It's Been a While

I didn't realize how long it had been since I last posted. The last post was right after we moved Kirk. I am happy to say he still appears to be very content. He isn't sleeping very well so we are working on that. I'll give a further update on him shortly.

Sidney and I had a quite Thanksgiving. We didn't go get Kirk because I want him to settle in there. We delivered meals with Meals on Wheels on both Wednesday and Thursday of Thanksgiving week. It was wonderful to bring smiles to peoples faces. WE not only delivered complete meals, even with a small pie, but we delivered carnations, small Christmas trees and homemade place mats. It was really a lot of fun.

We shared a Thanksgiving meal with friends before having a relaxing afternoon and evening. The following weekend was fairly quite except for running Sidney to and from swimming.... It never stops.

There have been many changes at work. The oil field environment is challenging right now and many people have either retired or been let go. My boss retired and I miss him dearly.  It's just not the same....I need the change to slow down a bit.

Sidney was supposed to have a swim meet December 11-13.  Coach didn't get us registered in time and it turned out OK. Sidney's girlfriend in Katy had her birthday party that weekend and so I was able to surprise her with a trip over.  It was a lot of driving for a short weekend but we had fun. We also got to visit our old church in Katy which is always refilling.

Sidney has been having a rougher time at school lately. She is not turning work in and not getting very good grades on tests. I am frustrated and not sure what is going on. Hopefully a break will help us both get back on track.   We have been able to get in a little hiking which has been a treat. Stormy is happy too.

I traded in both cars the day after Thanksgiving and bought a new Prius Wagon. I am really happy with it. It is very suitable for us and gets great gas mileage. It is much bigger than the old Prius and more useful than my car was.

Kirk has had a lot going on in the last few weeks. He has had several doctor visits at the foster home and he has been one to the VA facilities several times. There are still more questions than answers but every doctor, nurse, and other VA representative I have talked to have been fabulous. They are caring, concerned and take all the time I need to answer questions. I have been so amazingly happy with the care he is receiving. The care at the foster home is provided with love and the care from the VA has been really great. Kirk spent a whole day at the hospital Tuesday getting tests. The doctor he was seeing specializes in looking at what a patient can do or not do and understand what part of the brain is affected and how. I spent about an hour on the phone with him Tuesday answering and asking a lot of questions. His work will continues but I have another name for a condition Kirk exhibits.  I already know the name for the difficulty with words, Aphasia. But I also learned that Kirk can write but he can't read, not even what he just wrote.  It is apparently a very unusual rarely seen condition that is making them wonder more about the head injury and if there is something else contributing to his problems.  The condition is called Alexia without Agraphia. More work will be done to try to understand what happened and maybe a why.

Sidney and I are off to Germany tomorrow. Yes, we are running away. Our niece and nephew invited us over for Christmas and we couldn't pass it up. The last time I went to Germany I came back with a broken hand, two black eyes and road rash as well as had an emergency landing because the plane had smoke in the cockpit. Hopefully this is a less adventurous trip.

I think I am starting to feel a hint of peace regarding Kirk and our lives. It is only a hint and is mostly about his contentedness and the care he is getting.  And it all has been just happening without me having to fight every step of the way. I don't think I have felt that hint during this whole long experience. I pray that it continues and grows ever so slowly. I still am heart broken and that will take a very long time to change but I would love to have peace with where he is and his happiness.

I hope you all have a lovely Christmas and a very Happy New Year. Thank you for loving us, standing by us, and even carrying us for another year.