Paul's Update - 04/09/07

Dear Friends:

Easter morning came early as promised! Dad got Paul up and dressed and headed to the church for the 6:30am service. We stood outside in the church yard and watched the sun come up during a short worship service. It was 29 degrees ... brrrrrrr. After the service we went inside the social hall for breakfast. Dad took Paul home after the 8:30 service. Since I sing in the choir I was at the church until almost 12:30pm. Carolyn & Alysa came for breakfast and the 8:30 service. Alysa sang with the children for the 11:00am service but then left to go home. Mommy didn't sleep well the night before and was tired. Bobby & Jen came for the 11:00am service. They came to the house and had lunch with us ... we cheated and got Captain D's fish for lunch!! The rest of the afternoon was pretty quiet. Paul continues to do really well. His walking is getting a little better. He sometimes gets ahead of himself and tries to walk before he finishes putting the walker down. The only problem with that is ... his balance isn't good enough to walk without using the walker. He is also saying words more and more. He can say our names and his name if you start off the first letter sound. He can say what day it is if you start the first letter sound. I think this is better each day. Gladys called her pastor in Ghana just before dinner. He does healing services and wanted to pray for Paul. He has been praying in Ghana and he has even been fasting for Paul's recovery. When he prayed for Paul on the speakerphone Paul was listening intently. When he was done and said "Amen" Paul looked up and said "Amen" back!! At dinner Dad gave him his dinner and Paul said "Thank you". It is nice when he says things that are voluntary!! Monday was a quiet day. I was off today since I have decided to work a four day week. Paul was up watching TV when I got up. It was a quiet morning until Dad decided it was time to exercise. Paul went into the laundry room where we have the exercise equipment and Dad made him work out for about 45 minutes. He is doing really well with the weight machines. He is actually very strong. Between the exercising and the walking it appears that Paul is losing a bit of weight. After the workout Paul was tired but he seemed to walk even better. Dad had to run out this afternoon to take some things to the dump. I stayed with Paul & Dora. Paul was pretty quiet most of the day. He didn't want to do much talking but we worked a bit on the parts of the face. He struggles with identifying his nose, eyes, mouth & ears but with some help he gets them right about 30 percent of the time. Tabby came by this evening. She spent some time with Paul. Pap-Paw & I played with Max. He is getting brave and lets go of things while he is standing up. It won't be long before he will walk!! I put Max on Paul's lap for a little bit. I asked Paul "do you remember his name?" ... then I started with "Mmmm" and Paul said (very clearly) "Max"! Tabby stayed for about 45 minutes. It was getting time for Max to go to bed. After Tabby left Paul sat up and watched Star Trek with Dad until after 10pm. He seemed wide awake (even after meds!!). Tomorrow the speech therapist will come. Dad also plans to put together our new patio table for the deck. If it is nice enough that is ... he wants Paul to be able to be out there and help!

Have a great day, Lynne & Carl