Hi Everyone,

We hope you all had a great Thanksgiving weekend. JohnPaul and Caitlin came home Wednesday night and stayed through Friday. Corey loves when they’re home. We had a quiet Thanksgiving Day watching movies and cooking. Corey did not enjoy the yams as much as she thought she would but she LOVED the mashed potatoes and gravy! She doesn’t eat more than what fits on the tip of a spoon but I know she enjoyed each taste.

My HS reunion was a blast. I was fortunate to reconnect with many of my old friends. It’s always surprising when you don’t see someone for 20 or 30 years but when you begin to catch up it’s as if you saw each other the day before…my mother always said that was the sign of true friendship. That statement was accurate this weekend.

While I was away, Corey and our nurses had fun together. Corey increased her time in the standing frame to 8 minutes and 45 seconds. She also had her friends visit on Saturday and Sunday before they all headed back to college. The best news is they will be back for Christmas break in two weeks.

Prior to the accident, Corey and I would spend Sunday nights either watching TV or a movie. Whichever she picked she would get up an hour into the show and announce she was going to bed. Every time I would exclaim, “What”! “You make me watch this show and you’re not even going to wait until the end to see what happens”? NOPE, off to bed she went because she knew I would stay up and watch the end to fill her in on the conclusion in the morning.

Tonight’s movie was ‘Have a little faith’, based on a true story written by Mitch Album. It was sponsored by Hallmark. I don’t know which part I cried more at; the movie or the commercials!

Corey this story was worth watching until the end. You would have enjoyed it. Mitch Album spent 8 years visiting his Rabbi to fulfill a favor promised; Mitch had to write the Rabbi’s eulogy. During the course of that time he really learned more about himself. His Rabbi wrote a book called ‘What’s your Glory’. It was a book that helped reveal what your individual passion or purpose might be. After writing the book, the Rabbi found that his passion and purpose was to do for others. He learned to understand their pain but more importantly understand the pain of those that were closest to him. He shared about his personal losses, struggles and challenges. Mitch asked him if he ever questioned God’s existence during his time of loss. The Rabbi’s response was, ‘on the contrary; having someone to cry out to allowed me to heal and believe’. The Rabbi added the only person that has a whole heart is the one that’s had their heart broken; because that person grows more as a result of what they survived.

There was a secondary character that shared his story as well. It centered on the disrepair of the church he was in. He talked about his struggles and indiscretions. His conversion came one night when he made a deal with God. If God would allow him to live through the night, he’d surrender to Him and do whatever he was called to do. 8 Years later, he was a pastor of the Presbyterian Church that served as a homeless shelter for the community in Detroit. In the end, Mitch wrote the Rabbi’s eulogy as well as an article about the church. The article brought awareness to the shelter which inspired donations that helped the Pastor turn on the heat, electricity, and replaced not only the large hole in the roof but the entire roof itself.

Ironically there were several parts of this movie that coincided with the thoughts I had as I drove home from CT. I thought of you and couldn’t wait to hear what your weekend was like. I recalled conversations I had with my friends and where they are in their lives. I also thought about where we were, where we are and where I hope we’ll be. Our first year was filled with milestones, getting through the “first” holidays, prom, and graduation and when your friends left for college. Now that the “firsts” are over we don’t have milestones. Now the hard part starts; we live every day working towards the ultimate milestone. Unfortunately we don’t have a calendar to gauge how long it will take to achieve our goal. That is difficult to accept some days.

‘Have a little faith’ reminded me of the night I made a deal with you. We were in the ICU, 36 hours after your injury, and we were waiting for your first surgery to remove part of your skull to relieve the pressure on your brain. The doctor told me that you may not survive the surgery and if you did you may not survive the first week of recovery. As we waited for the OR there was a moment that it was just you and me. I held your hand and told you what was going to happen. I knew how scared I was and could only imagine that you were too. I told you that if you decided to stay with us and made it out of surgery I promised that I would be with you through what ever it took to recover. If you decided not to stay, I told you to let go. We would be okay. It was all up to you and I would be good with whatever you chose. You chose to fight!

Our friends and family are praying for you. They are like an army with complete faith that you will recover. Their conviction and energy is what gives us the strength to not worry about the calendar. One of the lessons Mitch learned from his Rabbi was that Faith happens as you search for the answers to life’s questions. It happens as you meet the people that fill the holes within your life. It happens when friends, family and people in the community do for others and share their compassion and empathy to help each other heal. The Rabbi asked Mitch, “What’s your glory”? When asked if he was helping people Mitch said he was trying. The Rabbi stated, “That’s your glory…Keep trying”.

We had so much to celebrate this thanksgiving and we can look forward to creating all new traditions as we prepare for Christmas and the New Year. We don’t have a calendar to guide us but we have what is most important; our glory which is to “Have a little Faith” and “Keep Trying”!
Happy dreams, I love you, xoxo