Today is a beautiful Spring day and appropriately it is Easter weekend.  The trees are a riot of color, and all nature seems to be celebrating the end of a very long winter.  I drove out to see Bob, and the residents of the Armourdale unit (where Bob is) at The Piper seemed bored, so I decided to play the piano for them.  I was playing some hymns, but mainly Gaither songs.  After I finished one song, a resident that is usually very quiet said "That was 'We'll talk it over.'"  I was so surprised as he didn't know the previous song "Life is like a Mountain Railroad" which some of the other residents knew.
I remember my brother Bob and my husband Bob sang that as a duet in church many years ago, and I played the piano.  Little did I know how significant the words would become.
I would like to talk over with my Lord why a good man such as Bob would have to get Alzheimer's.  Bob did so much good in his life.  The Family Center at the hospital where he worked is opening up a Family Center the end of this month.  It includes the child care center for employee's children (the best in the area) and an Infant Development Center for handicapped children.  When we first moved here the Infant Development Center was in another facility off campus.  There was a torrential rain one night and it was flooded.  The founder, Lee Ann Britain, called Shawnee Mission Medical Center and asked if they had space where they could move temporarily.  A space was found and overnight Bob and the Environmental Services crew moved them to a place in the hospital and they were ready for business the next morning.  To make a long story short, they never moved from the hospital.  Bob enthusiastically supported them during his whole career.  I can't help but think it was because of him having cerebral palsy in his infancy and early life.  He didn't walk until he was 5, and then it was because of intensive therapy.
Another cause Bob put a lot of energy into was the Adventist school, maybe because he had children that went there.  He was chairman of the building committee for the building of the new Midland Adventist School (now Midland Adventist Academy) and put many hours of sweat and tears into it.  He told the story of how he went with the hospital attorney to visit a neighbor of the school that they needed to talk to regarding putting a sewer line through his property.  They were met on the porch looking down the barrel of a gun and the man telling them to get off his property.  But in the end, after showing him the money, he relented!  When the school opened, the library was called the Robert L. Woolford library.  It was a perfect tribute as Bob loved to read and he loved the kids!  With the advent of computers, the library is now the school music room, which is also appropriate as he also loved music.   The sign on the room reads "This space served as the Robert L. Woolford Library from 1998-2018.  Robert was a tireless champion of Seventh-day Adventist education and played a pivotal role in the establishment of Midland Adventist School."
Yes, I would like to ask my Lord why something so bad happened to someone so good.  He had such a hard time in his early life, it doesn't seem fair that he should end his life the same way.  He has to be fed now, but he still loves to eat.  I am glad, as I watch other residents that are unable to swallow now, or have forgotten how to swallow.  And when someone with Alzheimer's can't swallow, they often choke, and get aspiration pneumonia which ends their life.  So while he is able to enjoy them, I take him little treats.  I try to go out and feed him lunch every other day.  The other day I took him a piece of homemade German Chocolate cake (his favorite) and evidently I wasn't shoveling it in fast enough.  He made a motion with his hands that very clearly said "COME ON!"

I will end with the words from the chorus of the song:

We'll talk it over in the bye and bye,
We'll talk it over, my Lord and I
I'll ask the reasons; He'll tell my why
When we talk it over, in the bye and bye.

I am sure others are wondering the same things that I do, but keep in mind this Easter season that God knows why, and someday it will be revealed to us.  He loved us so much He sent his son, and we cannot understand that either!

Happy Easter!
Betty