Sunday May 21, 2006

Sunday May 21, 2006 Zack joined me for a meeting on Thursday May 12th with Carol Britton (his tutor) and the Christian Academy (CAL) administration to discuss plans for next school year. Carol explained that Zack had really come far with her in the last three months. Mrs. Rafla (H.S. Principal) complemented him on his attitude. She said everyone recognized how hard he was working and that was a good sign of how successful he would be next year. They asked Zack what he felt was his biggest concern and he told them reading was still very hard. He has to really concentrate in order to comprehend what he is reading and he recognizes that it is more difficult than before. We talked about school in general and then Mrs. Rafla told us that Christian Academy was asked by the School Board to report on what area they had excelled in this past school year. The CAL administration had discussed it and decided that their area of biggest success was Zack. They were proud of how the students had responded to Zack’s accident, organizing a fundraiser to raise money for our family and embracing him when he finally returned to school. There are many cases were students return to school after a traumatic brain injury and feel ostracized by their peers. Not Zack…they welcomed him like family. The staff also came together and developed an educational program to fit his needs and put together a team, with Carol as his tutor, to insure his success. Mr. Greener (supervisor of academics) will present Zack’s story, the accident, his recovery and return to school to the School Board as their greatest successful this past year. We are proud of how hard Zack has worked but also honored that we gave CAL an opportunity to show what it means to meet the needs of every student. They are an example of how Christian education takes prayer out of the classroom and lives it… makes it tangible to the world. As I left I ran into several teachers and parents who told me how amazed they were that Zack was doing so well. One teacher told me that she knew we were trying to get Zack more involved with the current sophomore class, since he would be with them next year, and she had notice a difference the past few weeks. Zack was pulling away from the juniors he usually hung out with in the halls before school. She said she was used to seeing him hanging with Trey and William, listening to his DVD player. But lately he has been sitting by himself in the morning, reading his Bible. She said that had to be a huge testimony to students who knew him before the accident and now see him studying God’s word. Another blessing.
On Saturday before Mother’s Day, I asked Zack to help me paint the den at my Mom’s house. She is 88 years old and needing another hip replacement (her 5th) and I thought that painting for her would be a better present than more flowers or candy. My sister had gone over during the week and stripped the wallpaper from the room and told us that she had washed the adhesive off two walls. Zack and I started by washing the other two walls and then began to paint. We were 1/3 through with the first wall when I noticed all the paint was balling up and realized my sister didn’t do as good a job at removing the adhesive as we thought. Now Zack and I had to wash the paint off the wall and continuing scrubbing the rest. It was a much bigger task than I had planned and at times I would get very frustrated and throw a little fit. Zack would hug me and say, “It’s going to be alright Mom. We can do this.” At about 6:00 PM he said we weren’t going to be done any time soon so he probably wasn’t going to be able to go to the movies as he had planned. It took us 7 hours to paint one small room. He never complained, he made me laugh repeatedly at times when I would have normally cried (or screamed). My Mom made us pie and we played cards with her until midnight. I told Zack that was the best thing he could have given me for Mother’s Day. On Sunday I went back to Mom’s to celebrate with the rest of the family. Scott had cooked dinner and had it ready when I got home. He told me to sit down and relax that the kids would clean up the dishes. It wasn’t long before I heard Dylan complaining that Logan wasn’t helping and then he and Kyle were fighting. One by one they disappeared…all except for Zack. He washed the dishes and cleaned the kitchen by himself. Then he came in the living room to give me a back rub and said Happy Mothers Day. All of my kids gave me cards but Zack wrote a letter. He thanked me for being there for him in the hospital and taking care of him. He said he heard that I fought with the doctors so that they would do the right thing and he loves me for helping him get better. This is what I was thinking about when we listened to speeches at the Brain Injury Association of Ky. (BIAK) Awards Banquet a few days later. Zack and I were there along with other survivors, their friends and family. A flow of tears ran down my face as several victims of brain injury spoke. Their deficits were obvious and Zack injuries seemed trivial by comparison. Zack looked at me puzzled as I cried while strangers spoke, but I was struck by how blessed we are. After the ceremony I spoke to Mary Haas, a volunteer with BIAK, and she told me about people that called her after Zack’s accident asking her to help us. Even a Senator who heard our story called and asked the organization what they could do. She said we will never know how many people were praying for us or how many lives our story touched. I left there feeling extremely grateful and strangely unworthy. I kept asking myself why God would chose to heal Zack. Then I remembered the hundreds of people that prayed for him every day, asking God to heal him. God was listening. He bends over to hear our prayers. Scripture tells us that He “inclines His ear to us” and He answers our prayers.
“In His love…He redeemed them, and He lifted them and carried them.” Isaiah 63:9
When we get in the car Zack tells me that some of those people are “still really messed up” and their accident was long before his. I tell him that was why I was crying, feeling so blessed and wondering what God has in store for him. He was quiet and then said “I’m thinking about that too”. We still have many hurdles to overcome but they seem so insignificant in the big picture. He struggles to read…so do millions of other people with no brain injury. His memory is weak…mine is not as good as it use to be either. Scott took Zack to the field where Christian Academy played Trinity his last baseball season. Zack remembered what uniforms they wore, who rode in the car with us and where we went to eat after the game. He doesn’t remember pitching but he remembered being very excited after the game that they won. He remembered the “feelings” and that’s the best part any way. His memory might not be so great but his feelings are sharper than ever and he expresses them often. What the accident took away God replaced with something better…sincerity, gratitude, contentment, kindness, compassion, faithfulness and hope. He changed our path, set it straight. We are so blessed. Zack has come so far and is continuing to improve. We are thankful for the many prayers on his behalf. We ask that you continue to pray for his complete recovery because we believe God is listening. His answer will be to His glory.
Psalm 142:3 “When my spirit was overwhelmed within me, You knew my path”.
Jeremiah 31:9 “I will make them walk by streams of water,on a straight path in which they will not stumble”.

Sidenote: Zack and several other students will be with Carol Britton on the 6:00
News Friday May 26th on Wave 3

Wednesday May 10, 2006

Wednesday May 10, 2006 We have been really busy through Derby Week. Scott’s parents live on the river at Waldoah Beach. Every year they have a “Boat Race Party” and this year was going to be special. Scott’s brother Jay came in from Florida and he hadn’t seen Zack in many months. They had hired a great band and we were anxious to have Zack with us and see how much he remembered. Dylan and the girls were excited because the weather turned out to be perfect. Our neighbors the Getz’s arrived and Zack went off with Michael in search of “females”. Once Brooke Willoughby and her parents arrived and the band got going Zack was dancing. Before the accident he would have never danced to Country music and certainly not with his Mom and his sisters. We had a great time and Zack entertained us all. On Saturday we went to a Derby party with our friends the Jaha’s. They took their daughter Michelle (18) and we took Zack. There were a lot of people there, a band and great food but not the type of party Zack generally would have enjoyed. Before the accident, if we could have managed to drag him there, he wouldn’t have talked to any of “those strange adults”, would have spent the entire time on his cell phone and asking when he could leave. Instead, he enjoyed listening to Tom, an elderly gentleman from Boston, tell stories and flirt with the ladies. Ironically we ran into Dr Miller, who took care of Zack when he lived at Frazier Rehab. He hadn’t seen Zack since January (when he was there for his Nuero Pysch Eval) and they enjoyed catching up. He got into the excitement with the rest of the crowd when the Derby race was run and didn’t start asking when we were leaving until the weather turned chilly (we were outside). Sunday afternoon, Zack was invited to a surprise 16th birthday party for his friend Allie at Lucky Strike on 4th Street Live. We arrived downtown a little early and Zack asked if we could stop in and see who was working at Frazier Rehab. We got a little lost since they have completely remodeled the Nuero Rehab Unit but finally made it to the pediatric wing on the 8th floor. Shirley was at the central nurses’ station and recognized Zack immediately. When Zack had “right side neglect” and his chin lay on his chest, Shirley was the only one he would listen to when she said “hold your head up”. We also saw Mary Beth (O.T.) who was always one of Zack’s favorite therapist. As we were leaving Zack commented that he liked coming there and seeing “all those people that helped me out”. If we had more time he would have liked to talk to some of the patients but
he was anxious to get to his party and bowl.
I let Zack drive home from downtown which was his longest trip on the freeway as a new driver. He still has a “field cut” on the right side of his line of vision. He pointed out that he “couldn’t see that car unless he moved his head about an inch”. It is a scary to think of him driving but then I realized that vision therapy has taught him how to compensate for his field cut. Remember, this isn’t a blank spot or a black hole. He has 20/20 eyesight but his brain just doesn’t perceive the visual information in that area. Instead his brain fills in what logically should be there or remembers what was there at last glance. It requires him to scan his surroundings more frequently and pay closer attention when driving. He is a very good driver (and gets lots of practice, like every time he is in the car with me). After vision therapy today we went to the mall to pick out his tux for the Junior prom. He asked my opinion but had definite ideas of what he wanted. I let him drive on the way home and before I knew it we were in rush hour traffic on 64 in the pouring down rain. I was quite nervous and explained that he had to leave more space than usual between us and the car in front of him, drive slower and keep both hands on the wheel. Any parent of a teenager knows what a nail biting experience we faced but Zack handled my anxious instructions very politely. He even laughed when we drove out of the rain and I released my foot off of an imaginary brake. As he merged from 64 onto Gene Snyder (a tricky spot for anyone) he told me “I had to drive my best for you Mom ‘cause you just got my tux”. We are so very blessed. I enjoy every moment I spend with him, not just because he is alive…thank the Lord…but because he is so pleasant to be around. We have deep conversations about many different topics (today it was abortion and the Holocaust) and he genuinely wants to know what I think and why I feel that way. He is not a selfish teenager only interested in his own opinions. He listens and then tells me what he thinks. He thanks me for explaining things to him and I marvel at his enlightenments. Sunday after church as we were walking to the car he said he had been thinking about something that he wanted to tell me. He said, “I think I know why God made it different times across the world. Because not everyone would be sleeping at the same time and there would always be someone praying. God likes that”. I never thought of it that way. As adults we accept the fact that the earth is revolving around the sun and therefore it is daylight at different times across the world. But did you ever think about why God designed it that way. Being God he could have designed it so that the entire populated world would rest (in darkness) at the same time but we don’t. I like Zack’s theory that God always wants someone awake praying…worshipping Him. I am so thankful that Zack is here to teach me.
I spoke at Trinity High School today for a class of Juniors and Seniors. There were several guys there that knew Zack from baseball or church. They had been studying drug and alcohol abuse and I was asked to speak about the consequences of your choices. They were very attentive and I noticed many of them viewed that little piece of blue jean or sweatshirt that I handed them when they walked in
a little differently when we were through. Dr Striegel hopes to have both Zack and I speak at the general assembly when school resumes in the Fall. I left them with this website address and hope a few will read it and post a message. After dinner tonight Zack and I were reading the posters mailed to him from the 8th graders at Barret Middle School. Each student had written something to Zack on one of three posters that were headed “We have Faith in You”. Some of the messages seemed so personal like they knew him. Zack was pleased and as we read them would say “Do they know me?” “Are my people on there?” I received a package of handwritten letters, thanking me for coming to speak to them, telling me what they learned, many of them promising to pray for our family. I cried as a read them knowing that God designed all of this. That His hand has been masterfully orchestrating this time of our lives. How he can turn the most tragic experience into a wonderful teaching testimony of His power. How he can take the darkest moment, make you dwell there just long enough so that when he brings you into the dawn His light shines so brilliant you can’t ignore it. It is only through these moments that we can come to understand His mercy, His grace, His wisdom and His unfailing love. I ask for your prayers for all those hurting who don’t know the shelter of God’s love. I ask for your prayers for those people who think they have it all and yet don’t know the love of God. Since our journey has just begun I still ask for your prayers for Zack’s complete recovery for the Glory of God!
Isaiah 41:10 “Fear not for I am with you; Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, Yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right
hand".