Grief’S Story: Joy Will Come

By Donna Jean Fletcher/Everitt

It was November when Donna Jean Fletcher/Everitts minister husband, Garry, was diagnosed with cancer. After the shocking diagnosis came rounds of grueling chemotherapy and the unfortunate reality that the cancer was still growing inside him. A little over ten months later, Garry succumbed to the disease, leaving Donna to face a new challenge: her grief.

Death brings feelings that none of us understand. In a touching and honest recount of her experiences both during and after her husband passed away from cancer, Donna shares a glimpse into her intimate private moments of grief and uncertainty. While offering a window into not only her grief but also her ultimate joy as she turned everything over to God for comfort, Donna provides encouragement to others in the same situation while emphasizing that grief, although emotionally draining and overwhelmingly frustrating at times, will not last forever and that hope is always within our reach.

Griefs Story: Joy Will Come shares a true story of love, loss, and sadness as a woman embarks on a poignant journey from the darkness of grief into the light of healing and faith.

The droplets of water in the bathroom sink seemed to be happy. They were dancing in the light! I thought I would never want to dance again.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Mar 9, 2018
• ISBN: 9781973619062

Donna Jean Fletcher/Everitt

Donna Jean Fletcher/Everitt is a retired minister who is comforted knowing God will help her through anything. After raising seven children, plus three step-children and becoming a widow, she eventually remarried and now lives in Leavenworth, Kansas, where she is an active volunteer in her church and community. Griefs Story: Joy Will Come is her first book.

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Copyright © 2018 Donna Jean Fletcher/Everitt.

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.

Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The NIV and New International Version are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™

This book is a work of non-fiction. Unless otherwise noted, the author and the publisher make no explicit guarantees as to the accuracy of the information contained in this book and in some cases, names of people and places have been altered to protect their privacy.

WestBow Press

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ISBN: 978-1-9736-1907-9 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-9736-1908-6 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-9736-1906-2 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2018901613

WestBow Press rev. date: 02/27/2018

Contents

Preface

Chapter 1 Diagnosis

Chapter 2 Treatment

Chapter 3 Illness

Chapter 4 Last Days

Chapter 5 Lonely Times

Chapter 6 Changing Times

Chapter 7 Moving On

Chapter 8 Pain Returns

Chapter 9 Joy Will Come

A Note from the Author

Acknowledgments

Thank you

Image1Garry.jpg

In honor of my late husband, Garrett William Fletcher

"I tell you the truth,

You will weep and mourn

While the world rejoices,

You will grieve,

But your grief

Will turn to joy"

—John 16:20, NIV

Preface

This book has taken many years to write.

Each time I think I am finished,

I find I have more to add.

I am glad,

Because that assures me that life is constantly changing.

Nothing remains the same.

Circumstances change.

The feelings you have now will change!

This book has been written with the hope

That the reading of it

Will help someone who is grieving,

And to resolve my own grief issues.

1

Diagnosis

In March 1995, my husband, Garry, began running fevers in the late afternoons and through the nights. Chills and profuse sweating went along with these. At six feet two inches, he weighed three hundred and eight pounds.

He went to a doctor in the small town where we were serving as assistant pastors for The Salvation Army. The doctor seemed unable to believe what Garry said had been happening. Many times, when doctors have medical personnel as patients, they think that the patient is second guessing their diagnosis. But whatever the reason, he didn’t find anything and didn’t do any follow up.

Having worked in the medical field for thirty years, Garry decided to have some tests run on his own. Through the local health department, he found that he did not have AIDS, TB, or any of the other prevalent diseases of the day. He started losing weight and had less energy, patience, and just plain "oomph".

In September 1995, we went to another town that had a large hospital and clinic. On moving day, Garry could not carry anything but the super light things. Even that was hard for him because our apartment was on the second floor.

His fifth-fourth birthday was on the twenty-sixth. He wanted to be intimate with me but was unable to. That activity had been definitely tapering off over the last year. I didn’t realize that we would never be able to have those times again.

~~~

Garry was the shopper of our family; he loved to shop. It did not matter if it was grocery stores, thrift stores, or fancy clothing stores. He even did the monthly sanitary run for me and five teenage girls. Many times I would stay in the car and read while he shopped.

In October 1995, he went into a grocery store and came out in a hurry. His teeth were chattering from the fever. He asked me if I would drive him to the hospital. On arriving at the emergency room and explaining the situation, they suggested that we go to the drop in clinic in the hospital. I had to practically drag him, but we finally got to the clinic.

The clinic doctor asked Garry when the fever had started. His answer was, Last March. The doctor about had a fit. He said, And you waited until twenty minutes before we close to come to the clinic? Garry’s response was that he was sorry, and he could come back tomorrow. The doctor said, No way! We’ve got you here now. We are going to find out what is going on.

They started running test after test. They ended up doing a biopsy of his lymph glands. By this time, we both felt that he had cancer. We went to the library and made