Paul's Update - 12/23/07

Dear Friends:

This has been another busy week. I’m not sure I mentioned that Dora has gone to Ghana to be with her family since her father passed away a couple of weeks ago. She will be gone for four weeks and Gradis (our weekend nurse) has been filling in for her while she is gone. It has been interesting for us (and for Gradis) to have a new routine for the week. It is amazing how much we have gotten use to Dora doing certain things while she is here. She does LOTS of laundry during the week and Gradis almost NEVER has to do laundry ... she did this week!! Dora also keeps up with the trash better than Gradis needs to on the weekends ... but she did that this week too! She enjoys doing domestic chores which has been very helpful!!

Monday we had an appointment in Richmond at VCU. Gradis has never gone with us before so I instructed her to bring a good book since there is about 2 hours that she has to sit and wait on us to meet with the program counselor, Taryn. We have about a two hour ride down there and Gradis didn’t realize it was so far!! After we finished our session we headed back towards home and stopped in Ashland Virginia for lunch at a great little BBQ place. We didn’t get home until almost 5pm.

Tuesday and Wednesday are therapy days. Again ... Gradis doesn’t usually come to therapy with Paul! She was very amazed at the things that the therapists work on with Paul. Tuesday Paul had PT at 2pm and 10:30am on Wednesday. They continue to work on increasing Paul’s speed in walking. He increased his speed by a minute going forward and about 30 seconds going backwards. Wednesday they worked on basically the same walking skills. He continues to do well and gets better all the time. She also had Paul climb some stairs by holding onto the rail on one side with both hands and stepping up. He did twelve steps on his own! Occupational Therapy was 3pm on Tuesday and 9:30am on Wednesday. The therapist had Paul do some free standing and she tossed a ball back and forth to him. She would toss the ball just a little to the side for him to catch and he was able to do that. She also had him create (actually copy) a design with blocks. She arranged them in a design and he had to recreate the design. He usually does well with copying and sometimes gets creative with it!!

Thursday and Friday were days at home. We have been trying to get ready for Christmas while we also fight colds and flu. I stayed home from work on Wednesday and Thursday! Dad had Max at our house on Thursday and Friday since Mommy needed a babysitter. The regular daycare lady is taking some time off for Christmas! Max is a typical toddler and Pap-Paw had his hands full ... but he LOVES it! At one point Max went over to Paul’s chair and was standing in front of Paul. Paul had one of Max’s toys in his hand and I told Paul “Give it to Max”. Paul held it out and gave it to Max. It sounded like Max said “thank you”! I told Max “give Daddy a kiss” and he puckered up, leaned over and Paul reached down and kissed Max!! It was a very precious exchange between Father & Son!!! Gradis made dinner for us Friday evening. She loves to cook but most of her dinners consist of Chicken with a tomato sauce of some kind and rice. She loves spices and this dinner was no exception! We were suppose to go to a Christmas Open House at the O’Dell’s house but Paul’s dinner disagreed with him and he got sick on the drive over to their house. We ended up turning around and going home for the evening.

Saturday we went to El Agave in Warrenton for lunch. Carolyn, Alysa & Chris came along as well as Bill, Ronda & Lew. We haven’t been there for several weeks and it was a nice treat. Dad had to take Gradis home at 7pm and he went out to do some Christmas shopping. Paul and I stayed home and watched Field of Dreams (one of MY favorites ... I love James Earl Jones!!).

Sunday we had most of the kids at church. Bobby & Jen came for worship. Carolyn, Alysa & Chris were there (Billy was at home ... sleeping ... since he works a night shift). Max was with us ... he really enjoys the nursery class! The kids did a special Christmas song during the children’s moments and it was great having all of our grandchildren there! After church we had lunch ... Pizza ... and then Carolyn too me to the mall with the grandchildren to have pictures taken. I hope to have pictures to share! Pap-Paw and I kept Max for the day and had a great time with him! Mommy did lots of wrapping while Max was gone today! Pap-Paw and I will be doing that on Monday! Gradis is off on Monday and Tuesday for the Christmas holidays so we will be on our own! Many of our friends will get this message AFTER Christmas but I wanted to wish all a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS! We have many things to celebrate as we look back over the year 2007. It is because of God’s grace that we have come so far. Paul continues to amaze us all the time and we are so blessed to have great family and friends! I pray that you will spend special time with your family and enjoy the holidays.

God Bless You and your family! ... Lynne & Carl

Paul's Update - 02/16/07

Dear Friends:

The weeks go by so fast and we’ve been pretty busy since we returned from our vacation. Monday we left South Carolina about 9:30am. We made lots of stops and had a leisurely drive home. Paul rode in the front of the truck most of the trip but at one of our stops he suddenly decided he wanted to sit in the back seat. Carl’s truck has a back seat and separate doors that open to the back. It is really easy to get into and there is plenty of room for him to sit back there. He rode there for about an hour before he was ready to be in the front again!! We stopped at McDonald’s for lunch but at dinner we stopped at Cracker Barrel. On the way home we stopped at Carl’s sister, Ann’s house for a bit and we got home about 10:30pm. We were all very tired. Paul was very glad to be back in his own bed!

Tuesday we were back to “business”!! Paul had a dentist appointment at 12PM. The dentist office called that morning and asked if he could come a little early so Dad, Paul & Dora got to the dentist about 11:30am. This was just a regular cleaning visit. After the dentist Paul had therapy. Physical therapy was at 2pm. They worked on walking. The therapist timed his walking and said he is getting a bit quicker with his walking. He walks the wall while holding the rail on the wall. She times how long he can walk without losing balance. Occupational therapy was at 3pm. She has been working with getting Paul to reach his arms out. She has him put things on a shelf and move them to other shelves. He had to reach almost as far as he can reach and put a soda bottle on the top of a cabinet without dropping it. It was quite a challenge but he did well. They worked on the peg board which he enjoys and does well. He had to chose the colors as she asked him to pick them. He got the colors all right. Later in the evening Max came over until Mommy came home. He was excited to see Pap-Paw since he hadn’t seen us for almost two weeks. Paul was glad to see him too!!

Wednesday morning Paul had therapy at 9:30 and 10:30. Occupational therapy was first. The therapist was suspicious that Paul is seeing double. She took a pen and had him follow it with his eyes. He was able to follow it but his right eye doesn’t respond the way it should. He seems to need to close that eye to focus on things. She took a piece of paper and put a big “E” on it and had him practice telling her which was it was turned. He actually did pretty good with that exercise and he may be able to go to the eye doctor sometime in the future. The Physical Therapist worked on balance exercises. She is seeing improvement in his balance. They are unable to use the corner where they practice standing without holding on to anything ... the hospital put a Christmas tree there!! They walked down the hall with the railing. Wednesday evening we met Bill & Ronda for dessert and coffee after dinner.

Thursday and Friday were quiet days at home for Paul. He earned it!! Dad went out and did some shopping on Thursday. Paul stayed home with Dora. We had bible study in the evening and of course Ronda made dinner for us! It is hard to believe we are so close to Christmas!! Friday Dad worked in the yard a good part of the day. He has a new leaf blower so he cleaned up the yard. It was much needed ... we came home to leaves all up next to the front door. That means ... every time you open the front door ... leaves come in!! I had choir practice to go to in the evening. Our choir was preparing for the Christmas Program. We managed to get in dinner at Yorkshire Restaurant before I went to the church.

Saturday morning Dad got Paul ready to go out. They took a trip to visit Paul’s work. Dad, Paul & Gradis left the house about 10:30am. There weren’t many of the mechanics there but Paul visited with the guy at the parts counter for a bit. Paul got to visit with the owner a bit and then went back into the mechanics shop. There was only one guy there so they didn’t visit long. On the way out the owner’s wife saw Paul and came over to visit a bit. They are very pleased to see him doing well. She prayed with him before they left and told him that they were still holding a job for him when he’s ready to come back!!! Wouldn’t that be nice?? After they left Dad took Paul to the Pizza place nearby where Paul use to go for lunch. The lady at the counter said she remembered Paul and asked how Tabby & Paul were. She was very glad to see him. After lunch they went to Classic Iron (another motorcycle shop nearby). Paul had been there the day of his accident. He has a good friend there. They visited with his friend for a bit. The girl that works at the counter showed up before they left (she’d gone out to get lunch) and was pleased to see Paul also! None of these people have seen Paul since he started walking with the cane. Later in the evening we had Christmas carolers show up at the house. They sang for Paul and brought him a Christmas present from the Youth group. Paul enjoyed having the company. What a nice blessing!!

Sunday was busy as usual. We went to breakfast with Bill & Ronda. Alysa (our granddaughter) had spent the night with us and came to breakfast too. We headed out to church about 9:30am. Max came with Pap-paw & Daddy. After church Dad went out to get lunch at McDonald’s. Max loves his chicken nuggets & French fries! It was a nice quiet afternoon. Max & Pap-Paw napped. Alysa played on the computer and I attempted to get in a little nap. We had our Christmas program at the church in the evening. It was wonderful and Paul seemed to enjoy it. After the program we had refreshments in the social hall. Paul wanted to walk down the line of food on the table and he picked out the foods he wanted to eat. Dad said he was very particular about which cookies he wanted!! We had a wonderful fellowship time and Santa showed up to delight the kids! All of our grandchildren were there and we got pictures of them with Santa! We got home about 9:30pm and watched the balance of the football game.

Paul has been feeling pretty good lately and although there is not much “new” activity, he continues to improve. We are so blessed by all the things he is able to do. I am constantly mindful that we are where we are because of God’s grace and the prayers of our friends and family. Thanks for all your love!!

Have a great day, Lynne & Carl

Paul's Update - 12/09/07

Dear Friends:

We have returned from our vacation and I will attempt to catch you up on all of Paul’s progress over the last week and a half. Since it has been so long I will summarize the time for you as best I can. We left on November 30 to go to Charleston South Carolina to leave for our cruise. We took a seven day Western Caribbean Cruise on Norwegian Cruise ship Majesty. We drove to my sister’s house on Friday and spent the night with her. We had an opportunity to visit a little with Nana Richard since she lives down the street from Aunt Ann. We arrived about 8:30pm. Ronda and Bill travelled separate with their children Mike & Vickie and Mike’s friend Christie who were all travelling with us.

Saturday morning we headed to Charleston and boarded the ship about 12:30pm. Paul got priority boarding since he was in the wheelchair. We went right to the front of the line and were checked in and escorted directly to our stateroom on the ship. The rest of our group boarded within the hour. We set sail about 4pm on Saturday evening.

Sunday and Monday were days at sea as we headed to Grand Cayman. Paul acclimated to the movement of the ship very well. He didn’t get sea sick at all. We had ten people in our group and only two got sea sick. Fortunately after the first full day at sea the ocean was calmer and everyone felt better. Sunday most of our group had scheduled massages in the spa ... including Paul. What a nice treat for us all! Paul was also able to go out to the pool deck and Dad got him up the stairs to the top deck of the ship (there is no elevator to that level so he had to WALK the steps). Monday was another day at sea. Paul used his walker that day. He did VERY well with it. Most of the ship is very handicap friendly. The dining room presented a few challenges but we were able to manage OK.

Tuesday we arrived at Grand Cayman. This port is not handicap friendly since we had to ride a smaller boat to go to shore. The water is not deep enough at the shore for the cruise ship to go to a dock. Paul, Carl & Bill stayed on the ship while the rest of us went ashore to snorkel and shop. We were only in port from about 9:30am to 3:00pm. The guys had a relaxing day on the ship!

Wednesday we arrived in Cozumel after traveling through the night. This was a much more exciting day for Paul. He had to walk the dock length in order to go on an excursion. We took a Jeep ride into the countryside on the island which is only 33 miles long and 11 miles wide. We saw most of the island!! Paul rode in the front of the jeep and really enjoyed it. Carl and I had to get into the back of the Jeep but it was worth the work to get in! After lunch at the beach and a trip to one of the ancient temples on the island we headed to another beach spot to do some snorkeling. Carl went with the group while I stayed with Paul. Paul was having a great time. I got him a soda while we waited and when I handed it to him he said “thanks” without me prompting him!! I love it when he does that!

Thursday we arrived in Key West Florida which was our last port of call. We were able to take a local train trolley tour that took us around the island and showed us all the historical and significant sights. Once Paul was on the train he really was able to enjoy the sights. It was evening and the sun was going down so we were able to enjoy some of the Christmas decorations on the historic old homes. Paul did really good getting on and off the train! He was presented with several challenging activities throughout the week and managed very well.

Friday was our last day at sea as we headed back to Charleston. We spent most of the day on the pool deck enjoying the last of our vacation.

We arrived back in Charleston on Saturday morning. Once we had disembarked we headed back to Ann’s house and spent the balance of the weekend with her and my mother. Aunt Cathy & cousin Lizzie were visiting also. It was nice having my sisters and my mother to visit with.

Sunday morning we went to church with Ann. The sermon was powerful. It was on what the scripture says about divorce. After the sermon the pastor invited people who had been touched by or affected by divorce who wanted someone to pray for them to come forward and someone from the worship team would pray with them. When Dad attempted to get Paul to head out of the sanctuary ... he refused to go and started to head down to the alter. Dad asked him if he wanted someone to pray for him ... and he said “yes”. Wow ... how wonderful is that!! We took him down to the Pastor and his wife and they prayed with us. They know our story and were able to pray specifically for our needs! As much as we like to think we are doing OK ... we still need lots of prayer ... our life is very difficult some days!

Monday Dad, Paul and I will be heading home. Back to our real lives!! I’m so thankful that we were able to vacation and that Paul was able to be blessed by it as well. Just think ... a year ago (even six months ago) that seemed impossible!

Have a great day, Lynne & Carl