Help Patience & Charlie Celebrate 25 Years of Marriage

Patience & Charlie – 25th Wedding Anniversary Trip (Part II)

My sister, Patience and her husband, Charlie have been married for 25 years. They celebrated their wedding anniversary on June 26th.

At the beginning of this year, they decided to plan a wonderful trip to Florida to celebrate. They planned to take their time and drive down to stay with an old Navy friend of Charlie’s as well as visit one of Patience’s best friends.

It was a road trip / anniversary trip that had been in the works for months; one they would remember for many years to come.

Weeks prior to their amazing road trip, Patience had a very traumatic incident at work, where one of her clients tried to attack her and ultimately inflict bodily harm. If it wasn’t for the quick response from her staff members it could have been a very different and devasting outcome.

So, this Florida road trip was exactly what was needed for them both, a break from real life to spend quality time with each other. They headed out of Pittsburgh, PA the morning of June 27th, and made it to South Carolina early evening for their first pit stop for the trip. They had dinner and drinks and headed back to their room to get some rest to finish their road trip to Florida.

One hour into day two of the road trip Patience had a very sharp pain in her lower stomach and brushed it off as a stomachache. As Charlie continued to drive her pain got worse. They both had two different things to eat the night before and thought it could have been food poisoning.

5 hours after her pain had started, they reached their destination in Florida. Patience could no longer stand on her own and Charlie and his friend, had to carry her out the car. She was lightheaded and dizzy, and the pain was getting worse. At this point she thought being out of the car would help and she just needs to lay down and rest.

At 3am the next morning the pain was so severe and unbearable she woke Charlie up and they went to the emergency room. After her examination the doctor said she would need emergency surgery due to a bowel obstruction and he was glad they came when they did.

Now in Florida recovering from surgery, the worst was over, they were able to clear the obstruction and now she needs to recover. Feeling instantly blessed in that moment; they were nothing but thankful. She was in the hospital for a total of 6 days missing most of this wonderful trip they had been planning for months. This wonderful Florida trip was spent from a hospital bed.

They tried to make the most of it and look on the bright side of things, but it was emotionally overwhelming for them both. Charlie spent most of the time back in forth to the hospital while Patience spent most of the time, resting and trying not to think.

The doctor later told them both, that if she would have waited 24 more hours, the chances of her becoming sceptic would have highly increased.

She was discharged from the hospital on Friday, July 5th. They ended up staying a few extra days in Florida for her follow up appointment then headed back home.

What a way to spend your 25th wedding anniversary.

Thinking about Charlie coming back home without my sister is completely unthinkable and the thought alone brings me to tears. We have grown so close in our adult life that I cannot imagine a day without her. When I don’t talk to her for a day, it seems like a week. She has become one of my best friends and one of my favorite people. I love her so much and Thank God every day that the pain got to be so unbearable to cause her to act and move when she did.

Please Donate – A Gift for a Trip

Hopefully they will be able to celebrate a Less Eventful 25th Wedding Anniversary Trip!