Dear family and friends
Today Regina and I drove to Bakersfield to see Grayson. We had a wonderful day of just doing stuff together. We had lunch, shopped for some personal items, had a treat at Cold Stone, and went to Lowe's to decide on some things for Grayson's room at home.
It is important to us to include Grayson in the process as we decide the future "look" for his room. This is the room that he will return home to, and it will look little like the one he left. Because of that, we want to make sure that he is consulted as we pick things. Today we looked at and decided on window coverings and paint colors. He was excited and interested in the process, and there were several things that he said "No" to as we shared our thoughts. Mostly he liked the direction that we were pursuing and was happy to be included.
Grayson was alert and fun to be with all afternoon and evening. Even though he only used one or two word responses, he was quite communicative. We actually appeared to wear him out a bit today, for by the time we left Lowe's, he was ready to do anything else!
We headed back and spent some pool time at the residence. There Grayson and I spent about an hour together floating on rafts and chatting – or at least him answering my questions. It was a nice quiet time together and we covered a lot of ground – why he enjoys it so much at CNS, why he can no longer drink alcohol, what he is looking forward to when he comes home, what he thinks about his "new" room and the new USC Head Football Coach to name a few of the topics. He was thoughtful, responsive and engaged in his answers.
When we left tonight, he had made dinner and was just sitting down to eat. Normally he eats around 5:30 or so. Tonight it was 7:00, so he was sure to be in bed within the hour. We had a great day.
Pax!
Brant
It is remarkable that Grayson is close to returning home. I know many challenges are ahead, but a few months ago, his return home was not a certainty. Praise God!
ReplyDeleteI am really pleased to hear how well Grayson is doing. It is a wonderful blessing! My prayers are with you all.
ReplyDeleteLove,
Janet K.
Hi Brant and Regina:
ReplyDeleteWell, we are back home, again! Just had a great week of "family reunion" at Black Butte near Sisters...and it was truly fun. I'm just getting back to the Web again, and I've really enjoyed getting caught up with Grayson. What a great week he has had...and you two getting the room all ready. What an accomplishment! Inches grow into feet, and feet into yards, and yards into miles, and you are covering ground at a rapid pace right now...way to go. I was so please to get "home" after my calamity, and I'm sure Grayson will be so glad to return home again--and as the Lord has guided so expertly these past 259 days....we can see that He is capable and ready to lead on into a future that, like all futures is unknown, but we know that He holds it and that is good enough for me!
By the way, at Robin's request I showed her the basics of fly fishing this past week...and wouldn't you know it, on her FIRST RETRIEVE she caught an 18" rainbow at Black Butte Ranch. I remember when your mom and dad took us to Wallowa Lake some 50 years ago, and, yup, Robin got the first fish then too. What a blast!
In Him,
Doug