Learning....

It has been a busy week.  We are all adjusting in one way or another.  My brother and sister started back up at UNF and my dad started his therapy sessions.  I am happy for that, can't wait to see how he continues to improve. I saw my dad throughout the week, well didn't see him today.  He and I were off on our own adventure on Tuesday.  We went to see his brother who is at Shands, he told me how to get there and how to get back - when I say told, there was some guessing as to what he was trying to convey and hand movements - but he got us there and he got us back!  A lot of his life skills right now are being relearned. Everything from getting dressed to brushing his teeth to putting clean dishes away to finding the right key to open the door.  Sometimes these things are difficult and take a little extra time but I am sure he will get back in the swing of things. When he was at Brooks he couldn't spit after he would brush his teeth, but now he does!  There are so many little things, that all together show very big improvement.  It is easy sometimes to be searching so hard to see the big picture that we fail to see all the beautiful little changes before us.  It is almost like, at the end of our life, we look back and see a massive collage, the blues we go through add just as much color to our life as the bright sunny times do.  Think about the sequence of the way you do things - and then imagine having to re learn every single step of the process, for every single sequence of events you do.  Even just the simple act of remembering to breathe when you lift your arm.  Looking through a mint magazine that came in the mail gave us an opportunity to talk about what we saw!  It doesn't take much to help somebody as they re wire their brain, it just can be exhausting as you talk through every single step of the process, realizing how many things you just do without even thinking about it but having to patiently go through saying it all aloud...  I think sometimes the most draining aspect is that as much progress as we see, we are always hungry for continued improvements.  Patience is a virtue. We do so many things every single day without so much as a second thought.  We take so much for granted.  I have always been one to think a lot, but now I think even more.  Below are some pictures of my dad as he re-learns these "simple" life skills.  We also enjoyed putting together a puzzle. We are proud of who he is.  We are proud of how far he has come.  We know he has already defied the odds.  We know this has been used to glorify God.  I love my dad so much.

The following are some videos.  The first two are examples of how conversations go with my dad.   Speech is something he struggles with, right now.  I am confident he will regain all that in time.  Either way, we have gotten pretty good at figuring out what he is trying to tell us! The other video is from one of my dads therapy sessions.  My sister took that video earlier this afternoon and she told me that what they asked him to do in the video today, he was not able to do yesterday.  Today he was able to pull his arm in on his own.  In just one days time....he never fails to amaze me!  I'm glad my sister was with him and able to get a video of it.  I can't wait for the day that we go back to November 21, 2015 on this blog and he reads through and watches the videos and sees just how far and how much he has accomplished!  I have read the book of James a few times this week - morning reading.  I keep coming back to James 1:2- 4 - it is very hard to consider any of this pure joy, but so easy to see how it is testing our faith....I am looking forward to the perseverance it creates in us.  We have all learned a thing or two about staying the course.