowful look again in your heart, and you shall see that in truth you are weeping for that which has been your delight.

Some of you say, "Joy is greater than sorrow," and others say, "Nay, sorrow is the greater."
But I say unto you, they are inseparable.
Together they come, and when one sits, alone with you at your board, remember that the other is asleep upon your bed.

Verily you are suspended like scales between your sorrow and your joy.
Only when you are empty are you at standstill and balanced.
When the treasure-keeper lifts you to weigh his gold and his silver, needs must your joy or your sorrow rise or fall.

tiapatty's Website

  • From: Chesapeake, Virginia
  • Registered: Thu, 17 May 2007
  • Posts: 94

Re: Joe Coburn home at last

Mary Anne - I have been keeping up with your blog since I joined the board.  I was so sorry to learn that Joe passed away last week.  I know how empty your house feel and how you go to tell him something and suddenly realize that he isn't there.  I hope everything for the wedding goes off without a hitch and you and your family have a very Merry Chirstmas.
Colleen

  • Registered: Mon, 20 Oct 2008
  • Posts: 12

Re: Joe Coburn home at last

Dear Heart

I went into your blogspot and looked at the wonderful postings and pics.  It is a testimony to Joe's life.

HE LOOKED WONDERFUL!! HE IS BLESSED!!


May he dance with the angels....

Blessings
Carolyn

  • Registered: Wed, 16 Apr 2008
  • Posts: 143

Re: Joe Coburn home at last

Dear Maryanne and family,  my heartfelt condolences to you.  I have been reading your posts since I was first diagnosed and keeping up with Joe's experiences.  It always comforted me when you said Joe was without pain.  God bless you and your family and may you find some peace and comfort in the time to come.

My prayers for you,
Sophie