Our Story: The True Life Narrative of God’S Plan for Us

By Barbara Merz and Glenn Merz

Do you know why you were put on the face of this earth? Only God has an answer to that question. The nice thing about being in your twilight years is that you can look back and see what real life can hand you. This is the story of two couples from two different walks of life with different family and professional backgrounds who found out that what you dream and plan may not always turn out the way you expected.

This book highlights two special individuals: Vernon Rosser of Nashville, Tennessee, and Joyce Merz, who lived about seventy-five miles away in Tullahoma, Tennessee. Neither one knew the other; however, both of them had contracted an incurable lung disease known as idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). This was a viral infection of the lungs without any known cause or cure. These two taught their spouses and those around them a lesson that changed the lives of many.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Feb 7, 2017
• ISBN: 9781512772890

Barbara Merz

Barbara and Glenn Merz are both retired and living in a suburb of Nashville, Tennessee. They became friends many years ago when their first spouses were diagnosed with a terminally illness. We decided to write this book to illustrate the importance of organ transplant combine with faith in God to guide you in your life. Since there are young men and woman studying to become scientific doctors to help find solutions to today’s medical problems, we are donating all proceeds of this book to provide scholarships to help them through their MD/PHD studies at Vanderbilt University.

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Copyright © 2017 Barbara and Glenn Merz.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

WestBow Press

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Bloomington, IN 47403

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ISBN: 978-1-5127-7290-6 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5127-7291-3 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-5127-7289-0 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2017900929

WestBow Press rev. date: 2/7/2017

Contents

Introduction

Chapter 1 Barbara and Vernon Rosser

Chapter 2 Vernon’s Story

Chapter 3 Vernon’s Rehabilitation

Chapter 4 Vernon Returns Home

Chapter 5 Joyce and Glenn Merz

Chapter 6 A New Beginning

Chapter 7 Our Honeymoon Trip

Chapter 8 Our First Year of Marriage

Chapter 9 The Next Few Years

Chapter 10 The Rest of the Story

To Joyce Merz (1939–2003) and Vernon Rosser (1940–2002)

INTRODUCTION

D o you know why you were put on the face of this of this earth? Only God has an answer to that question. The nice thing about being in your twilight years is that you can look back and see what real life can hand you. This is the story of two couples from two different walks of life with different family and professional backgrounds who found out that what you dream and plan may not always turn out the way you expected.

This book highlights two special individuals: Vernon Rosser of Nashville, Tennessee, and Joyce Merz, who lived about seventy-five miles away in Tullahoma, Tennessee. Neither one knew the other, however, both of them had contracted an incurable lung disease known as idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). This was a viral infection of the lungs without any known cause or cure. These two taught their spouses and those around them a lesson that changed the lives of many.

Vernon and Barbara, his wife, were always interested in helping others and became very instrumental in developing a support group for those in need of lung transplants as well as those who had received transplants. These transplant recipients lived as loving Christians and were always thinking of others rather than themselves. They endured much without complaining. Self-pity was not in their dictionary.

Over the years, Vernon, Barbara, Joyce, and her husband Glenn became friends with many of those who had transplants as well as their spouses since they were invited to the support group meetings and lung-transplant social events. In time, five couples in the support group became very good friends. They were always up to something and would try to have dinner together at least once a month. They later became known as the pranksters of the transplant unit.

This book is intended to depict how you can react to diversities. It illustrates how the courageous people who go through the transplant program can live lives of love. This is easy when you have God on your side. When faced with what appears to be a hopeless situation, pray for guidance. Never underestimate the power of prayer.

The full names of the dedicated doctors who were involved and other persons who are mentioned in this book have been omitted to protect their privacy. The incidents stated are real-life experiences and are as accurate they can possibly be. This true-life story is intended to give you better insight into what can be accomplished if you believe and trust in an almighty being.

We begin this book with brief stories about the early lives of Barbara and Vernon. Then we give insights into their lives as Vernon lived with IPF. Next we describe the early lives of Glenn and Joyce and about their lives together as Joyce lived with IPF. The events that followed these stories center on what brought Barbara and Glenn together and their story as they are now living their lives.

A portion of the book is devoted to the many travels Barbara and Glenn took after they were married. They felt that God had created many marvelous place of great beauty, and that man had also developed some exciting places to visit. Since they had been caregivers to their spouses for several years, they could not visit many of these places. Once they were free to roam, they did so.

CHAPTER 1

Barbara and Vernon Rosser

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I (Barbara) grew up in Nashville. Growing up was fun back then. Neighborhood children played together and never worried about anything—we let our parents do the worrying. Summer months playing outside and walking to the movie theater on Saturdays were our special treats. Back then, a movie always started with a serial. We had to make sure we went every week to keep up with the hero and the villain.

Sometimes there was a talent show for children, and that is where I first saw some country music artists get their starts. Nashville was beginning to become known as Music City, and we thought nothing of seeing stars walking down the street or eating at the same restaurants.

Once I entered high school, like most girls, we talked about boys. By senior year, we wondered what it would be like to marry our high school sweethearts. Not many did though; we all mostly took different paths than were expected.

During the last couple years of high school, I worked with my dad at his company. I learned a lot about it and managing money. After a brief time in college, I realized a paycheck would be much higher than my grades, so I went to work full time and loved every minute. Our company was expanding rapidly. The computer age was just starting, and we decided to find a computer company that could handle our needs.

I remember the day I met Vernon. Since we had no computer experience, we hired a new firm that did the type of work we needed. Vernon worked for the company and showed us around. He explained a lot to us since we asked a lot of questions! His firm received our business, and for several years he would deliver the files and papers to me at my office.

After several years, his firm was sold, and we offered Vernon a job. We still did not have a computer on premises, so we leased time with another firm. He would bring our files and papers to me each morning since he had to work at night. When we finally bought our own system, he was able to work days and do programing as was needed.

After a couple of years, he asked if he could hire an operator to work for him since he needed more time to program. Business was getting to be more than one person could handle. Instead, my boss asked if I would like to learn the system and be the new operator. I immediately said yes and moved to a different position.

The first day on the new job, I was nervous. With a pad and pencil, I listened and wrote down everything about how to operate the system. A few days later, I said, It is so easy a monkey could learn how to do it. When I arrived for work the next morning, there was a note on my desk telling me a banana was in the top drawer. That was his sense of humor. After a few more years, Vernon left us. He said he was burned out with this type of work and wanted to go into another field.

Shortly after Vernon left our company, we moved into a larger building and bought our own computer hardware. We brought a new programmer and operator into the company. I went back into the office and helped train some of our associates. Once we knew the new system worked, we began to bring our eight division offices online. We needed someone to convert and train the other divisions. Mary, a longtime associate and friend, and I volunteered. We went to New Orleans for the first conversion. Upon returning, our boss decided that we did not need to be out of the office for weeks. We didn’t mind, and we had the other offices box up their records and send them to our office.

During that time, Vernon would call. We went to dinner and sometimes met for lunch when we both had time. As several years passed, we began to see each other more—and our friendship became love. One June evening after dinner at my condo, out of the blue, Vernon said, Let’s get married! I was surprised, but I said yes. After a minute, I asked when. He suggested June and picked a date. I told him okay—if he wanted it to be on a Wednesday! We got a good laugh and moved it to Saturday, June 18, 1992.

On a beautiful fall day on our patio, I thought about how lucky and blessed my husband and I were now. I had a loving husband, and we had good jobs and a nice home. What more could we ask for? We both had great jobs and practically no worries. His family lived about three hours away in Georgia, and we would visit quite often, especially in the fall. They had a small farm, and when the garden came in and the berries were ripe, we made sure to go. Vernon and I would spend a day making pear or grape preserves and putting corn up for future dinners. However, after five years, I would find out that our life would change very quickly with one simple phone call.

Early in the summer of 1996, Vernon complained he was short of breath