Here is what I wrote on my dad's caring bridge site one year ago from today. I still can't believe that this all truly happened. I miss my dad so much.
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2007 06:57 PM, CDT
Wow...I was blown away to see that already 116 people have visited my dad's site and 13 people had written wonderful words of encouragement in the guestbook. Thank you so much for spreading the word to others about this site and I hope this can bring us all together in prayer to uplift my dad.
Today seemed to be a good day for my dad. This morning I read him the article in the sherburne newspaper that featured the tennis girl's dedication mural to my dad. It was a very touching article and written so well. My dad was instantly brought to tears and myself as well. It was comforting to see his tears because that just ensures that he still hears and understands us somewhat. Those girls definitely hold a special place in my dad's heart and I know that he so wishes he could be out there playing with them. They have dedicated their season to my dad so I pray that his strong spirit guides them to many victories.
I thank God today for bringing smiles to our faces with my dad's sense of humor. When my sister Ellie was trying to help him sit up she said, 'C'mon dad, C'mon' and my dad replied, 'C'mon C'mon'. It was funny! Then later today when my sister and I were trying to slide him on his butt to sit up against the couch on the floor, he blurted out 'wedgie, wedgie'. Hilarious! If you know my dad that should comfort your heart, because that is definitely his personality shining through!
I asked my dad before I went for a walk today if he would like to join me in his wheelchair and he said, 'yeah'. So the neighbor, Rick came over to help us and we got him in his wheelchair and down the ramp fairly quickly and easily. It works out quite well and he really enjoys the walks. He is such an outdoors guy and hearing the leaves fall from the trees and the birds chirp brings him peace. So after Ellie and I came back from our little walk with dad he was pretty tired and dozed off for a little while on the couch.
Soon after a nurse came to give him a massage to help release the tension in his hands from being clenched so much and in his legs from being so stiff. You could tell that he really enjoyed the massage because he had a huge smile on his face the whole time.
My Auntie Marcia came to visit my dad for several hours this afternoon and her presence not only warmed my dad's heart, but also mine and my sister's as well. She has such a sweet spirit, just like my dad, and she definitely brings light to the situation. I love you Auntie Marcia!
I praise God for today and how he so lives with in my dad and gives us so much hope. Eventhough today was a good day for my dad, our family feels a little overwhelmed especially my step-mom Jenifer. There are usually 2-3 people here helping with my dad and we try to rotate so that everybody gets a break here and there, but Jenifer usually leaves the house to go in and work for a few hours. She also tends to be the one that we call on to help us when dad needs to be changed and that happens several times per day. Jenifer does like to get out and we do encourage her to go, but I think it is hard for her to leave because she feels like she has to be here and there is so much to do around the house. We are all trying to help one another to ease our stress, but our minds tend to get the best of us even when we are away from home. So I ask that all of you pray for my family, especially Jenifer that we may turn to God during these overwhelming times, surrender our burdens to him and trust in his love to give us strength. We need to know that we are not alone and that we definitely don’t have to do this all by ourselves
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