Merced-area readers reach out with messages of thankfulness
Thanksgiving is the perfect time of year to reflect on your blessings.
No one knows that more than Winton resident Debra Widick. A year ago, the 45-year-old received a phone call with the most unexpected and dreadful news: her 23-year-old pregnant niece had suffered a massive heart attack while at work.
“She had only been on the clock at work for 15 minutes and just collapsed,” Widick said. “They determined that her body can’t handle the stress of being pregnant.”
It was then that a miracle happened, Widick said.
Two people standing in line at the restaurant where Widick’s niece worked knew CPR and jumped into action. Another miraculous event – an ambulance was already in the same shopping center as the restaurant – allowing first responders to get to the scene in less than a minute.
Widick got on the road to Porterville where her niece lives, not knowing during the nearly three-hour drive if she would be dead or alive by the time she got there.
“When I got the phone call, she was on life support, and they didn’t even know if she would make it,” Widick said. “I raised her, and it was like she’s my child. It was very heartbreaking.”
Widick’s niece, Mona McCarthy, 24, ended up on life support for about 36 hours and in the hospital during Thanksgiving week. She was released from the hospital on Thanksgiving Day last year, Widick said.
“We know how lucky we are,” Widick said Wednesday. “The heart specialist said if those people had not stepped in, she would not have survived. I give all the credit to God because the right people were lined up and the baby survived everything that Mona went through.”
Despite electric shock and a surgery, the baby, Ruby, is now 6 months old and healthy. The “miracle baby,” as her family calls her, will celebrate her first Thanksgiving this year with family in Merced.
“It still makes me want to cry thinking about it,” Widick said. “We just know we are beyond blessed. It’s going to be pretty amazing to spend Thanksgiving with them.”
Others describe thankfulness
In observance of Thanksgiving Day today, the Merced Sun-Star asked its readers, via Facebook, what they are thankful for this year. Here is a sampling of the responses:
Araceli Sali Red: I finally got a job. It’s only a part-time job and I still can’t afford to pay my full rent but it’s a job and I’m so ever thankful that my daughter is a great student who doesn’t ask for much. I’ve been very blessed with her.
Star Graves: I’m thankful for my gorgeous baby girl Summer Rylee. She’s my ray of sunshine. She brightens up everyone’s day.
Dreigh Villareal Rosario: My sobriety! 5 years, 7 months, 7 days clean and sober. Because of this I’m able to give my family a wonderful Thanksgiving and be the mother, wife, friend that I am today.
Katie Mason: I’m thankful for my hardworking husband Dustin Mason! Love you!
Rhonda DuPont Perry: I am thankful for my Father in Heaven for blessing me with a wonderful life. For my beautiful children who are truly the best of me. For my amazingly talented best friend and husband I love so dearly. For supportive and loving family and friends. I am so grateful for this life.
Melissa Starks: I am thankful that I have my health back and to my wonderful husband who has taken care of me through several surgeries I have gone through this past year.
Diana Romero: I’m thankful for my baby that will be here right after Thanksgiving and for my family and friends.
Tanya Shelton: I am thankful for being clean and sober, thankful for my 4 wonderful kids and awesome grandchildren that keep me going and staying on track of my sobriety; if it wasn’t for them I wouldn’t be so focused on my schooling. I’m doing it all for them.
Debbie Lyn: I’m thankful for my son born in January of this year. He is a blessing to me.
Courtney Rose: I’m thankful for all of our law enforcement, first responders and medical professionals who don’t get to spend the holidays with their families. Their jobs never close and they sacrifice time with their families to protect and care for ours.
Adrienne Chance: My 92-year-old mother, all my family in good health. Still own my home and have a job and that there are still some good honest people around me.
Isabel Martinez: I’m thankful that 9 years ago I decided to get clean and become a productive member of society … with this I am employable, teachable and most of all I’ve learned to humble myself and have integrity. I am able to provide for my family, something I was never able to do before.
Emily Huckabee: I’m thankful for my hardworking husband who loves me and supports everything I do. Doesn’t matter what, if I want to get into bow making, or couponing, painting, baking … he’s my biggest fan and never tells me something I want to do isn’t a good idea. So blessed to have married him last month! Also, more than grateful for our two gorgeous kids, they bring the sunshine when all we’ve seen is the rain, make us smile when it doesn’t seem possible and love us unconditionally. Friends and family, law enforcement and other first responders … a special thank you for going above and beyond.
Faith Jenee’ Barrett Ford: I am thankful for being placed up for adoption when I was just a few months old. The mother and father who adopted me couldn’t have children of their own so they adopted me and loved me more than anyone could ever ask for. I am so thankful to have had the life I had and the most wonderful loving parents in the world.
Jessica Magallenes Gutierrez: I am thankful for my daughter’s health! At 21/2 she was diagnosed with an aggressive cancer in December 2012. She is now 11/2 years in remission.
Reanna Marie Oppie: I am thankful for my boyfriend and his mother and brother and sister for bringing me into their family out of foster care. They gave me a home and a place to belong. I have a job and learned a couple of skills that I never knew and they always push me to be the greatest. I am thankful for them.
Faye Saechao: I’m thankful for my family, friends, to have had the opportunity to live and teach English in Korea, and traveling. Being away from home is so tough especially during the holidays, but life has been amazing this year.
Timm Shepherd: I’m thankful I haven’t had a nervous breakdown watching my Raiders go 0-10.
Jorge Alberto Martinez: Thankful for lists and for the opportunity to make lists. Thankful for my job. Such a fun job. Thankful for water. Thankful for marshmallows and for chocolate. Thankful for all the wonderful humans who live and work in Merced. Without you guys, I’d be bored. Thankful for pizza. Thankful for those moments when you discover that you had Halloween candy stashed in your desk. Thankful for the sum of all the little things in life. Thankful for coffee.
Lil Ayala: I’m thankful for O’Keefe’s in Merced who every year around this time donates Thanksgiving vouchers for some Merced schools to give away to families in need. It’s a sign of hope and humanity for those families.
Alicia Rodriguez: I have lots of thankful stories. I wanted to share a memory as a child. I am the oldest sibling of a family of six children and my mother separated from my dad. We were living in the 1970s in Merced Motel that was on 16th Street. We lived there because of being a large family and having one parent. We were on aide, not living check to check in our home; instead, we seemed to be out of money and food by the last week of each month. November and December were difficult for us. I was the oldest; I would baby-sit for other families to make money and stretch meals for us. One year on Thanksgiving Day, my mom gave me a couple of dollars. I made a budget to go purchase canned tuna and bread. Me and my sisters went to walk to Save Mart on 16th Street. On our way walking, we noticed on the sidewalk was a booklet of food stamps; thinking it probably an empty booklet, we were surprised to find $7. I looked around to see if anyone was around to claim them, and nobody claimed them. I was happy thinking they were meant for us to find. We continued walking with now a $9 budget, bought a chicken, milk for mashed potatoes, punch, stuffing, canned corn, canned biscuits and pie. Each Thanksgiving we think of this cherished memory and are grateful to be blessed.
This story was originally published November 26, 2014 at 4:13 PM with the headline "Merced-area readers reach out with messages of thankfulness."