Paul's Update - 08/14/07

Dear Friends:

Sorry ... I've fallen behind. It seems like our days are so busy and by the time night comes I don't always get around to my emails. Our weekend was as busy as usual. Saturday morning Dad, Paul, Gradis & I went out for a ride. We rode down towards Rt. 1 and headed towards Fredericksburg. It takes us through some small towns and the traffic was backed up for miles. I guess everyone decided it was a beautiful day for a ride!! We headed towards Warrenton on the way back so we could meet up with Bill & Ronda for lunch at El Agave. Paul was able to get in and out of the car by himself and managed his walker fairly well. After we got home Paul, Dad & I rested up a bit. Carolyn & Billy brought over Alysa & Chris to stay with us for the evening. Alysa spent the night with us and when it was time for Paul to go to bed he stopped by the office door where Alysa was on my computer and he told her "goodnight"!! Usually she goes to his room to say goodnight.

Sunday we went to breakfast. Paul didn't want to go so we took Alysa and left Paul at home with Gradis. We met Bill, Ronda & Lew there. After breakfast we went home to get ready for Sunday School and Church. Paul didn't want to walk to church. He stopped by the van and tried to open the door so Dad helped him get into the van and they drove to church. Once they were there he walked into the church and sat in the pew with us. After church was over Dad, Paul & Gradis met up with Billy, Alysa, Mike, AJ & Nadia to take our boat out to Occoquan for a ride. Carolyn, Chris & I stayed home and Carolyn baked cookies!! Dad, Billy & Mike were able to work together to get Paul into the boat. He seemed to really enjoy it. Dad said he even kept his water from spilling by holding his finger over the bottle while they were cruising across the water. The girls wanted to get in the water so they stopped at a state park that had a sandy beach ... only to find that there was no swimming allowed at that beach!! Instead they went out into the water and let the kids jump off the boat (with their life preservers of course). They had a blast. Gradis seemed to have the most fun of everyone. Dad said she must have taken close to a thousand pictures ... probably an exaggeration but she DOES love her camera!! Once they got home around 7pm Gradis' husband was here to pick her up. Dad went out and got Paul a sandwich while he was refueling the boat. Everyone was pretty tired that night and Paul went to bed pretty early.

Monday morning Dad headed out early to pick up our new screen door for the front of the house. Once I was up and everyone had breakfast Dad, Paul, Dora & I went out to take a look at a dog that we were thinking about getting. It turns out the dog is not exactly what we want so we went to a couple of shelters to take a look. No luck but we still may get a small dog for Paul to have for "pet therapy". Paul was a little hesitant to pet the dogs but I think if he had one that would sit in his lap he probably would enjoy it. The afternoon was pretty quiet. Paul continues to try to think of new ways to maneuver his walker ... especially in the bathroom. He has begun to position the walker so he can let go of it and try to walk to the toilet. He has tried several places for the walker and is getting pretty clever about how he manages it. Max came over for a little while just before dinner. He was playing Frisbee with Pap-Paw ... he so loves Pap-Paw!! What fun he is these days! Dad went out and got some dinner at Chipotle's. We spent the evening at home. About 9:30 we noticed that there was going to be a rescue helicopter landing in the ball field behind the school that is up the road from us. Dad took Paul in his wheelchair to go and watch the helicopter take off. There was an accident on the highway about ½ mile from our house. Paul was ready for bed by about 10:30.

Tuesday was another quiet day for Paul. After breakfast Paul decided he wanted to go out to the garage. He walked out to the laundry room and opened the door leading to the garage, walked down the steps and pointed to the garage door. Dad opened the garage door but once it was open Paul changed his mind and didn't want to go outside. He turned around and came back into the house. Interesting!! Dad had a doctor appointment at 10am. After that he ran some errands. By the time he got home it was lunch time. Paul wasn't interested in going to the pool today. He didn't seem to feel good so Dad didn't push him. After lunch they watched TV for a bit. About 3pm Paul took another walk through the living room to the laundry room. He positioned his walker in the alcove where my washer & dryer are which is next to the door leading to our garage. He proceeded to walk down the steps and out the garage door to the truck and got in! Dad asked him if he wanted to go for a ride and he said "yes". So Dad got in the truck (along with Dora) and they headed out the driveway. Dad asked him which way he wanted to go, right or left, and he said "left" so Dad took a left out of the driveway. When they got to the end of the street Dad asked him again which way he wanted to go and he shook his head "no" so Dad asked him if he didn't care ... he shook his head "no" again. Dad decided to go across town towards Warrenton and made a loop coming back into Manassas. They rode for about an hour and then it was time to head home for dinner. We had another quiet evening. At one point I asked Paul how he was and he said "I ... love" and I asked "what do you love?". He could only say "ou" ... but he at least tried to start something. He is doing so many great things and although we wish he could communicate verbally with us ... we certainly cannot complain!

Have a great day, Lynne & Carl