Day 186 – Grayson’s Journey

Dear family and friends,

Today was a mixed day for Grayson that illustrated more of the practical challenges we face.

Grayson was able to complete his orientation questions and was able to give his address, name the date and time, and with cues most of his phone number.

He prepared his dinner with the help of his favorite RA. During the preparations he tried to walk away several times and the RA was able to patiently redirect his attention back to the task at hand. In the middle of dinner Grayson decided that he wanted to finish last night's brownies. Encouragement, redirection and moving the brownie tray were unsuccessful and his frustration kept accelerating. Self control is a challenge for Grayson at this point in his recovery and his RA, another RA and his roommate were all targets for his frustration.

Thank God for the training the staff receives and for their patience.

Later in the evening they attended a Downtown Street Fair with a theme of "Health & Safety". Unfortunately, Grayson tried several times to go into local establishments looking for something more bracing than lemonade. At one point he helped himself to a stranger's bag of popcorn.

Obviously the challenges of self control are difficult for Grayson and uncomfortable for his caregivers. I recognize, however, that we didn't learn self control ourselves in just a few months but over the course of years – and we had the advantage of a healthy brain and patient parents.

The road is a bumpy one with unpredictable turns and an even more uncertain destination. I am still grateful to be on the road at all.

Grace and peace,

Regina