Three years ago this October, I had a benign brain tumor removed. The surgery was successful and went as planned, until it didn’t. Hours after my neurosurgeon and loved ones went home, the ICU care team noticed some undesirable activity in my pupils. My neurosurgeon raced back to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, suited up, and went to work to stop a brain bleed. When he finished saving my life, he decided to stay through the night just in case the unthinkable might happen.
Two hours later, the unthinkable did indeed happen. Once more, my surgeon stopped the arterial rush, and saved my life.
In the morning, he told my loved ones he thought he would be operating on me until I died. And then, when it was clear I would survive, he told them I might never use the left side of my body again.
After a few days in the hospital, and eight more for in-patient therapy, I went home with a walker, full use of my left side, and a new appreciation for my life.
I went back to work full-time on January 3rd and was told three days later that my marketing position was being eliminated in favor of a communications role. I would be kept on payroll for another month so that I could have health insurance for that time. As if that weren’t enough, one week after that, my partner of eight years decided we needed to split up because of the tensions between his 18-year-old son and me. He said that after I found a new job, we needed to live apart.
Within hours of receiving the text message about the demise of my relationship, I made a trip to Lancaster—the place I had called home two decades before—and secured an apartment the very next day, with a move-in date of mid-February. I had no idea how I was going to pay for my new place, but I had to get the paperwork done while I still had an income to show.
After cheating death twice in October, I found myself losing my job, my partner, and my home, all in the course of just eight days. I never would have thought that surviving post-op brain surgery traumas would be the easy part of my journey. But here I was.
And where I was, as it turns out, was truly home. Although I was born and raised in the next county to the west, I’ve considered Lancaster County home since 2001, when I lived there. There is a comfort that comes from this county…a peace that prospers from the people…and warmth that welcomes many from near and faraway lands.
Despite being raised in the church, I had put my faith on the back burner for many years. But God definitely got my attention with a brain tumor diagnosis, the almost-loss of my life twice in one day, the loss of my income, the loss of my long-term partner, and the loss of my home. I had no choice but to rely on God.
Amidst a life that had been burnt down to the ground in three different fires in four months’ time…one medical, one vocational, and one relational, I had no choice but to pick up a scarred and charred version of myself out of the ashes, and try to move forward. Try to rise above it all.
In many ways, I felt like a phoenix who had burned in the flames, but was doing her best to rise out of the ashes to have a new life.
It’s been 2.5 years since all of that loss, and life is still not easy, but it is better. I have rediscovered my heart for social justice, and I am committed to doing what I can for those who are hungry and unhoused in Lancaster. I am not entirely sure what God has in mind for my future, but for now, I’m focused on loving God with all I have and loving my neighbor. I figure everything else will work itself out as it should.
Despite my heartache and sadness for what my life had been, I am grateful for the trials I have lived through, because they have brought me back home—to the heart of Lancaster County, as well as to the heart of Jesus.
Angie Maher
Donor Engagement Associate, Mennonite Central Committee
Bio
Angie has been in donor relations at MCC since July of 2023. In her role, she answers donor questions, takes donations, and ensures that donors feel appreciated for their gifts. She is a member of Branch & Vine BIC church in Lancaster City. She also publishes a weekly blog post on Substack under the name “Notes For Neighbors.” Homelessness and Hunger are two social justice issues that are close to Angie’s heart.
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