Life and Death with Old Friends

This morning I received a phone call from a very old and dear friend. His name is Freddie. I have known Freddie his parents Carlos Sr. and Maria and his four brothers Carlos Jr., Wolhan, Johnny, and Christian my entire life. His parents were my second set of parents when I was a very young child... They are originally from Guatemala and still have the wonderful accent of their native country....forty years later. This family is so very precious to me.
Last summer when my father was dying, I was trying to track down Carlos and Maria to let them know my dad had only a day or two left. I called their son, Wolhan who lives in Northern California to ask him if he knew where I could find them.. Wolhan laughed and said that they had just walked through door from the airport. His parents had just arrived for an extended visit. Loving my parents as they do, Carlos and Maria jumped in the car and were at my dad's bedside within two hours... Our parents' relationship are one of those great stories of true friendship. They met in the late sixties.. The Ovalle family had just moved to America from Guatemala.. the language barrier did not affect this friendship or all the kids from becoming close friends. Five boys and three girls all of us close in age and high in adventure! We were poor in those days.. but as kids it did not matter...we didn't know we were poor....We just lived each day the best we could and enjoyed our days of young freedom... One story Carlos Jr. shared with us a month or so ago was our first Thanksgiving together... Our families had just met and we were all sitting at the dinner tables. The adults at one table and the kids at another table. Everyone was quiet and on their best behavior....until my sister Debbie flipped a spoonful of mashed potatoes at the boys thus created the "Thanksgiving Day Food Fight".... Carlos Jr. said that was a happy memory...
Through the years, we all drifted apart. Each of us starting our own families and careers...but we know that we are there for each other.....They were there when my dad died. They were there for my mom...
Well, Freddie's call this morning was to let me know that Maria is in the hospital with kidney cancer and that it has spread.. He said that Maria wants to see my mom... My mom recently cracked her pelvis and is unable to drive so I told Freddie that we will be there right away.. As I was heading up with my mom to the hospital, we learned there had been a shooting in the hospital and two people were shot! When we got to the hospital it was in complete lock down...No one going in and no one going out...
We waited for a little over two hours and then I took my mom home. I am waiting for the call so that we can return and let Maria know how much we love her.... Let Carlos Sr, Carlos Jr., Wolhan, Freddie, Johnny, and Christian know that we are family and we will ALWAYS be there....

Please pray for my friends.. Please pray for Maria. Thank you.