Wednesday January 11, 2005

Wednesday January 11, 2006 Zack is back in the swing of getting up at 7:00 in order to be at Frazier East for therapy. He is staying up later now since it is taking him longer to fall asleep when he goes to bed at 9:00. We talked about eliminating the afternoon nap but he is usually so tired when he get home from therapy that he really needs a short one. Dr Perri suggested we keep a sleeping log to determine how many hours a day he is sleeping. Since I anticipate starting Rhythmic Writing next week, and it needs to be done every day, it would be great if Zack didn’t need that nap but we will go with the flow.
Saturday Zack went with me to Kyle’s basketball game and really enjoyed it. At one point when she was sitting on the bench he went over to give her some pointers. She was smiling as he explained that she had to get the rebound because those boys on her team were not going to pass it to her (she is the only girl playing in her age group). In the afternoon we went to Dylan’s basketball game but he spent much of the time in the other gym shooting baskets with a guy on his baseball team from a few years ago. Physically
Zack is in great condition. He has started running in the evening and often does sit ups with the intent on getting his 6 pack back. Saturday night we went to Christian Academy Homecoming Game and Zack got to see all his friends including many who had graduated last year. Several people had not seen Zack since the hospital and were amazed at how great he looked. They were even more blown away when they talked with him. Several girls came up to hug me with tears in their eyes saying how blessed they were just to see him.
Sunday was such a nice day that Scott took Zack and Dylan to play golf after church. He said Zack played pretty decent, he still has a great drive but his form needs a lot of work. After gold Zack talked him into bowling and while they were there Scott got a phone call reminding him that the Easter Pageant at Southeast Christian was having a mandatory meeting and he had promised Kyle she could participate this year. They raced to church to sign up and it looks like Zack will be in it also. On Monday night Scott took Zack back to Southeast to audition and there were many people who recognized him as the boy they had been praying for over the last 6 months. It will be interesting to see if Zack gets any kind of minor role or maybe even a speaking part. They have started to give him some homework at Frazier East. He has to copy portions of the driver’s manual into his laptop and they quiz him on what he has learned. I am surprised at how he will sit for an hour and type away at a pretty good pace. Dr Perri still reads with him entries from this website to test his memory. Yesterday he sent home an old entry for Zack to read on his own and on Friday he will question him to see how much he retained (reading comprehension). Zack has told me several times he needs to get a job because he needs money (especially now with the Winter Ball this Saturday night). I told him on the way home that I had a project he could help me with to earn some money. Kyle’s birthday is this Friday and she wanted her room redecorated. I told Zack he could help me paint which he agreed to do as long as I would pay him (typical teenager). When we got home Zack took a short nap while I got everything prepared. Together we got two coats of orange (that’s right she wants her room orange and hot pink) paint on one wall. It was not an easy project since we were covering a light color. Between coats Zack ate pizza and I started to paint an old trunk that Kyle wanted orange also. Zack came back upstairs and was admiring our work and without looking sat on the trunk. Fortunately it was nearly dry so he didn’t get any paint on his clothes. We discussed how he had to really pay attention or we would end up with a big mess and then laughed as I fell into a newly painted portion of the wall and got orange paint on my t-shirt. Each night Zack and I play cards and talk about all kinds of things. We were watching TV and playing Kings in the Corner when “Remember the Titans” came on. We had an interesting conversation about prejudice and Zack said, “You know why I like black people so much? Because of Rick. He’s a really good guy”. It just proves that one person with a great attitude and a heart for God can be a good example for an entire race (at least to Zack). It makes you think twice about how you treat another driver during rush hour traffic when you have that Christian bumper sticker on your car. I have seen simple examples in Zack of what Dr Kraft told me would be a “deeper appreciation of life”. He always tells me when something I fixed him to eat is really good and he will go on about a particular actor he thinks is a good guy or a song that he really enjoys. He has learned to express his appreciation for many things he took for granted before the accident. He also asks me if I’m OK when he sees me stressing out and will offer to “take care of Dylan” if he causes me any trouble. I am looking forward to Saturday to see him dressed up for the dance and hear him describe how good it was to be dancing (I hope Kara wears comfortable shoes). Many readers have requested I post new pictures and I am working towards getting several scanned and posted (hopefully some from the dance. Please pray that Rhythmic Writing will help to develop new pathways and that we can work it into our daily schedule. Continue praying for complete recovery for God’s glory.