# John and Maggie Bish



## kwflatbed (Dec 29, 2004)

*'I'm so grateful'*

*Together, they endured a child's horrific loss. Now, as her husband struggles to return from death's door, survivor Maggie Bish speaks out*

*By Laurel J. Sweet
*Tuesday, September 4, 2007 - Updated 20m ago

John and Maggie Bish of Warren have been waiting since June 27, 2000, to see the face of their 16-year-old daughter Molly's as yet unidentified killer. The wait continues. But for the past 10 months, the couple who've grieved so publicly have waged a more private life-and-death battle with John's prostate cancer, a stroke and now heart surgery. In this, their first interview since he fell ill, the Bishes share the latest harrowing chapter of their remarkable love story.
This was the year John and Maggie Bish were going to make time to breathe.
There's the house in Warren so in need of repairs and the vacation on Cape Cod they'd take at long last.
"We've been together 34 years. I've always felt John was the stronger of us. I miss that. I miss him so much," said Maggie, tears streaming down her face as she sat in a park beside the Charles River and below her 58-year-old soul mate's room at Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital in Boston.
"I had no idea what a stroke was. I'm a first-grade teacher," she said, a copy of Robert Emmons' spiritual handbook "Words of Gratitude" at her side. "But I knew my place was at his side. This is a love story."
As John wills himself to rise from a wheelchair inside Spaulding and accept Maggie's familiar hands for support, they nuzzle and caress in a secret world known only to parents of murdered children.
"It's been a tough assignment, but it's not over," John said in new running shoes waiting to be scuffed. "Mostly, I want to go home."
John, a state probation officer, was diagnosed with prostate cancer last November. When it seemed he had beat the disease, he suffered a bleeding stroke in his brain June 15. Doctors told Maggie his prospects looked "very grim."
She had no idea. The couple would learn that bacteria believed related to John's cancer treatment had seeded and badly damaged his heart's mitral valve before breaking off and causing the stroke.
On Aug. 22, Massachusetts General Hospital cardiothoracic surgeon Dr. Jennifer Walker replaced the mitral valve with a bovine valve. The resulting vertical scar runs the entire length of his chest perpendicular to a feeding tube in his stomach.
Had it not been for Maggie, John said, "I'd have been too scared. I'd have given up."
Though mercifully spared the facial ravages associated with stroke, John's ordeal has aged him considerably. He has lost 20 pounds off an already thin frame and struggles with short-term memory and muscle weakness on his left side.
He is relearning how to move, how to speak, how to think. And as he does, Maggie records every baby step in diaries, one she reads to John, another she shows to no one.
He remembers Molly, for which Maggie is thankful.
"As painful as it was to lose her, I wouldn't want him to forget," she said. "He misses her terribly."
"We often say that stroke doesn't happen to a person, it happens to a family. This is an incredibly strong family," said Lynne Brady Wagner, program director of Spaulding's stroke unit.

Because their home now needs to be handicapped accessible, a fund-raising dinner is being planned in the Bishes' honor for Nov. 2 in Sturbridge. Further details are available at www.johnbish.org. Donations may also be made in his name care of the Spencer Savings Bank, 968 Main St., Warren, Mass., 01083.
"One day John will smile and it won't be because of something I did. He'll do it all on his own," Maggie said wistfully. "I don't care if his legs don't work. I just want him back.
"We didn't get to go to Cape Cod," she said, smiling unexpectedly as she gazed upon the Charles, "but we have the water. And I'm so grateful."

http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/general/view.bg?articleid=1029198#articleFull


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## MVS (Jul 2, 2003)

I have known John Bish personally for a few years now. Great guy. The Bish's are GREAT PEEPS!! I pray John has a speedy recovery.


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## Kilvinsky (Jan 15, 2007)

Those people have suffered more than anyone deserves. My prayers go out to them as well. God really should give them a serious break and I'm going to ask for that.


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## justanotherparatrooper (Aug 27, 2006)

Kilvinsky said:


> Those people have suffered more than anyone deserves. My prayers go out to them as well. God really should give them a serious break and I'm going to ask for that.


DITTO


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## screamineagle (Jul 11, 2005)

Kilvinsky said:


> Those people have suffered more than anyone deserves. My prayers go out to them as well. God really should give them a serious break and I'm going to ask for that.


+1,000,000


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## Guest (Sep 5, 2007)

PLEASE read the article and go to John Bish's website to help them out.
I can't post the url in this message - not allowed!
The site link is in the last paragraph. Thanks!



> www.johnbish.org


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## KozmoKramer (Apr 25, 2004)

MaryEllen said:


> I can't post the url in this message - not allowed!


 All set MaryEllen.


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## kwflatbed (Dec 29, 2004)

MaryEllen said:


> PLEASE read the article and go to John Bish's website to help them out.
> I can't post the url in this message - not allowed!
> The site link is in the last paragraph. Thanks!


The link works in the article just click on it.


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## Guest (Sep 5, 2007)

In this era of disposable marriages and "oral sex isn't sex", it's very touching to see a husband and wife so devoted to each other.


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## kttref (Oct 5, 2004)

I agree Delta. It is refreshing to see a couple so completely in love. I hope this series of miseries ends for them soon and they can just spend time being John and Maggie Bish.


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## lpwpd722 (Jun 13, 2006)

I volunteer and have known the Bish's for over 7 yrs. They are the real thing. They have made a difference. Thank you, John, Magi, Heather, John Jr. for all you have done for the children.


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## kwflatbed (Dec 29, 2004)

*John Bish Released From Hospital*

_(WBZ)_ _WORCESTER_ John Bish was released from the Spaulding Rehabilitation Center on Wednesday after suffering a massive stroke only a few months ago.

John, father of Molly Bish, the Warren teenager who disappeared in 2000, suffered a stroke June 15th. He spent 89 days in the hospital and will now continue his recovery from home.

John Bish and his wife, Magdelen, have been advocates for missing and exploited children since their 16-year-old daughter vanished from her lifeguard post at Comins Pond on June 27th, 2000.

"It's been a long journey and I really appreciate the good care I've received here," John said.

http://wbztv.com/topstories/local_story_255124138.html


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