Paul's Update - 09/16/07

Dear Friends:

Thursday was a quiet day. Paul stayed home most of the day. Dad was sick a portion of the day and wanted to rest. Dora took care of Paul so dad could rest. We had bible study at our house and Paul sat in and listened with us. Ronda had a delicious chicken/rice soup and salad for dinner. Paul ate it better than most things he has eaten lately so it must have been good. Lately he has been taking a long time to eat and keeps putting his fork down. It is hard to tell if he doesn't like the food or doesn't want to feed himself. After all had left from bible study we had cake and coffee for dessert and then went outside to visit with Bill & Ronda for a while before we came in to go to bed. Paul enjoyed going outside but he wanted to get into Bill's car and go somewhere!! He walked right to the Cadillac and tried to open the door!! It is always so interesting when he does that and we aren't sure if he has a specific place in mind that he wants to go to ... we just know he WANTS to go SOMEWHERE!

Friday was our court day. This was to change the guardianship of Paul from Tabitha to us since he is currently in our care. Paul stayed home with Dora since there is no need for him to be there. The court procedure only took about 5 minutes once the judge called us. We were the second case and we were out of there by 10:15. The next step will be to have us bonded so that we will be able to manage Paul's money. That will take place once the court paperwork has been filed and we can get a copy of the court order changing the guardianship/conservatorship. After we left the courthouse we went to the bank to open a trust account with the money that Paul received as a settlement from the insurance company that the girl who hit him had. This is a Medicaid Special Needs Trust which is set up to protect Paul's money from jeopardizing his Medicaid benefits. It is complicated but Medicaid rules EVERYTHING we do! We are certainly thankful for Medicaid but it sure is complicated and we have to do a lot of things to protect Paul from losing it. After we were done at the bank we came home. Dora had done very well with Paul. She was able to get him up and take him to the bathroom while we were gone. She really is a very competent nurse ... I don't know what we would do without her!! She also fixed him lunch while we were out. The afternoon was quiet and we all got a little rest. Dad went out for a bit later in the day and Dora stayed with Paul & me. Paul had taken a walk through the house and wanted to sit out on the deck. The three of us sat out there until it began to rain and Dora got Paul up to go back into the house!! Once Bill got home we went out to dinner at Logan's. Paul had a steak. He only at about half of it but he seemed to enjoy it. We had a late dinner and it was time for bed by the time we got home.

Saturday was a busy day for us. We got up early and Paul got a shower. Gradis helped with dressing and breakfast. She always does the vacuuming and mops the floors on Saturday. Dad had asked her to have her husband pick her up at 11am because we needed to go to Carl's sister's house to start the division of his mother's personal belongings. Ann, Shirley, Carolyn and I went through all of Grandma Johnson's things to decide who would get what! It was amazing how much she had kept over the years. Aside from dolls & her personal lace collection (she used to make lace) we also had lots of pictures and sewing things that we needed to go through. She had kept a lot of family genealogy information as well!! Paul sat in the office with us and watched as we went through things. He enjoyed sitting in Aunt Ann's office chair. We were there until very late and didn't get home until 10:30pm. It was time for Paul to head to bed almost right away.

Sunday we went to breakfast. It was Bill's birthday!! Paul was hungry and ordered scrambled eggs, bacon and when given a choice of home fries or grits ... he SAID grits!! Evidently he enjoyed the grits that Aunt Ann Z served him in South Carolina!! LOL We went to church after breakfast and after the service there was a church picnic. Paul had a hamburger along with other side dishes. He really enjoyed his hamburger ... he gobbled it right down! He seems to be feeling better and it shows in his appetite. After church Dad needed to go back to his sister's house to pick up the rest of the things from his mother's stuff. Paul stayed home with Gradis and me. Billy & Carolyn came over with Alysa & Chris and spent the afternoon. Billy was willing to help with Paul if we needed him to and you never know when that may be necessary. It was good that he was willing to be here so Dad can go without worrying. We had roast for dinner and Paul seemed to be very hungry again ... and ate all of his dinner without ANY help! Dad got back home around 7pm. Paul watched as Dad, Billy & Carolyn unloaded the boxes of things into our house. We watched TV for a bit and Paul as tired and ready for bed about 11pm. Monday will be a dentist day for Paul. This should be the last of the work he needed done. It is amazing that he has done so well and is almost done with the dental work. I am so thankful for the dentist that was willing to take a chance on Paul and get the important work on his teeth DONE!! He has been an answer to prayer for sure!!

Have a great day, Lynne & Carl