Great News!

It feels so good to write you with happy news! Mom and Dad have been staying at their house without full-time care since Sunday. When I called Mom on Sunday, she sounded better than I have heard her in a long time. She sounded much less stressed and much happier! She said they were doing GREAT on their own! Hooray for them! They will have limited part-time help from a woman who lives in their area named Jennifer and a man who will only come on Saturday to help Mom load and unload Dad's wheel chair into the suburban so Dad can accompany Mom to Church! Yes, it's so exciting to tell you that Dad is now able to go back to Church! They are going on Saturday (Catholics can do that) because it's so much easier on them to go in the evening rather than get up and going for early morning Mass on Sunday. That's only part of the good news!!!

Dad can get in and out of the car unassisted, in and out of his chair, the bed, etc! We can only imagine how happy he is to be that independent!

Last night Dad and Leslie went out to Ollie and Danny's deer camp for their monthly steak dinner and poker night. Dad hasn't been out there since the stroke 5 months ago. Danny went right out to the suburban to help Dad get out and he wouldn't let him! He showed off for all the guys and proved he could get out of the car and into his wheel chair on his own! Pretty self-satisfying I'm sure! Dad and Leslie didn't stay for the poker game, but how wonderful that Dad was able to be out there cutting up with the guys! Ollie said they all gave Dad a really hard time about leaving without paying his poker ante! Dad used to tell them that he ought to just give them his $10 and go home!

Today, when I called Mom, Dad was outside with Jennifer, the new caretaker. The thrilling news is that he was outside using his walker and Jennifer was following behind him with the wheel chair!!! WOW!!! Thank you, God for Dad's strength and ability to use the walker and for the beautiful weather so that he could go outside!!!

My theory, for what it's worth, is that Dad has been frustrated for a while with having live-in assistance and now, with this new independence, he is so happy to do things on his own rather than when someone tells him to!!! You don't think there's a little stubbornness there, do you?!!!! Not Harvey!!! Yeah, right!!! There's no stopping Dad now!!!

Psalm 9:10 Those who know Your name will trust in You, for You, Lord, have never forsaken those who seek you.