I Met a Cousin

Life in the ICU/PCU waiting area is pretty intimate at times. We more or less establish our own little spaces--a nice lady the other day complimented me on my neat little "efficiency apartment"--but, nevertheless, we are, at all times, in one rather large open room. So, after the first day or so, it gets to where we all just kind of do our own thing and, on occasion, our conversations converge.
During several of these days, I noticed a lady walking by at a rather fast clip. I could tell she was very tired from being here days on end, yet she always managed a smile or a wave. When Kurt was in ICU, our assigned locker in which to keep our valuables was in her sleeping area. She was always gracious and told Tom and me no matter what time of the day or night to feel free to attend to the locker. 
I liked her and didn't have any idea who she was.
The other evening she and her daughter were sitting near the campsite talking. I was sitting on my bed when Lisa, our coordinator, came by and handed me that beautiful, beautiful folder that told us that Kurt was officially on the transplant list. I was overcome with happiness for him...finally, we were where we needed to be, transplant-wise. And then when she told me that he was number one on the list, my joy became almost surreal. I ran over to the ICU to tell the four wonderful guys that saved Kurt the good news. They shared in the excitement. As I came back through the door, the lady stopped me. She said, "You've obviously got some good news--what is it?" As you can imagine, good news is treasured around here...there's precious little of it on many days. I told her our happy message. She and her daughter lit up with shared joy. She asked me where we lived. When I told her between Jasper and Washington (who on earth has heard of Otwell?), she said her family was from Jasper. My mind immediately figured she was a Weisheit, a Hoffman, a Leinenbach, or one of the many good German names from the area. So I asked her what her maiden name was...
Meadors.
No way...
My mouth dropped. I then told her I was a Meadors as well.
Nobody is a Meadors...there are so few of us!
The investigation grew. I went back to Kurt's room and grabbed my cousin, Lolly to help me quickly piece together the family tree. 
Come to find out, her great-grandfather and my grandpa were brothers.
Small world...small, small world.
And here we were together.
She is an only child and her parents were unable to be at the hospital.
Now she has family...isn't just the coolest thing how God arranges things?
The next day my aunt came and brought a picture of her great-grandfather and all his siblings and parents. It was going to be fun for her to see this and piece things together.
That was the same afternoon that she was told the news that there was nothing else that could be done for her husband. We were all devastated. She had been here for 26 days hoping beyond hope that something would turn around.
And now things were coming to an end...
But she has family here. And family is a wonderful thing to have. We've shared a lot of hugs and chats. My aunt is going to make sure she gets a copy of the picture she shared with her that day.
She told me earlier today that her husband has been moved to hospice on the second floor. I'll be sure to go visit her very soon...
that's what family is for.