The Angels Who Welcomed Jonas Home

Sometimes late at night when I am at my lowest, one of the only things that comforts me is knowing that Jonas is not alone. He is surrounded by people who love him and by family members that he never had the chance to meet here on earth. What a glorious reunion he had!


 He was greeted by his brother-in-law, Jesse Person. Jesse married his high school sweet heart Melissa Webster when Jonas was on his mission. They married in October of 1995. Jesse was an amazing man. He was kind and thoughtful and one of the things I remember most about him is how respectful he was to everyone he met. He was such a gentleman! Maybe he learned that from getting through boot camp and becoming a United States Marine, but I am pretty sure Jesse was always that way! Everyone loved listening to Jesse's stories. He was so animated and he had the BEST laugh! I can still clearly hear that distinct "Jesse" laugh. It is unforgettable! We miss him so much. He was killed in a car accident on February 11, 2002. Ten years ago today. What a horrible time that was. I remember everything about that day and I sometimes wish I didn't. It was horrible. He left behind his beautiful wife Melissa and their two sons; Jordan, age 5 and Davin, a month away from turning 2. Melissa was 14 weeks pregnant with their daughter Briauna. Jonas and I named Ben after his uncle Jesse.....Benjamin Jesse Webster....we were both so proud to have Ben carry on that name. I imagine Jonas and Jesse are having a great time discussing history together and enjoying each other's company in the grand library I imagine there is in Heaven.

Jonas was also greeted by his Grandpa Fred Todd and Grandma Veryle Todd. They are Joe's mom's parents. Now, those two were a crack up! They were always saying the funniest things...even if it wasn't the most appropriate of a comment at the time....yeah, they just said it how it was. Tactful or not! But they were very caring and loving and were always so concerned about how each of their children and grandchildren were doing. Jonas and his Grandpa Todd enjoyed talking physics together. They were both very smart and had some long physics discussions together. I am so glad Jonas gets to be with his Grandma and Grandpa again. Now they can talk as long as they want about physics and I am not there rushing Joe out the door! (In my defense....have you ever sat in on a physics discussion?!?) :)

He was greeted by his Grandpa Byron Webster. Joe's Grandpa "Bud" helped us with so many projects over the years. He knew how to fix anything! He was always so kind and willing to help us. Jonas always looked forward to the times he spent with his Grandma and Grandpa Webster. Over the years, we had many BBQ's and holiday dinners with the Webster family and I always enjoyed the time we spent there. Bud died in November of 2010 just 3 months before Jonas. His funeral was the last time people saw Jonas before he got really sick. Bud left behind his sweet wife Alberta. We love her so much and we miss our Grandpa Bud!

Jonas was greeted by one of his best friends Ryan Furness. They went to school together, were on the Taylorsville swim team together, mountain climbed together, and had many good times together. I remember when we heard the news that Ryan was in the hospital. One day he got flu like symptoms and a few days later he was in the hospital and never came home. I remember going to the hospital to see him. He was in a coma and they didn't know what was wrong yet. Later they found cancer in his stomach, but I remember how sad his wife was. They had one young boy and I remember feeling so sad for her. It was a very hard time for Joe. Now Jonas and Ryan can climb, swim, and camp all they want. At least I hope they get to do that in Heaven!

I am so thankful for these wonderful angels that were there to greet Jonas. He also had cousins there, great-grandparents, my grandpa Leary, my uncle Denny and my uncle Al, and many more that I am not even aware of. Thank you so much for taking care of my Joe. Thank you for being there to welcome him home.

Miracles still happen...

Our family had a rough 2008 with Jonas being so sick. It all started in April of 2005 with his diabetic doctor finding a low white blood count and continued through 2008 with a trip to the Mayo Hospital in Arizona. He was diagnosed with autoimmune neutropenia which he takes shots for three times a week to keep his white blood count up. He was then diagnosed with mycobacterium kanasaii, which is a rare type of lung infection. He spends one and a half hours every night doing his IV antibiotics. He was also diagnosed with CVID, which is common variable immunodeficiency.  He receives an infusion of IVIg once a month to keep his antibodies up. He also has pancreatic deficiency and takes enzyme pills daily to help control that. He is also a type 1 diabetic and manages his diabetic pump daily. Whew!

Can you imagine having to deal with so many illnesses and not knowing what the doctors are going to tell you next? His CVID doctor recently told us Jonas had come very close to his end. When he saw Jonas in May of 2008 he didn't know how he was going to be able to help Jonas and it really scared him. But our amazing dad and husband pulled through and we couldn't be more proud of him! He went through some pretty dark times over the last year, but he is doing so good now and we are so grateful for him and his willingness to keep moving forward. He faithfully does his antibiotics every night, even when he gets home from work at 1:00 am! I would probably just skip them for the night and go to bed. But he is so determined to get completely better and he isn't going to risk anything to have a set back.

We are so lucky to have Jonas in our lives. He works so hard for our family and is an amazing father to our boys. It is so much fun to have a healthy dad in our home again! Our prayers and the prayers of our family and friends were answered when Jonas started to get better. Miracles do happen!