Home At Last

Originally published June 21, 2013

Following up on my previous post ... Ron is finally home. He arrived home this morning by car (provided by Helping Hands). To be honest ... it was hard to describe the feeling when I saw him climbing out of the car into his wheelchair - a mixture of elation and joy, and a little trepidation; wondering if I can do the job. I think I can (with God, you can do anything!), but still ... you wonder if you can give him everything he needs. Given that I've never had to be 100% responsible for someone that's disabled, I'm not even sure what that is going to involve. Right now, he isn't able to transfer himself alone, and can only put weight on his legs for a nano-second. He's been getting some physical therapy, and can now feed himself, but his arms aren't strong enough to support himself and needs help to get up.

I can only hope (pray) that continued therapy and training (cause of course, this is entirely new for him too) will help us learn how to do the things we need to do to give him as normal a life as we can ... and maybe at some point be able to walk again. His greatest desire is to be able to drive again.

Once he got inside, we called on our eldest granddaughter to "baby-sit" while he headed off to the drugstore to pick up his meds. I sat as the pharmacist held up every bottle, explained the dosage and instructions to take it, and told me what it was for. Halfway through the montage, I realized I couldn't remember what the first ones were for.  It's a good thing my daughter was there. Some of the drugs I recognized by the colour and shape, and knew he got them at dinner or bedtime, but others ... I was blank.

When it came time to fill up his dose box for the week ... we ended up having to call the hospital and ask when they had been giving him which pill, and which pills he'd already had. We didn't have any of that information sent home with him. Once we got that information, it was fairly simple to fill up the box.

Most of you who know us are probably familiar with our daughter and son-in-law's dog (Lola) - I've posted pics of her in lots of places ... Lola is "poppa's" pet. He's the one who always gave her little cookie treats, and every morning since he's been gone she comes to the front door looking for him to snuggle her and feed her some treats. Okay, yes, gramma gives her treats too, but poppa's the one she's looking for. So today, she couldn't get in the house fast enough. She jumped into his lap and licked his face, and danced around his feet til she got her treats ... when he decided it was time for a nap ... Lola went with him.

I'm not sure what the future holds for us - but then, nobody is ever sure what their future holds. Whether it's good or bad, we'll do it together.

All I can say is that I'm glad we have a faithful Father, cause he's never let us down.