Whose Back Is Really Broken?

It has been a beautiful Sabbath day, so many friends and family stopping by, bringing well wishes and delicious food. (Ralph and Cher....seriously, you can cook ANY time!)

We were blessed to have two of the young men from our ward administer the sacrament to us since we were unable to be at church. Kirk asked them if they get to do this each week and Rhees, one of the young men said he really enjoys it. He said, "Some guys don't like to do it but, that's their loss." Wow! I want to look at church service that way.

We have three sweet dogs, Jazz (black Cock-a-poo, 16 years old), Crazy (apricot colored Pomeranian Chihuahua mix, 7 years old) and Buddy ( 3 year old German Shepherd/Red Heeler mix). They all love Kirk so much and knew something was wrong the day of the accident. The whole time he was in the hospital they moped around and seemed so sad when I would get home.

The day Kirk came home I had the dogs on a leash anticipating this overwhelming excitement, jumping and potential injury to Kirk. The response when he arrived was quite the opposite. It took them all a while to realize it was really him! Jazz is so old and doesn't see or hear very well and of all of them it seems to have affected her the least. Crazy and Buddy have replaced that sullenness with the ultimate in protection and companionship. Buddy is generally on the floor on the side of Kirk's bed or on a chair where he can watch his master sleep.

Crazy is a little more "paws on" in the recuperation process with her dad and chooses to lay on the bed, right next to him, for the majority of the day. Kirk wondered allowed today, "Whose back is really broken here?"

It is amazing what these furry little creatures can sense and do in your life. I am a firm believer in Pet Therapy and I know they have played such a big part in Kirk's healing.










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I Got Your Back

It has been a great day of learning, planning, re-planning and wonderful visits with family and friends. Kirk has been home for more than 24 hours and his entire appearance seems to have changed for all of us who have been with him.
Kirk looks like he has lost so much weight but Bryn brought the scales upstairs and he is only down 2 pounds since the adventure began. I was helping him get dressed and was completely stunned at how big his pants were on him. Returning from our walk he dropped his drawers without even undoing them. While some of us would love to claim this talent, I was not entirely impressed:)
It is very humbling to help your sweetheart get totally dressed. I've tried to picture my attitude or willingness to let someone do this much for me. Think about your perception of yourself, the bottom line, I hope nobody ever sees me like this situation..... Now imagine exposing that, literally, to the world. I'm already blushing. From the caregiver's point of view, I am thinking, "Let me do this for you." Kirk says it's horrible, probably the worst thing ever. "It's very humbling but also very reassuring that you have someone who will do this for you." he finished his very emotional response with, "It's wonderful."
Lori and Cole stopped by tonight. Mostly because they heard our favorite son-in-law, Steven, was mowing the lawn and they wanted to witness this for themselves as Steven pays someone to do his;) For the record, it looks beautiful! Dave Nielsen, one of our fabulous nephews, came over and removed a limb over the covered patio that has been making sounds similar to fingernails on a chalkboard. Just that phrase makes my hair stand up. Now, that branch didn't grow overnight. It has been working it's magical way to that annoying position for some time, we just never got around to trimming it.
Mom and Dad, Peg, Don and D'anne Blackburn, Pete Robinson, Karen and Brian Murray, the girls....hopefully I haven't missed anyone, all came by today, visited, helped with something, lightened the load. How grateful we are.
The picture at the beginning of this post was a t-shirt from Cole and Lor. It says "Hey man, I got your back."
We know. And we thank you!!
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