Sometime this afternoon, one of my favorite people in this world died, Mr Henry Dobrovits. His Mama Carla was a long time reader of this blog. She insisted that I start praying for her son, while he was still an orphan living in the Ukraine. I think my first urgent prayer request for Mr. H was for some sort of ridiculously impossible, time-sensitive, total reversal in international adoption policy. I prayed sort of half-heartedly, because his Mama was so darn pushy about it. (In the best Italian mother way, of course Carla). She badgered me daily until I promised to pray for him often, to pray for him a lot. To my surprise, the prayers of so many Catholic women worked. Henry came home--quickly.
I stopped by his Mama's blog about his adoption often and before long I was hooked. Mr. H. is a charming soul. Those pictures of him joyfully struggling went straight to my heart. I was his prayer warrior and his cheerleader.
My favorite ever crazy post-op routine was feeding the kid Mc Donald's french fries. Evidently, my little hero always had major issues trying to start eating again after surgery. (Sometime my daughter Tess and I could relate too!) The one thing that always worked to get him started eating solids again was a Mc Donald french fry. I loved watching those crazy photos of a smiling guy--a former Ukrainian orphan--eating the classic American food--especially at a time when all other Americans Mothers are boycotting giving their children that taste. I looked forward to those "French Fry" pictures on Facebook as proof that Mr. H was well on the road towards recovery.
Mr. H, you didn't get your French Fry post. It was one more surgery, in a long litany of surgeries this Fall that I prayed often for you to pull through--because you were a big soul, a tough guy. Now you are dead. I miss you.
There will be other posts, where I talk about how courageous your Mama is, and how much she reminds me of our joint Blessed Mother. For now, I just want to say that I miss you. I miss praying for you.
Thank you for your service Mr. H. You reveal the Glory of God. It was an honor to pray for you this year. It was an honor to be your friend.
Servant of God, Dr. Jerome LeJeune, pray for us!
Update: Leila has all the great pictures on her post.
