Teamwork

Hello faithful family, friends, and followers. We have had a busy week, but despite the busyness Joy has stayed faithful to her reading through the Bible plan each day and I am so proud of her dedication and determination. Watching her work so hard to recognize, pronounce, and tie together words into sentences is beautiful and humbling at the same time.

Our week has picked up steam as we have made the decision to explore what we want, and what is best, for where we live and in what setting in the coming years. For the past 11 years we have lived in a 3 story townhome which we have thoroughly enjoyed. However, when the accident happened, it seemed the least desirable situation we could have. When it looked like Joy may be paralyzed permanently on her right side, the reality of 17 steps to our upper level seemed an impossibility. I had Alyx bring our realtor friend by the house to get her thoughts on my trying to sell from Florida if necessary.

Well as those of you who have followed our story know, Joy regained feeling on the right side and then went on, against all odds, faithfully working to gain strength in her legs and body. When we were Abbott Courage Kenny Rehabilitation they had Joy climbing in the stairwell to duplicate the stairs she’d face at home since nothing in the PT department came close. When we arrived home on that first day of rejoicing she easily mastered upstairs and down, words cannot express the euphoric joy we felt. We resettled into our home and enjoyed long walks on the paths around our neighborhood lakes and ponds.

The holidays then filled much of our thoughts, but since then, we have steadily prayed, explored, and pondered, what is the best setting for us going forward, given Joy’s unique challenges and our stage of life. Wherever this journey takes us, one thing was/is very clear. That while we had significantly downsized when we moved into our townhome, we now need to get serious about another round of decluttering and downsizing. While there are certainly things I’d rather spend my time doing, the process has actually been a very real gift and blessing, let me explain.

For most of our 47.5 years together we’ve tended to accomplish many of our required tasks through a “divide and conquer” style. I had my areas of interest/expertise and Joy had hers and so we developed a natural pattern of playing to our strengths, so to speak. We certainly had plenty of time together but when it came to “tasks” there wasn’t much shared. Since the accident, it has all been about teamwork.

At first, Joy was more of the student and I the coach, however, as Joy has regained cognition and insight, she has become amazing in the way she approaches tasks and opportunities and we have truly come to value conjointly taking on the tasks we face. While Joy certainly continues to have language challenges, included the written and spoken word, she demonstrates wonderful memory and reasoning ability.

One of the things often lost in brain injury is reasoning, the “if-then,” ability to process a given situation. Well Joy frequently out-does me in reasoning and memory processing these days. Just yesterday, as we were planning on making some donation runs, I suggested what I thought we should do when she immediately shot back with, “But we’re going to be close to there when we go to our meeting on Monday, so let’s just drop it then, and she was absolutely correct about that being a better option. The gift of seeing her problem solve and correlate events, not only present, but future, brings tears to my eyes, when not that long ago, we envisioned a potentially very different life. I know I use the term a lot, but I am so blessed by Joy’s indomitable spirit which inspires me and has me constantly exclaiming, “Thank you, God!”

More and more by God’s grace and mercy we really, really experience the reality of Ecclesiastes 4:9-12, “Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed. If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But someone who falls alone is in real trouble. Likewise, two people lying close together can keep each other warm. But how can one be warm alone? A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer.” And conquer, whether physical challenge, cognitive challenge, or emotional challenge, by God's faithful grace and mercy, we do.

We earnestly want you to know how much we appreciate your interest, prayers, and support. We know our life has “settled” into a rather normal routine, so your continued willingness to follow our story brings us great hope and encouragement. We covet your prayers for Joy’s eyesight to the right and continued growth in language cognition. And, as we have shared, know that we pray for you and wish you safety, health, and blessing in the week ahead.