Update 12/6/09 Day 28

Dear friends,

Have you ever had that feeling that the inside of you was going 80 miles per hour, and the outside of you was saying "cut that out!" Judy the Good (and I mean really GOOD), gave me a needed talkin' to yesterday when she said I needed a bit of "slow down" time. I do believe she's got it right. I just haven't figured out how to do that yet. But I'm looking to the One who knew perfect balance even in the middle of wind and waves. Just a little further down the pilgrim highway I can see a bit of a rest area. It's around that bend when Stephen comes home. Much of my revved engine mentality is a result of daily trips to Schenectady. I think my van has become part of my wardrobe.

Insurance companies write mean letters. I'm so thankful for the attorneys who are walking me through the strange, bizarro land of No Fault papers, disability papers, and...other papers. When you go to law school, is there a course called "filling out papers"? Dan the Wise and Sharon the Kind are taking care of a million details for me. I don't know what I would do without them. Seems like everyone has a part to play in this weird world of post accident clean-up. "We have different gifts according to the grace given us..."Romans 12:6.

Hannah had a very long assessment due for her therapy on Tuesday. She worked hard to concentrate on her work. Concentration is one of the key milestones in brain injury recovery. Tomorrow she will have a short visit to school, and she'll begin being tutored in math. Wow. Four weeks ago today she was unconscious and intubated on a stretcher in trauma bay A1 at Albany Medical Center. Tomorrow she goes shopping with big girlfriend Amy for some warm clothes. (Poor kid, all she has are canvas shoes and summer flip flops. What kind of mother am I)? If you don't shout Hallelujah, the rocks are going to have to do it. God truly has shown off His unfailing love to us, hasn't He? I'll tell you what, though. He would still be a God of faithful love even if the outcome had been different. Look at all those who have lost their husbands and children. You don't have to look far. He is a mystery to us, and there are things hidden in darkness we don't comprehend. "Now we see through a glass darkly, then we shall see face to face..."

Stephen got a haircut today from his favorite barber - ME! Don't pick on him when you see the gouge I took out over his left ear. Hey, it's hard to cut hair on a guy who only bends at the middle. His nurse and I shampooed him too - his first hair wash since November 8. He's raring to go for tomorrow's therapies. He wants to have at it and get the heck out of there.

My boys, by the way, are doing well. It's not normal here, but it's a new normal. Joseph and David take care of the trash for me each night, and clean out the litter box. They don't, however, get my coffee ready for the a.m. Only Steve has the coffee touch. Right now the two of them are yelling insults at one another, with a laugh attached. A minute later David will be on Joseph's back. Anyone with boys, you know what I'm talking about. I have no idea how the Creator put those Y chromosome people together. They too are a mystery to me.

I finally figured out how to respond to comments! This is big news. This is fabulous news. I've conquered something on the computer! I hope to soon begin responding to your comments, which so bless my heart. If you don't know how to leave a comment, just create a google account and it will walk you through (you'll find that on the bottom of the comments section).

I hope you know by now that I am just awash in gratitude for all you do for me. Fixing my heat, cleaning my chimney, moving my bedrooms around, feeding me (body and soul), and a million other lovely and beautiful acts of kindness. You have been "doers of the word, and not hearers only."

Your friend on the pilgrim road,

Loriann