Noralee's Disease

This happen in the late 1980's. I met Noralee at the new Church I went to. She was a nice older lady, who helped out in the Church all the time. When anything needed to be done, raising funds, taking care of the babies, meetings set up. The pastor of the Church could always depend on Noralee.

Once while talking to her, she told me she had a brood of children. I looked at her and said "What is a brood of children?". She laughed and told me she had twelve children, three died close to their birth. That when she was raised up, that your maws called their children brood of children. She told me her maw and grandmaw, taught her how to tend to her brood when they got sick, and not often did they need to see a doctor. That the old timers remedies worked the best.

Noralee loved to talk about her brood, her husband her parents and rest of her family.

A month went by and I didn't see Noralee, she had been sick. But she continued to tell us that she would be back to help soon. Sure enough within the second month, I looked around and seen Noralee at her usual place, in the middle of the Church sitting.

It was nice to see her back. She told us that she went to the doctors complaining of her stomach acting up. Had a bunch of test done and a biopsy done on a ball in her stomach. Sure enough to our surprise she had stomach cancer. She said she was not going to get radiation done for it. That if the good Lord wanted to take her, she was ready to go. If not, then she would live by the grace of our Lord.

At this Church every Wednesday night we had a "Healing Service". Where the Pastor of the Church would have a short service. In which he would preach some and then people came up to the alter, (if they could) and he would place oil on, the body of the person, where they wanted to be healed at. He then would have anyone that wanted to, to lay their hands on the person who was wanting to be healed.

Noralee was the first up to the alter. She knelt down, the oil was place on her stomach. Then everyone else laid their hands on her stomach. Each of us either said a prayer in silence for her healing, or we said it out loud.

She went to her seat and others followed in suit. When this was done and no one else wanted to be healed we then sang songs of rejoicing.

The next Sunday, Noralee was at Church she told us all to pray for her. She was going into surgery the next day, to remove the cancer from her body. Everyone in the Church that day, including myself, touched her, some on her head, shoulders, stomach, legs. Where ever the people could touch her, and we all said prayers out loud for her, to make it, and be back with us soon.

On Wednesday a few days after her surgery date, at our "Healing Service" we prayed for her.

What a shock to see her walk in, while we are praying for her, at the "Healing Service". I know for a fact my mouth fell open, no words would come out. I notice she had a halo of white around her. I thought that is not right, others I think thought the same. The Pastor went to walk down the isle to her, and she was gone, just like that. No one seen her leave.

It wasn't until I was on my way home that I thought, that Noralee came to us to say Goodbye, that she had died. The feeling would not leave me for days.

On Saturday of that week, we all joined at our Church Pot Luck, we had every third Saturday of the month. After the Pastor came in the room and said prayers, for we could eat. In walked Noralee. We all stopped talking. We could however hear her usual gait she always had walking to us. We all seen her, people finally got up to greet her back. This time she was actually there, tears were shed and she looked quite healthy.

She told us this story: On Monday when she was suppose to have the surgery she had a fever, so the doctors wanted to wait to see if it would pass. It did on Wednesday. She went under and was nearly ready for surgery. The one doctor wanted some x-rays done, to see if the balls of cancer had moved, from the last ones taken a week before, or how large they had become.

After the doctor got the film back, he couldn't believe his eyes. He couldn't see any balls of cancer, at all in her stomach. He had an MRI done on her, to see where they went to. Those also came out negative. He did a biopsy on the spot, where it was done before. No sign of cancer in her.

She said she woke up from the medicine they put her to sleep with, around 7:30pm on Wednesday night. That was about the time we seen her, in the Church with the halo around her. She said she felt fine. She went to her knees in front of us all, raised her hands into the air and said "THANK YOU LORD, FOR SPARING MY LIFE".

Noralee had to have help to get up off the floor, and she insisted to help with the meal to serve it.

I was at that Church, for quite a few years after this happen. And when I relocated many years ago. She was still going on, with the Love and Belief that "The Lord still needed her around". And to that statement, I believed he did too.