Hi Everyone,

Corey had a good day. OT and Speech had good reports about Corey’s progress today.

Tonight our neighbor came to visit us. Corey began babysitting for this family when she was 9 years old. The young man’s name is Connor. He had serious medical issues from the moment he was born. Corey was Suzanne’s mother’s helper. She even learned sign language to speak with him until his speech developed.

Now that Corey is in the hospital, Connor (age 9) is babysitting Roxie! Suzanne shared stories of how well Connor is taking care of Roxie. She also shared that he is really into nicknames these days. Although Connor is well aware that Roxie is a girl, he’s nicknamed her Jingle Jangles (because of her license and collar), Sir licks a lot (she never stops giving “kisses”) and his personal favorite; Sir farts a lot (because he’s a 9 year old boy).

As Suzanne was sharing this with Corey, we swear she smiled. I’m sure she did because she knew Connor’s sense of humor so well!

I headed home a little early this evening and visited with some neighbors myself. Among other topics; we were chatting about the timeline of this journey. During our conversation, there was a statement that inspired tonight’s writing. “It’s been 6 months tonight since the accident…think of all that you’ve learned in 6 months”…

What a great question. Think of all the things we’ve learned in our life let alone the last six months. When we were born, we did not know how to walk, or talk, or feed ourselves. We’ve learned to read, to count, to travel from place to place. We’ve learned how to communicate via technology. We have the world at our finger tips to research and get access to online information. We’ve acquired practical wisdom, and mastered complex concepts.

Because of what we’ve learned, we are not limited to the initial skills and knowledge with which we were born. The things we’ve learned have enabled us to better understand and interact with the world around us.
Corey, we are leaning more than rudimentary skills. Look at all we have learned in just 6 months. We’ve learned more about Traumatic Brain Injury than we thought we ever would! It’s also important to be reminded that we’ve also learned how to handle the emotional balance of having one foot in today’s reality and the other in the past.

A friend forwarded this motivational thought today;
The challenges in our lives are lessons waiting to be learned. Be thankful for the challenges. Without them, we would not grow.

This thought might seem trite but guess what? Aside from the new medical knowledge, we’ve been reminded of the unconditional love of our family and friends. We’ve been blessed with new friendships and the generosity of strangers. We’ve learned to look at our day with an adjusted positive perspective rather than judgment, resentment, control or manipulation to change our current reality. We’ve learned to take things in stride. We’ve learned to prioritize on multiple levels. We’ve learned to look to what we can be grateful for.

For you sweetheart, you are re-learning your whole life for a second time. How many people get a second chance? You were never a fan of school and you are no stranger to learning things the hard way or as they present themselves. Staying present in Today is our lesson. Keep up the great work Corey. You continue to teach all of us each and every day, xoxo