Emily Parker spoke with Tricia Seaman about her book 'God Gave Me You', the extraordinary story of how she met and befriended a young single mother with terminal cancer, and the remarkable journey God took them on making two families one.

Emma, Anna, Dan, Noah, Tricia, Jenna, Wesley, Trish (Family on a trip to show Trish the beach one last time at Fenwick Island, Delaware.)

Tricia: I had never shared with her that my husband and I had just been approved as foster to adoptive parents in the State of Pennsylvania. Incidentally that happened the same month that Trish was initially diagnosed with cancer, which we found out about long after that situation. But I just think that's remarkable; an amazing God moment that all of that happened at the same time. So we were approved and we were very much hoping for a little boy to add to our family. We had three daughters and a son and we had talked and prayed for the better part of ten years, thinking that we really wanted to do something like this. Unfortunately, after we had received the paperwork and the approval we didn't get any referrals for a while, so at the point that she asked us we were just kind of waiting.

Emily: That's amazing, the timing of how that all worked out. It's mind boggling when you look back and see all of those dots joining up.

Tricia: Isn't it though?

Emily: So, what about the first time you got to meet Wesley? Was that before or after Trish asked you the question?

Tricia: It was after. After she left the hospital that day I could not think of anything else. I thought of her continuously, wondering if she was ok, and wondering if she was really serious about what she had asked. I was wondering so many things.

After talking to my husband, who is a lot more patient than I am, he said, "I really think that we need to wait on God and really pray." So of course I agreed with that and we did. But I couldn't even think how I would find her. This woman asked me to raise her child; she's very, very ill and I don't even have her phone number and I didn't know where she lived. Then it came to me that in the course of our many discussions while she was in the hospital, she was telling me about her great big giant dog; she and Wesley owned a Bernese mountain dog by the name of Molly. Molly was probably 80 to 100 pounds; a great big, beautiful dog. She was telling me on several occasions that one of our physical therapists at the hospital was watching the dog. I knew exactly who the person was, her name is Robin. So the next day I saw her at work and I approached her and tried very casually to explain to her all that had happened. Robin was a perfect stranger to me and it felt a bit unusual to blurt all of this out. But she is the most lovely person and she is also a person of great faith and she said, "Oh, my. Heavens! This is amazing; we need to make a visit. I'm still taking care of Molly and I visit them quite often to check to see how they're doing, and if they need anything. I know where they live, and I have their phone numbers." So that was how that happened.

Emily: Fantastic! What amazes me, even with Robin, is that you guys have gone so far beyond the level of care that some people would know or realise, making those extra trips to go and check to see if she was ok, and to help with the dog. That's extraordinary to have people around in such a close community.

Tricia: Trish was living in Harrisburg, which is about an hour from my house and that is where the hospital is that I work at. Robin lived closer in the area, still not real close by, but she had been consistently checking on them and bringing them things. I don't know what would have happened to Molly if Robin wouldn't have taken her. Robin, incidentally, took care of Molly for the rest of Molly's life. Robin and her husband kind of adopted Molly; they provided such a great home for her and it was such an ease on Wesley and Trish's mind that Molly was being well cared for and loved. The beauty of it, was all throughout, Wesley and Molly still got to see one another. He got to enjoy his dog and that was very important.

Emily: So tell me more about Wesley and that first day you met him and the days after that and how you built a relationship with him, knowing that his mum is going to be passing away.

Tricia: The first day Robin took me to see them we had stopped and got a few things and prepared an Easter basket; it was around Easter time, the spring of 2014. I followed Robin in her car and we went to the apartment and it was not a very pleasant sight at all. They weren't living in very good conditions. It was very broken down and it wasn't a very clean place, inside or outside. He was inside and we knocked and Trish greeted us and we came inside. He was just kind of jumping around the apartment, bouncing and playing, and being a regular little eight year old. He didn't really understand at that time what was happening, he was just happy to have company and happy to have the candies that I brought him. Of course, he went right to work opening the candies and the things in the basket. So he said hello and thank you and went off to play.

We had a chance to talk then. She was clearly not doing exceptionally well. She was very weak and very tired and I wondered how on earth she was managing there all by herself. I guess after that day Robin and I formed a kind of partnership; if she didn't check on her, I checked on her, we just took turns. We talked with Trish almost every single day; we would call or message her just to see how she was getting along and if she needed anything. It was not long after that that it was Easter and so I invited Trish and Wesley to meet our family, and Robin helped out by bringing her about half way up and then we met her at a gas station about half way between her house and ours. Then Robin did the same for the reverse trip. She came and brought them and then took them home. It was a wonderful day, that first day. Wesley was a little overwhelmed by all the children, but he warmed up nicely and really enjoyed playing and being out in the country. I can remember he was collecting all kinds of things, sticks and things he was taking along back to the city for treasures. He had an entire bag of Easter eggs and candy and all of the goodies from the day. He really enjoyed himself.

Emily: Unfortunately, after some time, Trish did pass away. How did you find working through the process of helping Wesley with his grief and to understand what had happened, but also, at the same time, processing it yourself? As we've said, you've created this extraordinary and very special friendship and you're grieving as well as supporting her son.

Tricia: It took on a whole new form, as she and Wesley eventually in May 2014 came to live with our family, so we really worked through this together, the whole process. She had several good months that she felt good. We were able to create so many good memories together as a family. I'm so thankful to God that she had the time to process and to go through some of the stages that she needed to go through of grief and of the reality of what was happening. Also Wesley had the opportunity to really process and she prepared him, we all prepared and it certainly wasn't easy.

She passed away December 7th, 2014 and the last month of her life she went to live in a hospice centre, which was in Harrisburg. She required 24 hour care, which we couldn't give her here, nor did we feel as though we wanted to have her pass away here. We had discussed that and talked with her about that from the very beginning that she would need to go somewhere else where nurses could care for her. That was a very hard transition because I liked to take care of her. I liked having her here. She was in a beautiful room at the front of the house where she could see out to the flowers and the trees. In fact as I'm talking to you, I'm sitting here right now looking out those same windows, imagining back to the time I just can't believe has passed. So many hours we sat in this room together, some of them talking, some of them quiet, just preparing.