It was Christmas Eve. My dad was meeting my sisters and me at the airport. He had treated us to airline tickets so we could fly home from three different locations in the United States. Dad greeted me by saying that after my sisters landed, we would be going to the hospital to see Grandmother, who had suddenly become totally paralyzed and was unable to speak.

While Dad left to meet the arriving flights of my sisters, I looked for a pay phone. A friend who had given me copies of the Bible and the Christian Science textbook, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy, had also given me the phone number of a Christian Science practitioner I could call for healing prayer. I was shocked at the news about my grandmother, and as a new student of Christian Science, I wanted to reach out to this practitioner for that spiritual help. I asked him to pray for me so I would not cry when I saw my grandmother and add worries to her. I knew his prayerful treatment would help lift me out of fear and sadness while helping me feel embraced in the love of God. 

Upon arriving at the hospital, we were greeted by a nurse, who directed us to the waiting room. She said Grandmother was lying facedown, and they were going to try to move her and give her a drink of water.