Day 238 – Grayson’s Journey

Dear family and friends,

Last weekend Grayson was low energy, a little spacey, and as Brant put it "a little off his game". Today, however, Grayson greeted us with bright eyes, an eager smile, and more energy.

He stood right up and helped us get his travelling bag together to go on our outing. We gave him a choice of several types of food for lunch and he chose Chinese. Later in the afternoon we gave him a choice of several types of "treat" and he chose Baskin Robbins. A while back we pointed out in this blog that when given a choice of A or B Grayson nearly always chooses B. Likely it is because it is the last thing he heard in the question and the answer is merely an echo of the end of the question. We've tested it many times by switching the options and the choice is still most often B. Today he focused on a choice and stuck with it (both lunch and treat) – even though we switched the choices around repeatedly. This feels like progress to me.

We spent quite a while at Lowe's this afternoon looking for Velcro strips, a photo sensor light fixture, a small storage box, and glides for patio chairs. Grayson was quite patient while we wandered through the store stopping to explore things in various departments. He stopped us more than once to explore some display and pick up a package of this or that and return it to the shelf. While we were in the patio furniture area, he sat in several different style chairs. He laughed as he and I tried to figure out how to make an odd-looking lounge chair with a built-in sun visor work and the visor hit me in the face. We even stopped to look at carpet samples for his bedroom and he chose a pattern that he preferred. I was impressed that he never lost interest or got fidgety.

Later in the afternoon we returned to his residence and he was able to accurately recall and tell his RA what kind of food he had for lunch and where we had gone for our treat. This is also an improvement.

It was 101 degrees in Bakersfield today and the 90 degree pool water felt divine. Grayson enjoyed splashing his dad, tossing a beach ball back and forth, and generally just hanging out close to us in the water.

During a retreat to the shade, I asked Grayson if he was happy at his residence. He answered affirmatively and I asked if he would like to come home soon. He smiled and said quite emphatically, "Yes!" We spent a fair amount of time talking about home, his room, where we worship and the people who miss him. When I told him that tonight was to be the first of our summer outdoor concert series at church he remembered putting up the spotlights last summer.

Grayson seemed much more engaged with us today. His answers were quicker, some several words long. At lunch, he didn't hesitate to read each of our fortune cookies to us. We are all more fortunate than he could ever know just to be sharing this wonderful day together.

Grace and peace to each of you.

Regina