Quite a few years ago, a lovely vocalist, Cindy Feigel, did a stirring intrepretation of Stephen Foster’s lovely tune “Hard Times.” We were in the audience and spell-bound. It was especially touching since Cindy did it without accompaniment and Cindy is blind. When she sang about “hard times” you knew this lady has had to face adversity.

Her pure voice sweetly sang the tune and everyone felt an emotional bond.

On September 22nd, 2008, we received this message from Charlie Feigel, Cindy’s wonderful husband. He said, “I want to ask everyone to pray for my wife Cindy. Last night she was severly burned when her pajama top caught on fire. She is in the burn trama center at U of M hospital with major burns to her neck, chest and back. She is currently on a ventorlator and heavily sedated. Her vitals are looking good and her lungs look good so that is encouraging. They currently cleaning her wounds so I am taking advantage of the internet conection in the waiting room until I can see her. I will share more if I get a chance later. (signed) Charlie”

We have all been listening to Charlie’s near daily up-dates. Cindy was burned with third degree burns over more than 55% of her body. There have been dozens of skin grafts, the struggles with infection, the feeding tubes, the tracs. She’s had pain and life-threatening concerns. But last week Charlie told us that Cindy has improved to the point that they would be moving to the rehab unit Monday (yesterday).

We all applauded.

There isn’t one person who has ever met Cindy who isn’t in awe of her and her phenominal talent and spirit.

Now it’s been tested more than any of us can imagine enduring. She’s going to make it and we’re going to be there to support her.

She still has all that physical therapy ahead of her. Her arms are fairly fixed because the skin that’s been grafted is stiff and inflexible. It’ll be hard and painful for her to regain the use of her limbs. But she’ll do it.

We want her to know how much we care about her. She is a beautiful flower who was just blooming when she met this tragic problem. We’ll pray for her, but please help us.

She needs to know we care.

We all want the best for her. We all want her to continue to be part of our world.

So if you are just dropping by this blog, and you don’t know Cindy, you can still shut your eyes and say a silent prayer for her. She needs everyone’s support.