February Thoughts

It's a cold and snowy February morning. Jack and Gus are asleep and Birdie is up with me.

Jack and I got home on December 11th....I can't believe it's already been 2 months.... Jack's space is nearing completion.

PT/OT have hit a rhythm and some great goals have been set. In PT, Jack has been getting into the standing frame and will be getting into a manual chair next week! He's also been strengthening his shoulders and biceps and last week, he sat up unassisted (with a PT in front and in back of him) for 1 minute and 30 seconds! Still no triceps firing nor any finger movement, and he still has no feeling below his nipple line. It's taken longer than expected to get used to this new life.

Jack's spirits have been down quite a bit, as well as myself, as I have been sick. It's hard to be away from the place that made everything feel more normal.

It crashes in on you, the longevity of the injury. It's exhausting. And to top it all off, Maggie broke her foot last week and is in a boot for 6 weeks.

Independence is key to our next transition. Alexa will enable him to turn on and off his tv & Xbox, the lights and the heat. He will finally be able to shower, instead of having bed baths.

Eat independently

Drink independently

These thing will definitely lift his mood and mine too.

But Spring beckons new life, new growth, sunshine on our faces and a new project in the works!

My idea is to plot and create wheelchair friendly trails on our land for all to use. I have contacted my friend, Jill, (she created Kids Movement Project) to help spearhead this project with me and engage our community.

We bought a home in Gorham with 4.5 acres that includes woods and a beautiful creek/river right behind our house. The idea is for Kids Movement Project to make a "project" out of mapping and building trails wide enough for Jack’s wheelchair, through the woods and along the river. The desire is for Jack to be able to spend more time outdoors and to create trails for others to use, growing our community. We are now early (and I mean early) in the planning stages of this exciting project!

It's really comforting knowing that the love and support is out there. It's easy to get stuck. I don't know why I always quote movies and books, but as Dory says "Just keep swimming, swimming swimming....."

Love to all of you out there.

Thank you for continuing on our journey of HOPE