Prayers, Please

The Grahams are good Christians, who have done so much for this country and the world. Please keep them in your prayers!

AP: Ruth Graham in a coma, close to death---

RALEIGH, N.C. - Ruth Graham, the ailing wife of evangelist Billy Graham, fell into a coma Wednesday morning and appears to be close to death, a family spokesman said. "She appears to be entering the final stages of life," said Larry Ross, Graham's personal spokesman.

The news came the same day Billy Graham said he and Ruth will be buried at the recently dedicated Billy Graham Library in Charlotte. In a statement, Graham said his 87-year-old wife, who has degenerative osteoarthritis of the back and neck and has been bedridden at their home in the mountains of western North Carolina for some time, "is close to going home to heaven."

"Ruth is my soul mate and best friend, and I cannot imagine living a single day without her by my side," Graham said. "I am more in love with her today than when we first met over 65 years ago as students at Wheaton College."

Ross said Ruth Graham was treated two weeks ago for pneumonia and her health temporarily improved before declining because of her weakened condition. Ross said she is being treated at her home outside Asheville, in the town of Montreat.

Billy Graham is in poor health himself. But, of course, God will see them through.

Graham, who is 88 and suffers from fluid on the brain, prostate cancer, Parkinson's disease and age-related macular degeneration, responded by saying the decision would be his and his wife's alone.

Ross said the Grahams decided this spring that they would be buried in the library's prayer garden, at the foot of a cross-shaped walkway — a symbolic decision to demonstrate both their reverence to God and their "ongoing witness of their faith in Christ."

"This is something the Grahams have been discussing and praying about," Ross said. "The two things they've always agreed on is that they'd be buried together and it's a decision they'd make on their own. Mr. Graham and Ruth have always known that their final home is in heaven. That's the important thing."

God bless them.