Reflections of 2010

Since the end of the year is drawing near it is a good time to look over the past year & reflect on all that has happened to our family.  My first thoughts are that 2010 was the healthiest, happiest one we have had for a while.  This was the first year since Gary’s accident that we didn’t have a hospital stay,  I finally figured out what type of help I needed to make my life easier, we got our house situated better for Gary and of course we added to our family.  Please join me as I reflect back on 2010.

Looking back over the past several years which hospitals had the best food, which nurses were better, who had the cleanest rooms, how long did it take me to get to the hospital and who needed me more Gary or the kids were all at the front of my thought processes.  Not fun things to think about but they were all a part of my daily life since March 2006.  I missed out on so much of Dakota’s high school life because of having to be at the hospital so often, but this year was different.  I feel like I actually got to be a part of her Senior year.  Of course she doesn’t want me around as much as she use too but that’s OK I actually got to be here & she knew I was at home for her if she needed me.  Something else different from past years was I actually had to take Gary in for a wellness check-up.  We weren’t at the Dr. for a follow-up hospital stay, it was great!!!  This year seemed to go by faster than the previous years because we actually got to spend it doing fun, normal things instead of going back & forth to a hospital.  Yes, we had a very blessed year health wise in 2010.

Also this year I finally figured out that I’m only 1 person & it takes 2 people to care for someone with Gary’s particular issues.  So in February I hired Frank.  What a god send he has been.  He has taken over Gary’s daily care during the week leaving me free to do other things.  He gets Gary out of bed, cleans him up, watches him and makes sure he has his medicine.  He also washes Gary’s stuff & helps me around the house.  He allowed me the freedom to take a couple of vacations & to get some much-needed R & R.  I have started thinking about what I need instead of what does Gary or one of the kids need.  I am beginning to become proactive about things instead of reactive to a situation.  I am once again making plans instead of bracing for what happens next.  Finally as you all know I am working on getting myself back into shape so I can be the healthiest me I can be.  I feel like I am living life once again and how fantastic is that!!  What a blessing of a year I have had.

Since having help with Gary it gave me more time figure out that we needed to be able to get Gary in & out of this house easier.  For the past several years I have had temporary  ramps in the front of the house, then last year I had a permanent one put in the back.  With all these ramps I still had to walk Gary out in the weather, rain, snow, whatever in order to get him to our van and then I had to load him in the van.  The past several winters I have been digging out of the snow trying to keep the walkways clear for Gary’s wheelchair, which was not an easy task.  This year I had a lift put in our garage & I park the van right beside it so Gary doesn’t have to be out in the weather.  It has made our life so much easier & loading Gary is now a breeze.  And just this month I finally broke down & bought a lift to get Gary in & out of bed.  We had been manually transferring him & were getting sore backs & necks.  No more, I have a lift system that not only works here at our home, but can travel with us.  Having the new lift for this month I am feeling stronger & my neck doesn’t bother me like it use to because of Gary is no longer tugging on it when I would put him to bed every  night.  I no longer worry that if I hurt my back I won’t be able to get Gary to bed and he told me that he feels safer getting in and out of bed.  Thank you Lord for allowing me to able to afford such luxuries.

Finally this year as you all know we added to our family.  On Mothers Day we felt that Como needed a little brother or sister so we went in search of one and found Argo.  It has been a trying year because we finally had Como out of his puppy stages and now we had to start all over again with Argo, what was I thinking.  But overall it has been wonderful having the 2 of them.  Argo is settling in nicely & is definitely the more timid of the 2 dogs.  And of course we can’t forget the most important addition to our family was our grandson, Rowan Robert Merrick!!  What a grand & special little guy he is.  I got travel to Scotland just after he was born to meet him & then Allison & James brought him here for a visit to meet the rest of his family just a month later.  The greatest blessing is Allison, James & Rowan have now moved back to the U.S. and instead of getting on a plane and spending thousands of dollars we can get into our van drive about 5 hours & see them.  How great is that!!

2010 what a banner year it has been for us, even though it’s been almost 5 years since that fateful day in March our journey is still in its early stages.  But now we are looking forward to living life with tbi instead of dealing with life after tbi.  The Lord has been with us on our journey and has been faithful in Gary’s healing.  Gary continues to get better & that has been documented by Drs. that’s not just our opinion.  Please continue with us as we begin a new phase of our lives in 2011.  It should be an even better year than 2010.  We have 2 trips planned & of course you never know what the Lord has in store for us, but I pray we are up for the challenge & that this new journey will touch your hearts as it does ours.

Please continue with all your prayers & good thoughts and I wish everyone out there blessings in the new year.

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