Keep a smile on your face and one in your heart
Prayer for ‘Dub’
 | By Judi McLeod (Bio and Archives) Wednesday, May 23, 2012 | Print friendly | Subscribe | Email Us |
I don’t know where Doug (Dub) Bronson is at this moment in time. I do know that it’s dark and heartache-ridden where he is.
Dub’s beloved wife Debbie, diagnosed in the fourth stage of cancer last year, was rushed to hospital yesterday.
A devastated Doug telephoned Canada Free Press (CFP) this morning shortly after the arrival of this email:
“Judi, Brian
Guys, things have taken a turn for the worse with Debbie. It’s killing me, but I’ll be fine, but she’s not doing well at all.
Please say an extra prayer for her.
Doug “
Doug and Debbie have won over so many online fans since starting their regular column ‘Ridin’ Out The Recession’ a little more than a year ago.
Their gardening tips, their recipes and videotaped, step-by-step adventures with wild hogs and beehives are looked upon as an everyday fresh air diary from farm and countryside.
For those unfamiliar with the Doug and Debbie website, it’s commonsense survival in hard times, spiked with humour.
This is a couple so devoted to each other that none of us wants to think of either one of them having to carry on without the other, and my most fervent prayers of this sad day are for the Good Lord to keep Doug’s strength up to the level where Debbie would want it to be.
The story of Doug and Debbie Bronson is the story of recent years America. When the economic downturn saw them losing their once successful paving company, the two turned their attention to their Florida spread, acreage of which is enjoined by Doug’s parents and brother. They grow acres of vegetables, fruits and berries, some for their dinner table and those of their families; some to market.
During the past year, Debbie worked side by side with Doug out on the land. They toiled sunup to sundown, loving every minute of being self-sufficient. They were making it from the toil of their own labour.
There were many ups and downs, including human drama, not the least of which was when Debbie made the decision to refuse chemotherapy. Instead they turned to a personalized health plan that included long walks and a diet of almost solely vegetables, fruit and berries, and their juice.
Doug kept up with Debbie on the fruit and veggie diet, delightedly losing lots of weight. Until yesterday, Debbie seemed to thrive on it.
Doug didn’t know when he telephoned what was the reason for Debbie’s collapse, only that her pain was so intense he couldn’t get her into his truck and had to send for an ambulance.
When tragedy strikes someone you care about, it’s difficult to know what to say.
I never knew what to say to my best friend when her Mother and Brother-in-law died the same day and were buried the same day a little before Easter.
I know that when my baby son died and then my husband, my friends felt the same way. I don’t know if they ever knew their just being there was better than anything they could have ever said.
I do know that Sarah Young’s “Devotions for Every Day of the Year sent to me by my friend Anne Burkart brought me some comfort when I read the one for May 23: “APPROACH EACH NEW DAY with desire to find Me. Before you get out of bed, I have already been working to prepare the path that will get you through this day. There are hidden treasures strategically placed along the way. Some of the treasures are trials, designed to shake you free from earth shackles. Others are blessings that reveal My Presence: sunlight, flowers, birds, friendships, answered prayer. I have not abandoned this sin-wracked world; I am still richly present in it.
“Search for your deep treasure as you go through this day. You will find me along the way.”
Debbie’s favourite saying is the one she always signs off with in her columns: “Keep a smile on your face and one in your heart.”
These words and the ones written above are the ones I’m now sending to Doug.
Copyright © Canada Free Press
Judi McLeod is an award-winning journalist with 30 years’ experience in the print media. A former Toronto Sun columnist, she also worked for the Kingston Whig Standard. Her work has appeared on Rush Limbaugh, Newsmax.com, Drudge Report, Foxnews.com, and Glenn Beck.
Judi can be emailed at: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)