A Miraculous Coincidence As Her Mother Passed Away

Susan Sallada shared her miracle story via email on December 30^th. Her mother miraculously passed away as carolers played her favorite Christian song outside their home. Her story has been edited for grammar.

I’m not the greatest at writing down my thoughts, but I must share this with someone who’ll get it. I’m not sure how to start. I’ll say a few facts about her life. She was born early, weighing between 4 and 5 pounds in 1933. She was the 4th of 4 children. She used to get pneumonia almost every winter. This weekend, her lungs and, eventually, her heart. I remember having to help around the house since I was 8 years old. So many miracles almost daily. But the huge miracles were to come. 

She had endometrial cancer in 1995, was operated on, and made it 4 years until another cancer showed up. This time, it was pancreatic cancer.  She spent 22 days in the hospital, Whipple Procedure, at Johns Hopkins in Maryland. Each day, I considered her existence a miracle. On Christmas morning, 2023, she went home. 24 1/2 years after the diagnosis of pancreatic cancer, a HUGE miracle. But there’s an even bigger miracle in her journey home. It began at the end of November 2023. Her pacemaker battery needed replacement. Due to other issues, She went to the hospital with a UTI. Horrendous illness. For the next few weeks, she went between hospital and rehab.  

On December 22, 2023, we brought her home to hospice. She believed in God, but it was a very private matter for her, and we didn’t talk about Him a lot. At times, she would seem to be someplace else. Motioning slightly or pointing.  A few times that she was visibly upset, she would lean over on the bed rail and say, “WE HAVE TO HELP THE PEOPLE ” over and over. When I asked her what people, she would just repeat it. Then, lay back for a while. This happened 4 or 5 times. My daughter was sitting next to her, and mom squeezed her hand, 4 short then 2 short squeezes.  We were telling mom to look for my dad. He passed in 1991. He was in the service years ago.  We were puzzled by this. My daughter thought maybe Morris code.  Mom didn’t know it, but hey, let’s see what 4 dots and 2 dots say.  H. I. We feel it was Dad letting us know he was there. I must say here that if anyone ever has the chance to be with someone in this situation, you should take it. There is so much that happened in those 4 days. She was very weak. On Saturday, 12/23/23, our pastor came and served us Christmas service and communion.  That was her last meal. She thanked God for saving her. 

Before I go any further, I must tell you about something mom and her 1 sister used to talk about. They both loved the song ” How Great Thou Art”  but teased each other about being how great thou art until you die, and then you’ll be how great thou were. Christmas Eve early evening, she spoke her last words.  She sat part way up, her eyes barely open… then her eyes opened WIDE, and she said… “GOD’S REAL”! I was so excited, sad, and amazed. All I could say was YES, HE IS. She laid back down. After our church’s Christmas Eve service, a few brass players go around town and play a few songs. We asked if they would make sure to stop at Mom’s and play How Great Thou Art for her. So, at about 1:20 AM Christmas morning, they were there. They played 2 songs, then HGTA. I watched to see that Mom was still breathing. It’s ever so shallow. When the song was over, I looked again. No movement. She passed peacefully during her favorite song. There are more things that happened, but these are the major ones. It changes your focus when your mom tells you GOD’S REAL!

Thank you for reading. 

All glory to God, Susan