SCCAP
finished the energy efficiency improvements on this home early last
week. Because it was the first of about 150 that we will be weatherizing
with close to $900,000 in Recovery Act funds, I decided to go to the
home to get some pictures and talk with the homeowner for a story on
this blog.
When
I arrived, the homeowner, Peter Elliott, happened to be standing
outside his home just blocks from the SCCAP office. He told me that
he’d be glad to share his experiences with having his home
weatherized, but that it wasn’t the best day to go inside and
do that because his wife was expected to die that day.
I’m
telling you this story today because we just learned from a death
notice on HeraldTimesOnline.com that Peter’s wife, Eva
Elliott, died last Thursday, a day after I’d met him.
After
explaining that Eva was not expected to make it much longer, Peter
talked about what his family has been through in recent years.
Eva’s health problems began seven years ago while she was in
California helping to take care of her mother who had cancer. While she
was there, she became sick and eventually found out that she had
Hepatitis C, apparently contracted from a blood transfusion during a
gall bladder operation years earlier.
Eva
went through years of testing and experimental procedures in an effort
to save or prolong her life. In 2003, her son, Nick Cole, saved her life
by donating 60 percent of his liver to her in a rare liver transplant
operation.
One
remarkable thing about her impending death, Peter said, was that since
January Eva had been telling people that the Lord would take her home
just after her 50th birthday, and she had celebrated that birthday just a
few days earlier.
With
her illness and treatments – some of them in other states
– Eva hasn’t always been able to live at home.
During that time, Peter has become the caretaker for their 6-1/2 year
old grandson who attends Fairview Elementary.
That
isn’t easy for Peter because he is disabled, having twice had
his spine broken in accidents. The first time happened in a car
accident caused by another driver. The second time came when Peter saved
a co-worker who had some heavy equipment fall on him. Peter managed to
hold the equipment up until the coworker could free his legs, but then
the weight caused Peter to flip over and his spine snapped in the same
spot it had been broken the first time. For a while, Peter used a
wheelchair, but now he’s able to walk with the help of arm
braces.
In
talking about the challenges his family has faced, Peter spoke not of
bitterness or despair, but instead about his deep gratitude and
appreciation for their blessings. He's grateful that Eva was able to make
it out of the hospital and get home to spend her final days with her
husband and grandson. He’s also grateful for the excellent
support Eva received through the hospice program at Bloomington
Hospital, and most of all, that after all of the sickness,
she’d be in a far better place after she died.
And
Peter is grateful that SCCAP was able to weatherize his home, including
replacing a furnace that he tried all last winter to have fixed, but
couldn’t find anyone who could fix it. He praised
Weatherization Auditor Jason Hickman for his technical expertise and his
sensitivity in working quietly as Eva rested in one of the
home’s bedrooms.
“There
was no way that I could afford a new furnace,” Peter said.
“This was God helping me get ready to take care of my grandson
this winter.