Saturday December 10, 2005

Saturday December 10, 2005 Zack got to sleep in cause it was Saturday and he had the big dance tonight. Kyle had a basketball game at 10:00 am and while I was there I got a message on my cell phone from Zack. He called to say I needed to hurry and come home to help him with “the appropriations for my display tonight”. I giggled at the little professor in him and knew that he was telling me that he needed me to help him find his suit for the dance tonight (this is the sometimes amusing part of aphasia). I called Zack and told him to try on his suit and to also look in our closet to see if he wanted to wear any of his Dad’s suits. He asked me “what’s a suit again” and I told him not to worry about it, that I would help him when I got home (this is the reality of aphasia). We stopped by the florist to pick up Tiffany’s flowers on the way home and when I arrived Zack was wearing one of his Dad’s jackets. I helped him search for the pants but apparently they were at the drycleaners. I called Scott and asked about the clothes he took to the cleaners and he was silent for a moment before telling me they were still in the backseat of his truck. We go to Zack’s closet and he tries on the suit I bought him last year. It was ridiculously small with the sleeves coming about four inches from his wrist (and I bought it intentionally large but he has grown a lot). I was trying to convince him that his black dress pants went fine with his Dad’s black suit coat when Scott called and told me to just buy him a new suit (or he would when he got home from work…which meant a lot more money than I would spend). We dropped Dylan off at Eastern High School for his basketball game and then headed to the store to look for a suit. Fortunately there are a lot of sales going on at Christmas so I was able to buy a suit and shirt at a reasonable price and then I spotted a hat. It was a hat just like my Daddy use to wear and I knew it would look great on Zack. He tried it on and asked Andrew (who just happened to stop in the store) if he thought he should wear it to the dance. We all agreed that Zack looked good in it so I bought the hat too. We got to Eastern in plenty of time to watch Dylan’s game and Zack was telling Rita about the suit and hat I bought him. Rita told me that she didn’t really know Zack right before the accident because he was always busy with his friends and when he was around his grandparents he never had much to say. Now he initiated conversations with them, laughed at Grandpa’s silly jokes and genuinely enjoyed talking to them. Rita looked at me teary eyed and said she wasn’t sorry he had his accident because now he was perfect. By halftime Zack was getting tired and asked for my car keys so he could try to take a nap. After about ten minutes I sent his cousin Haley to go check on him and she came back saying he was asleep in the backseat but had the car running so the heat would be on. Zack’s friend Brook had come to the game at Dylan’s request and she volunteered to go out and turn the car off. She returned with a smiling (but still sleepy) Zack. The game was running long and Zack was worried about having enough time to get ready for the dance. Since I had to hem the pants on his new suit we made arrangements for someone to bring Dylan home after the game and headed for home. Zack jumped in the shower and I started to iron his new shirt. As I fitted his pants on him and tried to cut the extra material off I realized that those two cups of coffee at the game to warm me up had done nothing to steady my hand. Fortunately Scott got home from work and I told him he was going to have to hem Zack’s pants while I finished ironing the shirt and got myself ready. When I came downstairs I found Scott on the couch with the sewing kit and the scotch tape. He had sewed one leg and was now trying to tape the other hem. Trying not to be critical I told him that tape was never going to hold his hem in place once he started dancing and we would be better off using a stapler. Finally Zack in his new hat and suit with one leg stapled headed out the door to Tiffany’s house. We arrived twenty minutes late and quickly followed her to a friend’s house where we were taking pictures. We were the last to arrive and everyone introduced themselves to Zack (it was obvious that they all were aware of his “special circumstances”). We took pictures (Tiffany looked wonderful in her red dress) and I met several parents who graciously informed me that they had kept up with Zack on the website. The kids headed to the restaurant for dinner and I walked out with Tiffany’s Mom. As we made our way down the sidewalk she told me that Tiffany had been worried about the icy sidewalk in front of her house, saying that Zack could not slip and fall. It is just like Tiffany to be more concerned about Zack than herself, trying to walk on ice in high heals. As I made my way to a restaurant to meet Scott for dinner I had to wipe tears away thinking about Zack at the dance. He had been to several dances before his accident but this emotionally felt like sending him off for the first time. I desperately wanted to be there to watch him laughing and dancing. Scott and I enjoyed our meal together without any kids although we spent a lot of the night talking about them. When we were through I told Scott I had to go by the dance to try and see Zack but he said there was no way he was letting Zack catch him there. I arrived at Assumption at about 10:00 PM and talked my way in the front door (fortunately the nice women I talked to knew about Zack and was sympathetic to my request). I knew I would find him on the dance floor so I headed in that direction. I ran into Michelle Jaha (my close friend Donna’s daughter) and her friends as I entered the gym. I told them I had to see Zack dancing and they helped to hide me amongst the teenagers. I spotted him on the dance floor with his hat on having a ball. Michelle volunteered to get some pictures for me so Zack posed not knowing that she had his Mom’s camera. I was getting ready to leave when the DJ announced a dedication going out to Zack Hornback and then started to play Rascal Flats “I thank God this broken road led me straight to you”. Well that did me in and the tears flowed as I watched Zack slow dance with Tiffany. I don’t know who requested the song or what it meant to them (I suspect Tiffany) but to me the broken road was Zack’s accident and it led him back to God. I headed to my car and felt lucky to have been there to witness another event in his life (without getting caught). Scott called and asked me to stop by his Mom’s to pick the girls up because he knew Rita would want to know about the dance. Tiffany called to say they were heading back to our house so I didn’t stay long at Rita’s, hoping for an opportunity to talk to them before Tiffany left and Zack went to bed. Driving home we were stopped by a terrible accident on the Gene Snyder. Fire Engines, police and ambulances had the highway blocked and I commented to Kyle in the back seat that it was really bad. We got off on Westport Road, made our way around the accident and were listening to some sad country song when I heard Kyle sniffling. I assumed she was touched by the song but when she continued to sniffle after it was over I asked her if she had a cold. She said no so I asked her what was wrong and then she really started crying. She told me she hates to see accidents and that one was really bad, someone might have died and it could have been Zack. I tried my best to comfort her by saying how blessed we were that Zack was with us but she just needed to cry. Unfortunately when we finally got home, Tiffany was gone and Zack was in bed. I couldn’t help it so I went to his room to just give him a kiss and ask him if he had a good time. He was still awake but told me how tired he was. He said he had a great time dancing with Tiffany but now he just wanted to go to sleep. I did get a smile out of him when I told him that I was sure he was the best looking guy at the dance, especially in his hat. I’m hoping my Mom will be able to dig a picture up of my Dad with his hat on (he died in 1980) so I can show it to Zack. I had told him earlier in the week that he had gotten his dancing abilities from my Dad and now I want to show him how much they look alike in their hats. He had a great night which made a perfect day for me. I sat down with Scott and told him what I saw at the dance and he filled me in on when Tiffany brought him home. It was after midnight when Scott went to bed but I just couldn’t go to sleep yet. I wanted to dwell on the evening just a little longer, being thankful that Zack is alive, happy, laughing and dancing…and perfect in God’s eyes. We all fall short of the glory of God but I see God’s glory shining anew in Zack’s life. We live Psalm 4:7 “You have put gladness in my heart”. And I read “You have delivered my soul from death. Have you not kept my feet from falling, that I may walk before God in the light of the living?” Psalm 56:13 This is Zack; rescued from death and walking before God, as a testimony of His mercy and power, in the light of the living. We pray that he will have many opportunities to share his story with others. That his faith will grow strong as God gently restores him. The aphasia will slip away and be replaced with words of wisdom spoken from God’s compassion. How we love him, but not nearly as much as God has shown him His love. Please continue to pray for complete recovery so that one day Zack may speak of God’s Glory!