God's grace at work

The kids and I went to church this morning. After Mass, good friend Michael Kohl joined us for a visit to see Dori at Vanderbilt. Later in the day, Mary Belle Grande went to see her. My sister Anne, her friend Kristen Meadows and Marian Kohl are also planning visits today.

Dori is feeding off these visits. I'm telling everyone the same thing - go see her! She's generally been up for visitors; if she's tired or feeling nauseous, I've asked friends to make it brief. That formula seems to be working.

The tremendous love our friends have been showing has been God's grace at work. That's also how I would categorize the visit Vandy Baseball Coach Tim Corbin paid Dori on Friday. Coach Corbin and an assistant spent 10 minutes with her. Part of that time, they looked over some photos we've put on the wall in her room, some of which were taken at Vandy baseball games. The photo of Dori on the CaringBridge site (www.caringbridge.org/visit/doribrown) was taken at the Friday night VU-UT baseball game in late April.

Before VU baseball was cool, my family watched the program closely. The main reason is the players and coaches are first-rate people, not just great athletes and administrators. All-American third baseman Pedro Alvarez, for instance, wore me out this year with "Yes Sirs" and "No Sirs," and really encouraged Will. I told Coach Corbin earlier this year the reason we come to so many games isn't because he has the No. 1 team in the country, but rather Will and Kathryn get to watch nine role models play the game the right way - all out and with class.

Dori told Coach Corbin on Friday what I told the kids after VU rallied from a huge deficit in the SEC Tournament to Ole Miss: "Never, ever, ever, ever, EVER GIVE UP." I see that same determination now in Dori. We will enroll Will, who is a good player, in Coach Corbin's baseball camp next summer.

Yesterday, Will and I went to the hospital to join Dori for a haircut session. Will's buzzcut looks good. Dori looks good with short hair. It's curly in the back. She wanted to get this done before hair began to fall out. Special thanks to our friend Linda Buppert for coming to VUMC for the haircuts. Linda, who runs The Look salon just off Elliston Place in Nashville, is the best.

This week, the kids are in camp again. We'll gather at my Mom's Wednesday with friends for Independence Day. Tuesday is the really big day this week. Dori gets another bonemarrow biopsy to ensure the chemo worked and the leukemia has been knocked out. Your prayers have helped Dori sustain her courage and optimism. Please pray now for good results and low anxiety before then.

Jim