Dear Friends:
It has been several months since my last update and I apologize if you’ve been wondering how things are going. I will try to update you on all the things that have happened over the last few months. As I’m sure you can guess, most of our days are pretty routine. Paul continues to do very well and although we don’t see huge differences, we do continue to see progress each day.
The anniversary of Paul’s accident was on November 4th. It has been three years now. I can hardly believe that much time has gone by. We celebrated Paul’s 28th birthday on Nov 21st. It is something that we certainly DO celebrate! Christmas was a special time. Paul had been working with his speech therapist to do some singing and Christmas carols are very familiar music for Paul since he was brought up in the church. It was amazing to watch him SING the carols with us. This was a BIG first since we didn’t rehearse any of these songs with him….he just KNOWS them!! Christmas day was a time for our family to spend together. I usually do breakfast for the family and everyone came. We had a late breakfast in order to allow Max, Alysa & Chris to have Christmas at home first. Max spent the day with us and we really enjoyed having him.
All of Paul’s therapy except for the Stroke Comeback center was ended at the last of December. We were supposed to start back at the Speech Therapist in February but we are still on the waiting list. It appears that we will start back with Debi in April. He still goes to the Stroke Comeback center and enjoys the socialization with the other folks in his group. They sing, do puzzles, play games and just do what little talking they are capable of. New Year’s Eve is always quiet for the most part. We stayed home but Bill & Ronda came over and rang in the new year with us. However, we were all in bed by 12:30 am!! On Jan 19th Bobby celebrated his birthday with us. We went out to dinner at Longhorn Steak House in Manassas. Dinner was OK but the highlight of the night was when Paul sang “Happy Birthday” to Bobby. It was a precious moment for all of us (especially Bobby)!
The inauguration came and went…..but we just WENT!! We were on the road on inauguration day heading towards Miami to take our cruise to the Caribbean. We drove for three days to get there. Bill & Ronda travelled with us in Carl’s sister’s van and we hauled a trailer that was borrowed from our nephew. It was a 9 day cruise and we had a GREAT room at the back of the ship. We have to get a handicap room and this was absolutely the best room we have ever had. Paul did really well but we had one minor mishap on the first day when he lost his balance and fell backwards to the floor. Fortunately he did not hit his head and he was OK. After we returned home, we turned around and went to South Carolina to visit with Nana & Aunt Ann. We also got a chance to see my niece’s baby, Kenny!! What a cutie!
In February Dad took Paul to the eye doctor because he still seems to have trouble seeing, especially out of the right eye. After examination the doctor decided he could do surgery and try to lengthen the muscle in Paul’s right eye which would allow it to work more simultaneously with the other eye. Surgery was scheduled for March 22nd. He was at the surgery center until mid morning and we brought him home. Other than being a bit red his eye seems to be doing well. The doctor was please with the results.
We continue to see Max most Sundays. He is growing so fast. He will be three in June! He is talking a lot and is learning so many things. He knows most of his colors and likes to sing the alphabet song. He likes to interact with his Daddy….and boy does Daddy enjoy that!! Paul smiles proudly when Max gives him kisses! Our house is really busy when the grandchildren are here but we enjoy it so much.
We are so grateful that we are so blessed. The recent death of Natasha Richardson (who fell while skiing and died two days later) made me realize how blessed we are. Paul’s injury was so severe and yet God spared him. We don’t know God’s purpose for all of this but our faith and the prayers of our friends are what we hold on to! Thanks for continuing to remember us. Have a Happy & Blessed Easter!
Love, Lynne & Carl
