Tuesday October 26, 2005

Tuesday October 26, 2005 Zack was up at 7:00 and fixed his own breakfast, Pop Tarts.
He had vision therapy today, scanning pages to find a particular symbol that he had to circle. They are working on his reading which is the biggest obstacle keeping him out of school. Scott picked him up today so when I arrived home with Dylan and the girls there were already several of his friends hanging out. They were all talking about going to the Assumption vs South Oldham soccer game and Zack wanted to go. My last soccer game at South Oldham was an hour of torture sitting in the rain so I was trying to convince Zack that there were better things to do. When I told him that Christian Academy wasn’t even playing he replied, “It doesn’t matter. All my people will be there and I want to go”. I told him he was going to have to ask his Dad because I had already made other plans. Every 10 minutes he would ask if we could go to the game and I would have to explain all over again. His friends left and Zack told me it wasn’t fair that he couldn’t go. Finally I told him that I was sure other visitors were expecting him to be home and he decided that if people came to see him then it wasn’t so bad staying home but he still wanted to go to the game. Candy Slade, Kelsey and Conner stopped by to review fundraising material. Kelsey must have asked him how he was doing because he asked me, “How’d I mess myself up again?” A car accident. “Yeah, I had a car accident”. He took his hat off and they told him how good his head looked. Zack didn’t think so and replied, “No, it looks like crap. But I’m going to grow my hair and it will look better. I want my hair to grow so I don’t have to wear one of these all the time” (and points to his baseball cap). He is ever more conscious of his appearance. He has a small scar on his forehead that really bothers him and he wants me to get it fixed. We ate dinner and I headed to Kim Getz next door (my neighbor who did the laundry for several months). She was having a Mary Kay party and needed some warm bodies. I met two nurses that work at Care Tenders with Kim and they all knew Zack’s story. They got updated on his progress and told me how great he was doing. They knew several of Zack’s doctors, nurses and case worker so I told them about the journal. When Zack first arrived at Frazier Rehab I put a journal at the nurses’ station and asked everyone to write in it. Many of the nurses wrote several times over the 69 days he was with them. I had not been able to read it until last night. I was so touched and encouraged by what they wrote to him. They talked about how “sick” he was when he first arrived and how amazing his recovery was. They always spoke to him when they wrote and many told him how loved he was. There were even messages from nurses who never cared for him and weren’t even in the pediatric wing, but they knew him because he stood out. They always saw him walking with all his friends and they would come to his room to see the pictures and posters on his wall. They reminded him that he must be very special that so many people loved him. In the beginning, several nurses called him a “cutie” and by the end they were all saying they loved him and how much they were going to miss him. Even Dr. Mook (who use to tease me about the website) called him a remarkable young man and ended with “Remember, you can do all things through Christ”. It was an emotional reading and I was in tears through most of it. Our Frazier Family…we miss them too. Frazier East is hard work for Zack and he is anxious to go to school so he says he doesn’t like it there most of the time. But when we talk about Frazier Rehab, even though he doesn’t remember most of it or any ones name, he says he liked it there. I have come to realize that Zack may not remember specific events or what he did in therapy that day, but he has a “sense” about them. He knows if the day was good or bad and will say things like “I had a really good time last night” but he won’t remember exactly what he did. He won’t remember some ones name or a specific conversation but he remembers how they made him feel. I thought of how blessed we were that Zack has grown up learning scripture and attending church. He may find it difficult to learn knew things but in his long term memory lives the knowledge that God loves him. If he never learns to read that well again we are fortunate that he has memorized much of Gods Word. Our God is so merciful. Before everyone leaves Kim’s house Zack comes over to say hello. He looks like any other teenager. He is polite and says thank you when they all tell him how good he is doing. He takes off his hat and lets them examine his scar and exclaim how quickly his hair is growing. Then he turns to leave and asked me if he can go to bed (it is 9:00). I hang out next door looking at his photo album and talking about our miracle. We are truly blessed. The ripples of people touched by our tragedy seem never ending. I read the postings about how our website is traveling around the country and everyone seems to know who Zack is. His world exists pretty much with therapy, his family and immediate friends. He has no idea the people he has touched. And I am lucky to be touched by him and all those who follow his progress, send us encouragement, provide fabulous meals, offer to clean the house and continue to pray for recovery. And that is our hope…that our prayers reach even to the ears of God. That the throne of heaven has as His perfect plan Zack’s complete recovery. Keep praying.