"But before they could operate, we faced another crisis. The balloon pump that the doctor put into the artery in my husband's leg had cut off the circulation. A vascular surgeon was called but I could see he was upset that he hadn't been called sooner. If circulation wasn't restored soon, John would lose his leg. It was too much!

"God," I said, "this time I will not ask you to save my husband's life. He's been through so much in the past thirty years." But I also asked God for peace of mind, knowing that if he did choose to take John home to heaven, I wanted to know that John was with him. You see, in all our years together, I didn't know how John felt about God.

"I prayed: "God, give him to me whole or take his soul."

"I closed my eyes and leaned back against the wall in the waiting room. There was a man standing in front of me. I kept telling myself I was not asleep. I wanted to open my eyes but I was afraid of losing the vision. The man walked across the room and I recognized him.

"Jesus," I cried out - at least I think I did - for I was speaking with my mind. He bowed to acknowledge my presence. Then he walked to John's bedside, reached down and touched his chest with both hands. Then he touched both his legs, from the hips to the knees. All the while I kept saying, "This is real, I can't be dreaming. I know I'm not asleep."

"Suddenly, Jesus and John were standing in front of me. Jesus had his arm around John's shoulder. They both looked straight into my eyes.

"Ann, you never have to worry," said Jesus. "John is mine now and always will be."

"Then John spoke to me. "Ann, for the first time in twenty years I'm free of pain."

"I was in such a state of amazement I could barely believe this was happening. Again I looked into the eyes of Jesus and with all the burning desire of a thousand questions, I said, "Jesus, I didn't know you were so tall."

"He smiled. And at that moment I was compelled to open my eyes to make sure I was awake. It wasn't a dream. Jesus was with my husband. He's not the small, slight man he's always pictured as being.

"Fearful of finding John slipping away to heaven, I walked slowly to his room. He lay still. My heart stopped beating. Then he turned to me and said, "I must have fallen asleep for a while." I stood there sputtering, wanting to tell him what I'd seen. But what he told me took the words right out of my mouth.

"A man came to see me just now," John told me. "He said I wouldn't need surgery today, and maybe I'd never need it. He touched my chest and my legs with his hands. He reassured me that everything would be okay."

"Jesus was with you," I shouted at him. "I saw the whole thing from the other room."

"I didn't say it was Jesus," John protested.

"Whether it was or wasn't doesn't really matter. John kept his leg, his heart healed and he's alive two years after that amazing hospital visitation.

"The fact that John still suffers from pain does not take away from the blessed visit that we experienced that day in July."