Michael McCarthy 1940 - 2011

"...The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised." (Job 1:21b)
This evening, the Lord called my dad to be with him after battling cancer for a while. We praise God for a number of things tonight: 
Firstly for the time He gave me with my dad a month ago in South Africa. 
Secondly, that I could say goodbye to him yesterday. 
Thirdly, that we believe he died peacefully in his sleep, around 12:30am SA time .
And finally that I will be reunited with him in heaven one day!

The McCarthy Christmas Letter for 2011

The 2011 McCarthy Christmas Letter

The roller-coaster ride that was the year 2011 is thankfully pulling in to the station after a rather turbulent year for the McCarthy family. 2011 had it’s shares of impressive peaks, daunting dips and even the occasional barrel roll that left us slightly disoriented.

As we started out on our ride, the roller-coaster climbed to a memorable highlight for Nathan. In February, the AWANA program at the church held their annual Pinewood Derby. It was the first year Nathan entered, and we put a lot of effort in designing and shaping his block of wood to resemble a “speed bus”. The effort paid off as Nathan won the prize for the fastest car in his age group. Needless to say, both Nathan and I were ecstatic!
The victory was soon followed by another peak in the roller-coaster track, which was having Norman and Gabi come and spend some time with us in Cleveland! We always love spending time with family, but our boys savor every second with their beloved grandparents.

But what goes up, must come down, and in roller-coaster terms, we were about to experience a double dip! In April, during his teams first soccer game of the season, Nathan broke his pinkie finger while playing goalie in near freezing temperatures! Liesel took Nathan to the Emergency Room for X-rays, and then to the Orthopedic doctors to get a full hand cast for his right hand. Being right-handed, this obviously impacted his schoolwork, and he taught himself to write with his left hand. The cast also impacted his ability to play, and it was only 10 days later, when he couldn't hold onto a pole in the playground, causing him to fall onto a wooden platform and breaking his leg! Liesel had to make the ER and Orthopedic doctor trip again, and the net result was a full leg cast and a wheelchair for our six year old. His leg remained in a cast for more than eight weeks. This proved to be a very taxing period for Liesel, since Nathan had to be carried everywhere, to and from the car, the bathroom, up and down the stairs, and into and out of bed every day! The only good thing to come from the situation was the use of the disabled parking at the stores!

Fortunately his cast came off right after the school year ended, at the start of the summer vacation! We were determined to make the most of these days, especially since Nathan had been confined to a wheel chair for so long! To make the vacation extra special, we were privileged to have my mom fly out from South Africa to spend a couple of weeks with us. Our roller-coaster was climbing again!
Liesel had booked a holiday house for us at Surfside Beach, South Carolina. The house was situated inside a “golf cart community” which meant we had our own golf cart at our disposal. This golf cart took us on our daily trip to the beach, the tennis courts, the indoor and outdoor pools as well as the playground! We all thoroughly enjoyed our week at the beach with the unbelievably warm Atlantic Ocean, the swimming pools, the tennis and of course the helicopter ride over Myrtle Beach! Unfortunately, our week in paradise was soon over, and we headed back to Cleveland. My mom had another week with us, and we continued celebrating the summer back home. She had a wonderful time with us and getting to know Nathan and Josh more intimately! But as the saying goes: “All good things must come to an end” and my mom was soon winging her way back to South Africa, sans luggage - but that’s another story!

Summer wasn’t over yet, and Liesel’s Uncle Terence and Aunt Max invited our family to join their family at their annual summer retreat in the North Woods of Wisconsin. The Edgar family had rented out a beautiful log lodge for the family that was on the shores of Lake Chippewa. So the McCarthys  flew up to Green Bay, and together with the Edgars, headed northwards to this piece of heaven on Earth. It was here where Nathan caught his first fish ever with the help of Uncle Terence and Liesel’s younger cousins. Liesel and Nathan also experienced their first tube ride behind a speed boat! We were so spoilt by the Edgars and were so very grateful to be a part of their family vacation!

After the vacation, we came back home and had to get Nathan ready for school! He enjoyed Kindergarten, but he absolutely loves first grade!! His teacher has identified Nathan as one of her top performers and has been pushing him “above and beyond” what is expected of the average first grader.
Joshua has had a rather uneventful year, besides keeping his parents on their toes! He continues growing quickly (still in the 97th percentile for weight and height), and his vocabulary is increasing exponentially! He has such a deep love of animals, which prompted us to buy a membership to the Cleveland Zoo. This allowed us to visit one of Josh’s favorite places as often as we like, and I know Liesel took full advantage of that this year. Besides his love for animals, Josh has a special love for his big brother. If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then Nathan must be the most flattered brother this side of the equator!

It was late September when gravity decided to take over and cause our roller-coaster to take a nose-dive and hurtle back toward the ground. This was when my father was travelling on business, when he felt dizzy and lost co-ordination on one side of his body. The doctors ran their tests and determined that he had two brain tumors. He had surgery to remove the larger tumor and further testing revealed that the tumor was a result of the melanoma that he had on his face that had metastasized. His doctor’s prognosis was not very encouraging and an unexpected reality check for us. After my dad’s surgery, and weeks in rehab, he was discharged and after a few conversations with him, he was extremely positive, and things seemed to looking up. Then a few weeks later, my father became dizzy in his apartment, fell over and hit his head. He was rushed to hospital by ambulance, and in an email from his doctor, she encouraged me to fly out to visit him as soon as possible. I bought a ticket that week and three days later I had touched down in Cape Town. I spent a week with my dad, and saw him in a very frail state. In what can only be described as a miraculous turnaround, he regained his strength, and the doctors who didn’t think he was going to make it through the weekend, said he was strong enough to be discharged on a few days later! I was happy to leave Cape Town knowing that my dad was on the road to recovery. Before leaving South Africa, I spent a couple of days with my mom and sister in Johannesburg. This gave me the opportunity to spend some time with some of my good friends, as well as an afternoon with a handful of cousins!
Our roller-coaster ride was still far from over, and had some disorienting turns in store for us. A dear friend of mine here in the USA was involved in an horrendous head-on collision while on his way to pick up his children from school on a Tuesday afternoon. He suffered massive head trauma and was rushed to hospital where they had to remove part of his skull to allow his brain to swell. He has been in a coma since November 22, and to date, has not shown any indication of intentional movement. This breaks our hearts as we are close to him and his family. He has a wife, an 11 year old daughter and 7 year old son, who is one of Nathan’s best friends. While we are praying for my friend’s recovery, we are reminded how fragile life can be, and we should never take it for granted. Please join us in praying for a Christmas miracle for the Muth family.
Finally, with the roller-coaster station in sight, Liesel and I have one last highlight to share with everyone. This past Friday, December 16, we attended our United States Naturalization Ceremony, where we officially became US Citizens! After living in the USA for five years, we applied for citizenship. This process consisted of being fingerprinted, photographed, and quizzed on US History and Civics, before being approved by the US Customs and Immigration Service. Upon approval, we were invited to the US District Courthouse of Cleveland, where the ceremony would take place. Dear friends of ours accompanied us, and took photographs for us! We are extremely honored, and humbled to finally having the privilege of calling this great country, our home!

As the roller-coaster slows down, we reflect back on 2011 with joy, gratitude and some sadness. However, it is comforting to know that it is God who is the designer and architect of Life, and none of the depressing declines, terrifying twists or gut-wrenching loops catch Him off guard. He has been on the ride before us and knows every twist and turn better than we know ourselves! He will standing on the platform, waiting for us as the ride comes to an end.  
It is with that knowledge that we put 2011 behind us, and climb aboard 2012, buckle up and get ready for the adventures that the new year will bring us!

Back to the Brrrrr

Last week around this time, I was at the OR Tambo International Airport awaiting my midnight flight to Amsterdam. My whirlwind trip to South Africa had come to an end and I was making my way back to my family in a much colder place. To put it into perspective, I had enjoyed temperatures of 90F (32C) in both Cape Town and Johannesburg. In my first week back in Cleveland, I was welcomed back with our first measurable snow fall, morning temperatures of 23 (-5C), and a day where the mercury couldn't muster the courage to rise above the freezing mark!

But I don't mind weathering these temperature variations if it means being back with my family!

My time in South Africa, although short, was quality time!
Update on my father:
When I last posted a blog, my father was still in the hospital, and was getting stronger each day. The next day (Monday), the physical therapist paid him a visit, and soon had him walking around. The doctors also resumed his radiation therapy. On Tuesday, the physical therapist had my dad walking up and down stairs. His doctors were so impressed with his recovery that he was discharged from the hospital on Wednesday! This meant that I was able to spend a day and a half with him at his home, and not in the hospital ward that I had come to know pretty well!
Today, he is still building his strength and working on getting fit! He is happy to be home and doesn't want to see the inside of a hospital anytime soon!

After spending a week in Cape Town, I flew up to Johannesburg for a few days. The time was short but productive. I spent quality time with my mom, sister and her family, hung out with some good friends, had a great afternoon with cousins, and went to Church on Sunday morning with my mom!

During my stay in South Africa, I enjoyed a delicious bounty of foods. These included Steak Pie, Chicken Pie, Pastrami Sub, Biltong sandwiches, Sweet & Sour Chicken Pizza, Choc Chip Yogurt, Nandos Lemon and Herb Chicken Burger, Grilled Snoek and Chips, Milo, Milo cereal, Boerewors roll, Custard slice, Creme Caramel, Chocolate Pudding, koeksusters, and a lot of South African chocolates! Needless to say, I didn't lose any weight on this trip!

Being back with my family in Ohio is wonderful! This weekend we shared some great times together, from eating frozen yogurt even though the temperature is below freezing, looking at our local shopping center's Christmas lights, and enjoying an unplanned Polar Express story-time at Barnes & Noble!

On Saturday night, Liesel and I had a fantastic date night with some of our dear friends, and dined at one of our favorite Italian restaurants! Finally, we wrapped up the weekend with an awesome Sunday service at Bay Presbyterian, followed by some outdoor football on the frozen lawn in the front yard with Nathan and Josh!