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NORMA’S UPDATE
received Friday, April 18, 2008
Thursday – April 17, 2008
It is mid afternoon and Norma and I have just arrived back home. Mommer is out and about. I’m the first one through the door and the emptiness cuts through me like a knife. I gaze down again looking for our little Scooter…and he is gone. It’s been exactly one week since he left us to frolic at the rainbow bridge. The “place” we prepared for him in our home these past seventeen years has been carefully and respectfully packed away…his bed…his dishes…the cookies he enjoyed so much…all gone. His tiny absence…yet so large to us…a hole that for now cannot be filled…and we must all go on! One foot in front of the other, breathe in and breathe out…and be thankful for all we have and all we have been given.
We have been given some good news today. Dr “C” at Marianjoy has given Norma and I the “go ahead” to fly to Las Vegas on April 22nd to “attend” NSSEA’s Ed Toy and Gift Showcase. We will be returning home on Friday, April 25th! With all that Norma has been through these past two and one-half months, Dr. “C” and all of Norma’s therapists felt it would be beneficial for us to take a short trip. A time to see dear friends and gather some healing hugs. We are extremely excited to be able to attend!
Dr “C” at Marianjoy also made it very clear to Norma and I that this is not to be a “work show” for Norma. It is to be “occupational therapy” only! So she is not to be conducting any business…only observing, visiting, and relaxing. Our sidekicks, Joann Stockenberg and Lynnie Fuller, will be with us doing the important and hard work and also making contact with all of you on the “supply” side. Lynnie will also be participating in one of the panel sessions dealing with training your staff. She is great at it! Hope you can make it.
I’ll be the guy at the pool with the sign that reads, “Please don’t harpoon me!”
On the lighter side, about a week ago, Norma and I were discussing the possibility that we might be able to travel to Vegas. Norma is able to play on her computer at home for short durations and she had printed off two sets of potential itineraries for our potential travel plans; one for her and one for me. She reverently and neatly placed them on our kitchen island in two separate piles for safekeeping and further review.
The next morning when I came downstairs to turn on the coffee “pot”, I was greeted with a gross beginning to our new day. One of our cats (perhaps more) had performed a “drive by” – puking…you guessed it…the only two “piles” were on our two piles of itineraries! Nothing else was hit. This was perhaps a well-planned military coup, the likes of which I had never seen before! (You see…our cats won’t be getting any kitty scholarships any day soon…they really aren’t all that bright). The puker (or pukers) were “dead on” accurate.
When Norma meandered on down to join in on the day’s bright beginning, I explained to her what had recently “opurrrred”. Then I found myself becoming partially paranoid and I began to rationalize that this may be a “sign”…an “omen”…that maybe we shouldn’t be going to Vegas. After all, nothing else was obliterated except the travel plans. Surely we should consider staying at home!! Norma just looked at me with her confident, bright, angelic eyes…and a bit of a smirk appeared on her face…and she boldly stated, “Well…the cats puke all over the house. Does that mean we should sell it!?”
Oftentimes I find myself speechless and amazed at her positive outlook and her quick wit in spite of her recent affliction. She has come to understand that she experienced a serious brain injury. Norma realizes that her hair is not quite the way she likes it…that it is very short in the front and longer towards the back, but she is unafraid to venture out in public…looking a little different than most of us for now. She is not hiding; rather she is living bravely and putting one foot in front of the other…breathing in and breathing out…going forward…going on with style, vitality and vigor. I believe this has made her (us) stronger.
Today after seeing Dr. “C” at Marianjoy, we ventured out to lunch at a very new and very good restaurant called “The White Chocolate Grill” in Naperville, just off I-88 and the new Naperville Road exit. Norma had noticed some of “those” stares, some of “those” quick glances, from other patrons at the restaurant who were focused on her hair. (C’mon. We have all done this before, either on the “giving” or “receiving” end). But instead of retreating within, she embraced it…and she made me laugh. Norma said, “Do you think all these people think that I had to shave my head because I had fleas?”
Only we can give ourselves permission on how we react to events day-to-day. Believe me, I openly admit that I have a very long way to go in this area…one of my many, many weaknesses. Norma, on the other hand, has always been able to react well under pressure. That is why, with God’s help and your ongoing prayers, we believe she will be able to recover from this “temporary inconvenience.”
I do know this…someday…when I grow up, I want to be just like Norma. I love her so much and I am so proud of her! She brightens my days and my nights. She is who I am; my purpose, partner and my passion. She defines me and gives me a reason to go on…to put one foot in front of the other…to breathe in and breathe out. I thank God for gracing me with her and that I no longer take her for granted.
Do any of us really ever know what we have…until it’s gone? My wish for all of you is that you feel as I do about someone or something in your life. We pray you find purpose, passion and love in your life on God’s time; as we don’t control His clock either.
My final prayer someday will be when I arrive at the “beginning” of my rainbow bridge…that I will be worthy enough in God’s eyes to cross over to the “other side” to once again reunite with loved ones previously departed or to greet you when it’s your time to “cross the bridge”. I pray that we are all worthy.
Have a safe journey…’til next time… or at the bridge.
Love,
Norma & Ken