Wintery Wednesday

Well, there was not much porch sitting today!!! It was a little cool so we were in most of the day, watching it rain. I started the sprinklers and it rained, so shut them off and it stopped raining!!!! I was just about ready to put some water on the garden and it really gave us a nice little rain. So, I was done watering.

I found out today, how fast Norm can walk!!!! He was getting a little bit house-bound, and wanted to take a walk. When we got outside, we felt a couple of little sprinkles, but thought we would go ahead and go. We got just a few feet up the street and some neighbors came by and visited. Norm has this nifty neat-o walker with a seat on it, so he can just sit when he wants to. By the time we got done visiting, it began to get a little more cloudy, but heck, it wasn't going to rain on us!!!! The further we got, the more insistent the "sprinkles" got, so Norm decided maybe we should turn around. You should have seen him go. He was really bookin' it. When we got back to the edge of the porch, he wondered if he was going to make it. I told him to sit down because he was under the eves of the roof. He sat and then looked up at me and after getting rained on a bit, said "I am NOT under the eves!!!" (wasn't my fault he didn't look!)

Walking is so good for us both that we decided that we are going to make it our goal, to walk at least three times a day. The heart doctor said that he wanted him to walk at least five minutes several times a day, working up to 45 minutes a day. But, that was when we thought he was only going to be there for about a week, maybe a week and a half. So, we are a little slower than that, but not by much. Norm is getting around so much better and doing most things on his own, that I really don't think it will be too long before he can walk like that. It is something we can both do, and both need.

He has made amazing progress. Leaps and bounds every day. It is overwhelming to think about the miracles we have seen throughout this whole ordeal and the blessings we have been given. Norm and I were just talking about how blessed he has been. When we were in ICU we met the families of two young men in their mid-twenties, who had broken their backs, and had their lives changed in an instant. Norm has everything he had, mentally and physically, in his grasp and he has had a good life. We are in the 38th year of our lives together, and these two couples were in the beginning of theirs. One of them had only been married a year and were looking forward to children and the normal "married stuff". They can still have all of that, but will have to go about it a different way. They are all wonderful kids and will be just fine, but I think there is something to be said about the fact that they have been dealt the things they have had to deal with and Norm has had what he has had, dealt to him. They sure have the more difficult path. This whole thing sure is something to ponder.

We sure have learned a lot from this ordeal. Tons, as a matter of fact. Some of it has been a surprize to us, and some of it we should have learned a long time ago, but never the less, we have learned, and I guess that is the key to it all.

Thank God..for what you have.
Trust God...for what you need.