We made a stranger our son. Then he saved us
Melvin was sent by Heaven to change our lives
They say some of the best gifts in life come badly wrapped, and that was certainly the case when I opened my front door one day.
‘Mum, this is Melvin,’ said my son Rodger, who was standing on the doorstep.
The man with him was quite a sight. He was wearing tracksuit bottoms and a thin jacket – no good for keeping out the Irish weather! His cheeks were painfully thin and he looked like he’d not seen a bath, or eaten a decent meal, in weeks.
But as I looked at him, something told me he’d been sent to us for a reason. I could feel that our souls were connected and I wasn’t about to turn him away from my door.
‘Pleased to meet you,’ he muttered. Despite his appearance, I could tell by the way Melvin held himself and looked me in the eye that he had respect for his elders. My heart melted. My first instinct was to pull him into a huge hug – never mind the dirty clothes. But Melvin froze and flinched away, clearly not used to a kind human touch.
‘Come on in then, you,’ I clucked, ushering him through to our big farmhouse living room and settling him in front of a
roaring log fire. ‘How about a nice hot cup of tea?’ ‘Coffee for me please, Mrs Greenaway,’ Melvin answered gruffly but politely.
As I fussed around him like a mother hen, little did I know that God was answering all our prayers.
Divinecalling
You see, my hubby John, 75, is a pastor and we’ve spent our lives helping people. We formed the River of Life church in the grounds of our rural home and over the years we’ve reached out to so many.
John has worked with addicts, people with mental health problems and even those who are suicidal. We’ve had all sorts through our doors and we’ve always offered a warm welcome.
We believe it’s our calling to help others – not to judge them. Melvin was different though. I immediately felt a deep mother’s bond
The man on my doorstep was so thin
with him - and I soon realised that he’d clearly been sent to us by a divine force.
Melvin had got in touch with Rodger after going in to a Christian book shop to buy a Bible.
He desperately wanted to turn his life around so Heaven stepped in and showed him the way.
We didn’t know much about him, only that he’d been homeless since the age of 14, living in shelters and on the streets. Just days before he was brought to us, he’d been sleeping rough, with a bottle of vodka for company. It was no life. ‘How old are you now Melvin?’ I asked gently after serving him a huge bowl of steaming Irish stew and dumplings. I guessed he was in his late 30s, but Melvin kept his cards close to his chest. ‘I don’t know,’ he shrugged, wolfing down the food. ‘I can’t remember my birthday.’
Changeoflifestyle
Melvin vowed to go sober and swapped his vodka for endless cups of coffee. We made him comfortable in one of the cabins at the back of our house that we keep for our community work, so he had his own space. After a hot shower and a set of clean clothes from Rodger, he looked like a new man. And with a few weeks of my home cooking, he started to look less gaunt. As the months passed, Melvin began to slot into the
family. He was keen to pull his weight, helping to fix things round the house and giving John a hand chopping logs.
He started going to the gym each day and cooking his own super-healthy, protein-based meals.
Our eight grandkids all adored him.
One of us
Looking out of the kitchen window one morning, I watching him standing in the yard, cracking jokes with our three grown-up sons Rodger, Garry and Mark.
‘He’s one of them,’ I smiled to John. ‘I feel as though we’ve got a fourth son.’
And, in time, that’s exactly what I began to call him – my adopted son. It was pure instinct, I just knew he was part of our family.
Meanwhile he referred to me as ‘Mrs D’ or ‘Supermum’.
Kidney failure
Things weren’t all rosy though. John had suffered from kidney problems for years, and at the beginning of 2016, just before Melvin came to us, he was put on dialysis – hooking himself up to the machine before bed each night. We’d been praying so hard for him to get a new kidney, but his doctors told him his chances weren’t good. John’s age and previous health problems would go against him.
Struggling
But, without a new kidney, he wouldn’t have long left. The dialysis was taking a huge toll on his health, and every day was a struggle. The smallest of tasks was a challenge. Melvin began keeping him company when he felt unwell, the pair of them sitting together for hours talking about life and spirituality. I was desperately worried about John, and so were the kids. Rodger wanted to give him a kidney, but he was due to go for gall bladder surgery himself. And our daughter Dianne also offered, but she was getting married a few months later and John was adamant that he didn’t want
her to postpone the wedding. What on earth were we going to do?
John and I were tearing our hair out - then help came from the most unexpected of places.
‘I’m going down to the hospital to get myself tested,’ Melvin told John firmly. ‘I’m going to give you one of my kidneys.’
‘That’s a huge decision,’ gasped John. ‘Are you sure it’s what you really want to do?’
But Melvin was completely adamant.
‘For years I prayed for a family, and you’ve finally given me one,’ he explained. ‘What’s a little chunk of meat from my body compared to that?’
Perfect match
I had to stop myself from leaping over to hug him – Melvin was still resolutely a non-hugger!
Tests found that Melvin’s kidney was a perfect match for John. And despite his years of drinking he was hale and hearty. In fact, the consultant told us it would be the ‘Rolls Royce’ of kidneys. The family was overjoyed. As everything slotted so easily into place, it felt like this was destiny in action.
Melvin had prayed for a family
On 21 March 2017, John and Melvin were both admitted to Belfast City Hospital. Melvin was wheeled down to theatre first to have his kidney removed, and then later the same day, John was taken into surgery for the kidney transplant.
Once again, I was in full mother hen mode, dashing between their two bedsides.
When Melvin came round, he was up and about. All those years on the streets had certainly made him tough.
And by the time John woke up, he grinned up at me and said, ‘Time for me to go home’.
Melvin was sent home later that day, and John was kept in for a few days before being discharged.
Specialplan
Meanwhile, Dianne and I had come up with a plan, after spotting Melvin’s date of birth on the medical forms we had to fill in. His big 40th birthday was coming up, as luck would have it, on the day John was discharged. Once again, divine forces had clearly planned it all for us.
After settling John on the sofa beside Melvin, I called all the family together.
‘This is a very special day,’ I told them all. ‘John is home from hospital with a brand-new kidney, and all our family are together again thanks to the power of prayer. But most importantly of all - it’s Melvin’s birthday!’
Melvin’s face turned beetroot red as Rodger came around the corner carrying a huge cake, all lit up with candles. If there had been a hole in the seat he’d have gone through it!
Meanttobe
That was over a year ago. John is back to full health, and now Melvin’s birthday is on my calendar along with the rest of the family.
People say I was brave to take a homeless man into my own home. But if we all thought like that then how would anybody ever do any good?
As far as I’m concerned, Melvin is a son that anyone would be proud of and he’ll always have a home here with us.
God answered all our prayers by bringing us together. He gave
To sign onto the organ donor register and give the gift of life this Christmas, visit organdonation.nhs.uk