One Day More

I haven't blogged much this week. I have been distracted by parent conferences and lots of exhaustion. I don't know if I am just saving it all up for a avalanche or if this kind of tired is just a permanent fixture on my life.

I am sure part of the "dragg-in' butt" is seeing the end of this one chapter. The fact that home is so close to being a place I actually get to be, is something euphoric and soothing to my soul.

Our days here are very regimented so the "what are you doing" of being here has been answered many times; Physical Therapy, Occupational Therapy, Speech Therapy, Music Therapy and Integrated Medicine are the appointments we keep through out the day.

We are working on reasoning skills, strategy, problem solving, safety issues and just basic cognition. Just to name a few. All of those skills will need continued growth and development once we get home. The journey is definitely not over but just beginning. I am just glad to be starting with a known location................HOME!


Today Maddi worked with the Music Therapist, Carrissa on her feelings song. Carrissa asked Maddi to write down how she felt about this experience and her feelings in general. I have to say it is the most beautiful song I have ever heard. Maddi and I sat down together, she told me what to write and I wrote exactly what she said. It was too difficult of a task to ask Maddi to physically write as much as she was feeling. Then Carrissa and Maddi wrote the rest. I cannot begin to explain the simple beauty of that song. They will be singing her song at her Graduation from Rehab party on Friday! I will record it and post it here is I can figure out how to do it.

I am not one to cry to much but I got pretty choked. It was beautiful. Music can get me to cry faster than anything else on the planet anyway but having my Maddi singing is enough to get me to puddle. Maddi and I have been working on her voice by singing her favorite songs. How grateful I am to hear her voice singing or not!

The nurses know when we are heading towards the shower because "Defying Gravity" is our walking song. It has to be "Kurt" from Glee singing it though. After multiple playings of "Defying Gravity" we have to go to Beautiful as sung by the character "Mercedes" also from glee. We find "Rehab" an appropriate song, "Hello, I love you" is another favorite. We love "Bad Romance" but there are some lyrics that prevent repeated listening.

Thanks to Maddi's cousin, Casey, who provided all the Glee songs. The have become integrated parts of her day and her voice therapy. We haven't watched this show, as of late, because they were venturing into some fairly controversial topics that I don't think are appropriate for Maddi's age group. I don't want to encourage a show that would be questionable.Parents check it out before letting your kids watch. I don't want to be responsible. That being said the music is AWESOME!

Maddi's voice is so much stronger! By the end of the day the whisper is back but not nearly like is was before. Not only is her voice stronger but her ability to focus and attend to a task has increased a lot. From the outside most people wouldn't see the difference but if you were working on a task with her, it would be obvious! She is improving every day!

We are getting ready for the trek home. I have decided I can live in a very small place and I need very little. We have been blessed by so many people and are so grateful! Thank you!

The worries of life are filtering to the top as we look to the future. We will get through it and the Lord will provide for us as he has so far. They say that all struggle includes opening and closing of the doors. I hope that as the doors open I will see them as opening instead of shutting. I have decided that it all depends on perspective.

I have always felt like happiness has more to do with perspective and faith than anything tangible. I know that even when it is hard I can do only all I can and let God do the rest! My part as piddly as it is, has to be enough. That doesn't mean that I will have all the material things in this world but I will have enough. Even when it isn't enough we will make it through. I could include all the worries here but what will that accomplish. Money is just the scraps of stuff that has no eternal value.

I had a dear friend speak in church one Sunday long ago. Their last name could have been Job from the Bible. I had asked them many times prior to this talk how they were able to move forward and we had talked about a lot of things like; faith, prayer, hope, fasting, obedience.................... you fill in the blanks. As he was speaking that Sunday, his talk was titled, Consider the Lilies.

I have often seen this title since then in conference but never before had I heard it explained the way he did that day. I had always loved that part of the scriptures just for the imagery that it evoked in my brain. The thing that has impacted me and stayed with me for more than 13 years is that the seeds, flowers and birds were all DESIGNED to succeed.

The seeds and the flower were innately given all of the building blocks for beauty, inspiration and contribution. They didn't have to "work" to become what they were meant to be. They just had to weather every storm and reach for the sun when the clouds left.

This situation with Maddi is a; hurricane, tsunami, tornado, avalanche and tropical storm all rolled up into one, but if we can just hold out till the sun comes, We will make it too. That doesn't mean that it is easy. All of this recovery takes serious work but we are endowed with the ability to weather this storm.

Anyway, one more sleep as my little ones used to say!
Homeward Bound!