WHAT THE HOME PAGE DOES NOT TELL YOU IS THE FACT THAT I AM NOW A BORN AGAIN CHRISTIAN ALTHOUGH THE SITE LOOKS
LIKE IT COMES FROM A CATHOLIC SIDE OF FAITH , SOME OF THE PHOTOS DO LOOK A LITTLE BIT SUSS' BUT BELIEVE ME THEY ARE ONLY IN
TO GIVE THE SITE A MORE RELIGEOUS FLAVOUR .
EVEN THOUGH I WAS BORN INTO THE CATHOLIC FAITH , BUT THIS WAS NOT ALWAYS THE WAY .
YOU SEE I WAS BORN INTO A FAMILY WHERE MY FATHER WAS A CATHOLIC BUT MY MOTHER WAS OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND
FAITH .
NOW IN THE BEGINNING OF THEIR MARRIAGE THEY HAD A SMALL DILEMA AND THAT WAS WHEN THE CHILDREN CAME ALONG
AND THAT DID HAPPEN BECAUSE IFF NOT I WOULD NOT BE HERE TYPING MY TESTIMONY TO GOD AND THOSE WHO READ THIS PAGE .
WHAT SEEMED TO BE A RATHER DIFFICULT DECISION , ESPECIALLY AS MY FATHER WAS FROM A RATHER LARGE FAMILY ,
13 BROTHERS AND SISTERS TO BE PRECISE AND THEY WERE ALL TO A ONE , PRACTISING CATHOLICS , WHICH MEANS ON A DAILY BASIS THEY
WENT TO CHURCH . NOW IN REALLITY IT TURNED OUT TO HAVE A SIMPLE ANSWER AND THAT WAS , DAD SAID THAT IFF THE 1ST BABY BORN
WAS TO BE A GIRL THEN THE FAMILY WOULD BE RAISED AS CATHOLICS IFF A BOY IT WOULD BE THE OTHER WAY ROUND , NOW THIS LATER
ON WAS TO TURN OUT TO BE 2 MIRICALS AS I DEEM THEM TO BE . WELL MY BROTHER WAS 1ST BORN SO WE WERE BAPTISED INTO THE CHURCH
OF ENGLAND AND LATER ON RECIEVED OUR COMMUNION RIGHTS . THIS DECISION OF MY FATHER WAS TO CAUSE CHAOS IN HIS FAMILY WITH MOST
OF THEM NOT TALKING TO HIM FOR MANY YEARS UNTIL THEY REALISED THE ENORMITY OF HIS SIMPLE DECISION AND CAME BACK TO HAVE A
HAPPY FAMILY ONCE AGAIN .
NOW IN MY EARLY YEARS AND MOST OF MY EARLY MANHOOD I NEVER WENT TO CHURCH BUT IT DIDN'T STOP ME FROM HAVING
A FACINATION OF THE BIBLE , GOD AND OF ANCIENT EYGPT . IT WASN'T UNTIL MY MID 30'S IN 1987 THAT MY FATHER DIED AND THIS SAD
OCCASION THAT HAPPENS TO US ALL , COMPLETELY TURNED MY LIFE UPSIDE DOWN .
DAD WAS DYING OF THIS HORRIBLE DISEASE OF CANCER .
I CAN REMEMBER VISITING HIM ONE DAY WHEN HE ASKED ME TO BRING UP A BASEBALL BAT , AS I WAS INTO THE SPORT
IN A BIG WAY BACK THEN , AND TO PUT HIM OUT OF HIS MISERY . I HAVE NOT MENTIONED THIS FACT TO ANY ONE EVEN MY MOTHER WHO HAS
SINCE PASSED AWAY IN 2000 UNTIL THIS VERY MOMENT . A SECRET I THOUGHT I WOULD TAKE TO MY GRAVE , SOMETHING SO SAD THAT TOUCHED
ME VERY DEEPLY . IT WAS THAT MOMENT AND ABOUT A HALF DOZEN DAILY VISITS TO MY FATHER , AS MY WORK ALLOWED ME TO TAKE TIME
OFF HERE AND THERE AS I WAS A TRAVELLING SALESMAN , I BECAME CLOSER TO HIM THAN I HAD BEEN FOR MANY YEARS MAYBE ALL MY LIFE
I SUPPOSE , AS HE WAS SUCH A HARD WORKER IN MY YOUTH AND MY GROWING YEARS AND MARRIED LIFE ALSO DIDN'T ALLOW ME THE CORRECT
AND PROPER TIME TO SPEND WITH HIM . SO AGAIN I SAY IT WAS A SAD POSITION TO FIND MYSELF IN , GETTING TO KNOW MY FATHER IN
THE WEEKS LEADING UP TO HIS DEATH , BUT THEY ARE THE MOST TREASURED MOMENTS OF MY LIFE , BEING WITH HIM ALONE , JUST ME AND
HIM TOGETHER , TALKING A LIFETIME OF MEMORIES .
NOW DAD WAS IN A COMA FOR THE BEST PART OF THE LAST WEEK AND A HALF BEFORE PASSING ON WHEN WHAT I DEEM TO
BE THE FIRST MIRACAL HAPPENED . ONE OF MY FATHERS BROTHERS , AN UNCLE , RANG THE FAMILY TO LET EACH OF US KNOW TO COME TO
THE HOSPITAL AS HE HAD RUNG A PRIEST TO VISIT DAD AND GIVE HIM HIS LAST RIGHTS , SOMETHING OF THE CATHOLIC FAITH AT THAT TIME
I THOUGHT TO BE A MYSTERY . WELL WE ALL GATHERED AROUND THE BED AS THE PRIEST BEGAN THE AGE OLD RITUAL OF ADMINISTERING THE
LAST RIGHTS TO MY FATHER , NOW UNDER NORMAL CIRCUMSTANCES YOU ARE AWAKE TO ANSWER THE QUESTIONS THAT ARE ASKED , WELL MY FATHER
SAT BOLT UPRIGHT IN HIS BED AS IFF NOTHING WAS GOING ON AND ANSWERED ALL THE QUESTIONS ASKED OF HIM . THIS TOOK US ALL BY
SUPRISE BUT MOST OF ALL ME , AND THEN AT THE FINISH AS HE WAS SIGNING THE CROSS WITH HOLY WATER ON MY FATHERS FOREHEAD , HE
PROMPTLEY LAY HIS HEAD BACK ONTO THE PILLOW AND INTO THE COMA BEFORE ANYONE COULD SAY ANYTHING TO HIM ESPECIALLY MY MOTHER
WHO HAD BEEN HOLDING HIS HAND RIGHT THROUGH THE PROCEDURE .
THE SECOND OF MY MIRACALS WAS TO OCCUR ON THE DAY HE PASSED AWAY . THE FAMILY WERE GIVEN A PHONE CALL FROM
THE HOSPITAL EARLY ON THE MORNING OF JANUARY THE 2ND 1987 AND WE ALL RUSHED TO BE AT HIS BEDSIDE . NOW WE ALL POSITIONED OURSELVES
AROUND THE BED WITH MUM SITTING BY HIS SIDE HOLDING THE HAND THAT WAS HELD MANY TIMES THROUGHOUT 45 YEARS OF MARRAIGE
. NOW DAD HAD STILL NOT COME OUT OF THE COMA HE HAD BEEN IN FOR NEAR ON A FORTNIGHT . WHAT WAS TO HAPPEN HAS BEEN INDELLIBLY
PRINTED ON MY MIND FROM THAT DAY TO NOW AND IFF I WERE TO CLOSE MY EYES I COULD SEE EVERYTHING THAT HAPPENED THAT DAY AS IFF
IT WAS ONLY YESTERDAY . ABOUT 15 TO 20 MINUTES AFTER WE ARRIVED A MALE NURSE CAME IN QUIETLY AND STOOD AT THE FOOT OF HIS
BED LEANING AGAINST THE WALL , WHEN AGAIN DAD SAT BOLT UPRIGHT IN HIS BED AS LUCID AS YOU AND ME . HE LOOKED AROUND THE ROOM
WITH A WARM SMILE AND LOOKED EACH OF US DIRECTLY INTO OUR EYES , IT SEEMED AN ETERNITY BUT WAS OVER WITHIN A COUPLE OF SECONDS
, HE THEN TURNED TO HIS WIFE AND GAVE HER A KISS ON THE HAND AND AS HE LAY HIS HEAD BACK DOWN ON THE PILLOW HE HAD EYES ONLY
FOR HER AND AS HE BLEW HER A KISS SO DID THE LAST BREATH OF A MAGNIFICENT FATHER EBB AWAY . IT WAS THOUGH HE WAS SAYING HIS
LAST GOODBYES TO US ALL .
SO FROM THAT DAY ON I MADE A PROMISE TO MYSELF AND THAT WAS TO TURN TO THE CATHOLIC FAITH TO FOLLOW IN MY
FATHERS FOOTSTEPS AND TO TRY AND LEARN AS MUCH OF GOD AND JESUS AS I COULD THROUGH THE FAITH THAT HE HAD BEEN BROUGHT UP IN
AND THAT HAD ENLIGHTENED HIS LIFE FOR SO MANY YEARS , I STILL SEARCH AND I SUPPOSE I WILL GO TO MY OWN GRAVE NOT KNOWING THE
TRUTH .
AND WHO SAID MIRACALS DO NOT HAPPEN IN MODERN TIMES , I KNOW , I SAW , I WAS THERE ON BOTH OCCASIONS AND
I KNOW THERE IS A GOD OUT THERE WATCHING OVER EACH AND EVERY ONE OF US AS I TYPE .
SO TO THE NON BELIEVERS OR THOSE WHO HAVE DRIFTED AWAY FROM GOD AND CHURCH , NO MATTER WHAT FAITH YOU ARE
, IT DOESN'T MATTER WE ARE ALL GOD'S CHILDREN , COME BACK TO THE CHURCH AND OFFER YOUR BLESSINGS TO THE ALMIGHTY
SO HE CAN BLESS YOU AND WATCH OVER YOU AT ALL TIMES .
