Day 1118 – Grayson’s Journey

Dear family and friends

Grayson is still in a down cycle, however I did see a glimmer of hope this evening. We were watching the movie The Santa Clause and we had to pause it for a few minutes. It was paused right at the point when Tim Allen picked up the pants of the former Santa Claus and was staring at the huge waistline – freeze frame. Grayson looked up at the picture just rolled with laughter. Then he went back to his magazine for a little, looked up and started rolling with laughter again. This happened over and over again. It was so fun to watch!

Perhaps he is in a down cycle, but he has not lost his sense of humor!

Pax!

Brant

Day 1117 – Grayson’s Journey

Dear family and friends

Grayson continues in his down cycle that I have discussed the past few days. He is still loving and affectionate but he has an inability to string two things together. Let’s hope that this ends soon!

I am spending time back in physical therapy – this time for a back injury. Nothing “serious”, but if it interferes with our ski trip in 3 week, it WILL be serious! I’m taking good care of myself in the meantime!

The construction crew is back to work in our master bathroom after a 3 week hiatus waiting for an exterior door that has delayed the entire job. At least we are back in the bedroom and no longer sleeping in the living room!

In the grand scheme of things – it’s all good!

Pax!

Brant

Day 1116 – Grayson’s Journey

Dear family and friends

Busy days for Regina and I as we have been flying around for work – year-end deadlines are looming!

Grayson is officially in a down cycle. I thought yesterday may have been a fluke (bad night sleep or something) but he was there again today confirming that he is in one of his cycles. When he is like this he is difficult to engage and has a very tough time accomplishing the simplest of tasks – things that he would normally do easily. When he is like this, as much as I wish it were different, he is sort of “along for the ride” instead of engaging in the journey.

Hopefully this will pass soon!

Pax!

Brant

Day 1115 – Grayson’s Journey

Dear family and friends

Today was a very different day for Grayson. After being so alert for so long, today he had trouble following any instruction or working through any problem. He was just stuck most of the day. I have no idea why he is alert some days and off kilter on another. It is just a fact of life.

Brain injury leaves the care givers in a very unpredictable place.

Pax!

Brant

Day 1114 – Grayson’s Journey

Dear family and friends

This evening was special! Lauren and Xixi dropped in to carry all of the Christmas boxes upstairs from the garage. It was truly touching because I have been suffering from a back injury the past three weeks and I really couldn’t lift them. Austin arrived later and all joined us for a dinner of a large pot of beef stew that the girls helped me prepare earlier. It was a delightful evening!

Grayson was thrilled with all of the excitement and could hardly sit down. He wandered all over hugging anything that moved and was very interested in all of the things going on. Regina hung a few decorations and the house is now (in the words of Meredith Willson), “Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas”!

Pax!

Brant

Day 1113 – Grayson’s Journey

Dear family and friends

Today was another busy day. The focus has shifted from getting the house ready for Thanksgiving to getting everything ready for Christmas!

At the market today, Grayson, as he always does, pushes the shopping cart for me. About halfway through the shopping run I realized that we would never fit everything in the one cart and went to the door to get another. By this time his cart was so heavy that he had real problems steering the cart. This was a first in all of the times I have taken him shopping! We made it through together (I helped steer as necessary). Grayson got a workout!

Pax!

Brant

Day 1112 – Grayson’s Journey

Dear family and friends,
 
With all emotion and love I must say that I married the perfect man (for me).
 
Brant can barely wait until December 1st. Today we brought home our Christmas tree. Tonight we had our annual blubber fest as we watched Albert Finney in the quintessential Christmas redemption movie/musical Scrooge.

I can't imagine anyone who approaches life with more optimism than Brant. I also cannot imagine sharing the challenges of our life with anyone else. Grayson is lucky to have a dad like Brant and they are both generous showing affection to one another. This didn't come overnight. It comes from a lifetime of gratitude and a spirit of joy. 

I can only pray that our other children find partners that will share the joy of life with them and love and support them through good and tough times. Dreams and plans don't always turn out the way we expect or hope for them to. They can, however different than planned, be full and childlike and worthy. 

With gratitude for finding a man who is as sappy as I am, 

Regina