Family, love, Christmas

People I have met in the hospital during the last four weeks have reminded me about more than I can ever thank them for.

The night I arrived at the hospital where Mama is now, I saw one person in the family waiting area, a man asleep in a chair. After two days of passing each other, we had Christmas breakfast together in the hospital's cafeteria since we were the only two people in the ICU waiting area. 

Earnest Jones, of Hazlehurst, works as a maintenance worker in Crystal Springs at the Brushy Creek Headstart. He's 48 and has been married for 20 years. He said he and his wife, Lorene, married on his birthday, October 6.

"I don't get in trouble by forgetting that day," he said.

He has spent nights at the hospital with his mother-in-law.

Jones discussed spending time in the hospital with his 80-something-years-old mother-in-law while she is hospitalized in the intensive care unit for congestive heart failure. He said when he married Lorene, it was for sickness and health.The sickness and health part extends for Jones to his extended family. He said he didn't want his wife staying at the hospital all of the time. To give her a break, he spends nights in the hospital.
I asked Ernest what family means to him. His response was the best Christmas present I could have asked for.