In February of 1995, my mother-in-law went to the throat clinic, at Scott & White Hospital in Temple, Texas, where she was diagnosed with throat cancer. The only solution that Doctors offered was chemo radiation treatment. So, in March of 1995, she began her long treatment. She would take the treatment every day for several weeks, then three times a week. Finally, she would go once a week. About five months later, the doctors told her to come once a month. I was on the road, driving a big rig. So, I called my wife, at the hospital, every day, to see how my mother-in-law was doing with her treatments. One day, when I called, my wife told me that her mother was just about ready to give up hope for any recovery. My mother-in-law kept asking, “Why has God deserted me?” Several days later, I called my wife, again. I told her to take down this prayer that somehow was given to me, to give to her mother:

“Somewhere, somebody is praying a silent prayer

For reasons we do not know.

Sometimes, one person’s silent prayer is heard

Louder than a congregation praying together.

As they are praying for reasons of their own.

Sometimes, one person’s silent prayer is answered,

But not entirely fulfilled.

He has His reasons.

Keep up your silent prayer,

‘Cause it just might be yours that He answers.”

P. S. Mine was

About fifteen months after she began her treatment, the Doctors told my mother-in-law she did not need to come back anymore. For some reason, the throat cancer was gone. I guess my mother-in-law realized that God had not deserted her, nor she in Him. She had just lost faith in herself.

After nine years of being a recovered cancer patient, she had fought for as long as she could. She was tired all the time, just wanting to stay in her recliner day and night. She was in and out of the hospital, in her home town … kept having water in her lungs.

My mother had passed away in April of 2003. So, I decided to move my wife back home to be with her mother. In August of 2003, my mother-in-law passed away; not from cancer, but exhaustion from fighting to stay healthy. Between 12 Am and 12:45 Am, God came and told her that her fighting was over. It was time that she went home, as she needed a good night’s rest.

She had gone into a coma, and the Doctor said it was doubtful that she would regain consciousness. We know that she did not want to be on life support the rest of her life. So, we had her taken off the life support and we were at her side when she took her last breath on this earth.

Several months passed. Then, one day, my wife was looking in her mother’s purse and, inside a zipper compartment, she found the poem above that I had written for her. For nine years, she carried that poem in her purse.

So, I know that my mother-in-law had never lost her trust in God. She just misplaced her trust in herself, to let God be in charge for a change.

© 2003 by Robert H. Gilbert, Jr. RGBLUEBOY@aol.com (http://www.geocities.com/rgblueboy/StoryPoetryPage.html ) Once retired from the military, Robert H. Gilbert, Jr., took on new adventures as a truck driver and a writer. He says he started writing in early 1991 and hasn’t stopped yet. When Robert writes poetry and short stories, he hopes to make readers feel a part of it. Robert credits his wife who inspired him to begin sharing his writings. He says the responses have been a true blessing.