Lydia's Miracle

[The following is a true account, and witness to, an event in the life of a beautiful person who lived so short a period of time, and yet left a memory of life that was full, rich and full of goodness.]

In the deepest times of trouble, God sometimes appears to individuals in many and different ways.

It was no less than true, that to Lydia, suffering from the ravages of her genetic disease, Von Hippel Lindau syndrome, in intense pain, on dialysis and having to undergo a variety of surgeries.

Her thoughts were constantly not about herself, but about her three children, and what would befall them. Would they suffer the same fate as she, and have to endure the same pain and problems?

This worry was constant and real.

One day, and I am not certain just when, during the course of her trials of health, she became very peaceful, at times even serene. I asked her if she was all right, was there anything I could do, and she told me of a vision she had had.

She called it “her miracle”. Lydia was not a religious fanatic, but she was very devout. She was Roman Catholic, and believed very deeply in her God, in Jesus and prayed the Rosary.

Lydia told me that she had seen the Blessed Mother –she had come to her while in her deepest time of worry. She had talked to her about her children, and had been told by the Blessed Mother that none of her children would ever have the problems of Von Hippel Lindau that she had had. It was her suffering that would relieve the children from this disease.

Because of Lydia’s great faith – I believed her! She was very clear in her statements, and it was obvious that she was not hallucinating or talking out of her head.

On a number of occasions, as the time went on, when she was in the depths of her pain and despair, I would remind her of “her miracle”, to which she would respond – almost in relief – “yes…..yes”! And, then would grow quiet as in some type of inner peace.

After she passed from this life, the children were asked to participate in a series of medical tests at the National Institute of Health [NIH] near Washington, D.C. - a wonderful federal institute specializing in the testing of all types of diseases, and the seeking of cures for them all.

Following a multi-day battery of tests, we returned home. A preliminary release of the test data seemed to indicate that one of the children had inherited the disease.

Dr. Zabar, who was the head of immunobiology at NIH, called me at my office and said that he was not certain as to the original sample of blood drawn; he was not comfortable as to the results and wanted to run the tests over – using a new sample of blood from the children.

I consented and he sent the information to Rapides General Hospital in Alexandria.
The children had the blood drawn and it was mailed to NIH.

A number of months went by – maybe 5 to 6 months – and around Thanksgiving time I received a phone call from Dr. Zabar while at my office.

His conversation went something like this: “Mr. Moriarty, this is Dr. Zabar at NIH, and we have concluded the tests on the new sample of your children’s blood. I do not understand what has happened, but something has changed from the results in the first sample of blood taken. Not wanting to allow you to have any false impressions of the test results, I have re-tested the samples multiple times, and the results are all the same – which is the reason for the delay in calling you as to the results. None of your children have inherited the VHL gene. I feel certain of this fact, but if you would like another opinion on this I can put you in touch with a doctor at Johns Hopkins Hospital which has a very good laboratory specializing in rare diseases such as this, and while I feel certain of the results they will achieve, you are welcome to contact them.”

I told Dr. Zabar that I trusted his results he had come up with, but that I wanted to tell him something. I told him that I knew that he was a man of science and probably would not be able to comment on what I had to say, but “what you have done is to confirm Lydia’s miracle”. I then related to him what Lydia had told me, of her promise by the Blessed Mother, how deeply she believed in what had been told her, and how much comfort her miracle had given her. There was a deep silence on the phone while I related the story to Dr. Zabar. There was no comment from him, but I knew that it had made a very deep impression on him. I thanked him for his call and hung up.

I immediately left my office and went across the street to St. James Episcopal Church, which I attended, and knelt in the darkened church, thanking God for His blessing and gift of love and health to my children – indeed, I felt like the leper who returned to thank and glorify God.

Lydia’s miracle was confirmed!

And, I know that she is smiling from heaven.

[In loving memory of Lydia Kramer Moriarty - August 22, 1946 - August 9, 1985; 38years - 11 months - 13 days]