A Stranger's Groceries...

... are in our refrigerator:

Two cartons of cottage cheese, a salmon fillet, a bunch of potatoes, a grapefruit, a baguette, two bottles of wine; someone's prescription.

The groceries belong to a man I've never met.

His name is Stan.

Stan needs our prayers, he's in a coma.

I saw Stan collapse onto the parking lot cement today as I pulled into a parking stall at Fred's after taking the boys to the pool.

I was one of the first 3-4 people to reach him, and someone had already called 911.  I prayed.

There was alot of blood.

I helped the man who was rearranging Stan to get him out from under the shopping carts (in the cart holding area).  Then a woman who must have been a nurse or a medical professional took Stan into her care while we awaited the aid unit.  We asked Stan if we could call his family and he gave us his wife's name and their phone number.  I called their home and their daughter, Katie, answered.

I told Katie that her dad had fallen and cut his head, that the ambulance was en route.  I told her that he was able to answer questions and that he would probably need to go to the hospital for stitches.

Katie and I agreed that I would take his groceries home and she would call me after they had taken care of the stitches at the hospital.

Katie called me a few hours later and told me that her dad was in a coma, and may be having emergency brain surgery.  I think she told me he's in his late 80's.

She said they wouldn't be coming to get the groceries today and asked if it would be OK to just keep them here a while longer.   Of course.

Katie also told me that when I had called to tell them about Stan's accident, her mom, Clare, thought I was her doctor calling.

Clare needs our prayers, too; she's being scheduled for heart surgery.