Cherishing Every Moment

Sarah & Zac

I can't tell you what a blessing it is to have Zac and Sarah here with us full-time!  They have jumped into the roles of "care takers" with gusto, always ready to lend a hand and help Tom.  Not only are they helping with Tom but they are helping me in the details of life:  Sarah doing laundry, dishes and cleaning duties...Zac stepping up to the plate with the "man chores":  walking the dog, feeding the dog, taking out the trash, hauling wood and all the things Tom used to do around the house.  I've had a couple of times where I've clamped Tom's IV too tight and couldn't get it undone when Zac came to our rescue!  I'm learning that it doesn't need to be clamped down so tightly.  Zac and Sarah accompanied Tom to his therapy on Tuesday and it's so nice to have a man to lift the wheelchair in and out of the car.

Matt

It was so fun to have all three children home over Christmas.  Sarah, Zac, Matt and I enjoyed putting together a gingerbread house Christmas evening...Tom wasn't interested in helping.  Each of us took pleasure in our abilities to add our own special touch to our 1st annual Christmas Gingerbread House tradition!  Matt had to be back at MVNU on Monday evening for practice.  They had a basketball game last night against Akron Wayne and pulled out a victory.  The team needed that after several tough losses.  Tom and I pray that we can get up to Mt. Vernon for Friday's game vs. OSU Lima.

Gingerbread Masters

Finished Product

White Chicken Chili, Salad, Rolls & Cake!

A delicious dinner from Jim & Barb Kraynak...THANK YOU

A beautiful Christmas gift from

Steve & Jill Coon

THANK YOU

A HUGE THANK YOU to David Stoll...

and all the WCHS Staff for this generous & oh so thoughtful gift!

Yesterday we had the privilege of having David Stoll, WCHS Media Director, along with three of the "office gals", Liz Bookheimer, Cindy Dunn and Cathy Smith here for a sweet visit.  Not only did we enjoy a short visit but they had Tom open such a meaningful gift...a digital picture frame.  Each of the high school staff recorded a message to Tom and David then added the photos of each of the staff onto the frame!!  What an overwhelming gesture by all...I was moved to tears and I know that Tom will greatly appreciate all the kind words.  I cannot express to the high school staff enough how much Tom misses each of you, the students and his job.  I never realized how much a man's profession meant to him until circumstances such as ours.  Our hearts are full because of WCHS staff and students.

Dale Dunn..."Roll Tide, Roll"

Last night we had the privilege of visiting with some friends from the "Original" Genesis Sunday School Class.  One of whom is a huge sports fan along with Tom, Dale Dunn.  Dale did not come empty handed...he prepared a special box with a special gift for Tom:  two rolls of toilet tissue snuggled up with a bottle of Tide...you guessed it, Dale is a "big"(literally) Alabama Crimson Tide fan!  What a laugh we got and Dale wanted to make sure that Tom cheered for the "right" team in the BCS Championship Football game, LSU vs Alabama come January 9th, 2012 in Louisiana!

Rick, Tammy, Dale, Cindy, Murph, Brad

Lisa & Tom

Along with Dale was his wife, Cindy, Rick & Tammy Nuzum and Brad & Murph Fulton for the evening visit.  What fun we had to fellowship together and enjoy memories from Genesis years ago.

Tom & Julie Mitchell, home health RN

Tom and I are both so grateful and blessed to have Julie Mitchell "sign up and agree to" being Tom's "official" home health care nurse extraordinaire!  Not only does she bring with her 35 years of nursing experience BUT her fun, lively and bubbly personality that always brings us laughter!  God has provided for us once again.  Today was Tom's first PICC line dressing change and wow what a process it is.  The dog and I holed up in the bedroom while Julie and Tom masked up for the job to keep a sterile environment, as much as possible.  Julie informed me today that the extension tubing will also need to be changed daily with the IV bag...my poor, minute brain is struggling with all the things it has to learn...I truly feel like an "old dog".  I am so thankful to have her close by to help with the changes this brings.

Tom was back to therapy again today and each of the therapists said again what a perfect patient/student he is...did we think otherwise?  The hardest of the three therapies and the one Tom likes the least is speech.  The therapist reemphasised again today that we need to engage Tom in conversation by asking him "simple questions" and giving him time to reply with out trying to guess his answer, answer for him (I'm getting good at this) or moving on with the conversation.  So please any of you who are able to visit with Tom, be prepared to be patient and please if there is more than one visitor at a time, only one person/conversation in the room.  Tom will disengage when too many people talk at a time because he can't track the conversation.  We don't realize how much we do this until you make a conscience effort to avoid it!