John isn't going to make it.
Doctors finished rounds of tests and consulted medical experts from around the country; but the prognosis is poor.
Julie called from the hospital to let me know she's bringing John home. The Valley Hospice will help the family on this new and unwelcome journey.
The testing for potential bone marrow matches didn't find help in time for John, but it did locate people who matched six others on wait lists in Wisconsin and Minnesota.
It's shocking news.
Maybe that doesn't make sense given the jarring news we got last spring when John first became ill, but we all expected John to recover. For now, we continue.
We continue the community effort to get the crops harvested and prepare the land for next spring. We continue to love and lift up our friends in prayer and anyway we can so they don't have to worry about life's little details.
We continue to love John. We continue to watch the ballgames with him. John is a big Bucks fan - one of the few left around here after too many losing seasons - so we'll watch those games with him every chance we get.
He's a Packer fan, too. If he's up for it - a local family has tickets for their suite in Lambeau a week from Sunday when they host Philadelphia - they asked me to drive. I love John and the Packers, so I didn't say no.
Rich and Scotty have all the farmers, FFA-ers, 4-H kids, and the surrounding churches organized to finish the crops and set up a rotating delivery service for every meal or ride the Johnson family might need.
Pastor Bob called me after Julie did to fill me in on what might happen over the next few months or weeks.
That conversation is a real clarifying moment, let me tell you. While we know the bell will toll for us someday - we don't really think about it that way.
This news that my good friend John has a short time to live is tough to hear. We will pray together - worship together - have fun together - all in an effort to create a jumbo size scrapbook of life-long memories.
John doesn't need our tears. He needs our support and love and the knowledge that every one of us will continue to be here for Julie and his family.
The bell may be ringing, but it's not done. We are blessed to have this time together.
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