Vermont Part 2
Hi again.
Thursday was a rather quiet day. It turned out to be pretty but the stables were closed because of the wet ground and we didn't get to have our horseback ride. So we took Mara and Emma down to ride on the pony that Bev has for her granddaughter, Kelly. Mara really enjoyed it and asked for a second ride. Emma was still a little nervous about it and her ride was cut short. When asked if she wanted a second ride she said, "No." Amazingly, Rick showed no interest in the pony at all. He sat on the porch steps watching and talking to his foster brother, Wayne. He didn't try to handle the pony or pet him at all.
I was excited that he called me by name a couple of times. When the pony was taking Mara for the first ride, I decided to sit down by Rick on the steps. there wasn't much room so I sat behind him. Rick said, "Oh Joyce, I can give you..." He didn't complete the sentence but moved over to allow me room to sit beside him. A little later we went into the house to see the remodeling Wayne had done in the kitchen. (This is the old farm house Rick had grown up in.) Wayne had a dog that tends to run away when he gets loose so he asked that we be sure not to let him out. We got in ok, but when it was time to go out, Rick was holding the dog's collar and wouldn't let go. I asked him to let go of the dog and go out so I could close the door after us. Rick didn't want to let go. After asking him a few times, (I'm sure my agitation was showing.) he said, "Joyce!" very sharply with a tone of voice that I knew was saying, "Stop telling me what to do." Finally, Cheryl was able to get him to go outside and I was able to close the door without letting the dog out.
Our plans changed Thursday. We decided to go to Connecticut to see Wendy and Ed and family Friday afternoon and leave from there on Saturday morning. Otherwise we wouldn't get to see them at all. Wendy's youngest, Katie, is the same age as Mara and Emma. We knew they would enjoy getting to know each other.
Friday morning, Rick got up to go to the bathroom. I just didn't want to get up then so I was hoping he would be able to go by himself. Well, he wandered around the house and eventually ended up outside. Tamara woke up as he was coming back in the basement door. (She was sleeping there.) She brought him back inside and up to our bedroom. Apparently he had to go to the bathroom pretty badly. When I was helping him sit down I noticed a couple of drops of blood on the stool. Well, I decided then that I needed to have him seen by a doctor. We decided to take him to the hospital ER. His urine tested clear. There was no infection and the doctor didn't have any suggestions about where the blood came from. I saw some pinkish stain on his underwear once after that. So I have made an appointment with the family doctor to get it checked out further. Anyway, this took up our morning for getting ready to leave.
We had planned to leave for Wendy's about noon on Friday. But we got a call from his cousin, Candi, asking if we could get together before we left. So we planned to meet at the Applebee's that is right off the interstate for lunch. Since we were already right near by, Rick, Bev and I went directly there instead of going home to get our things in the car. That meant we had to go back home afterwards before leaving for Wendy's.
We had a very nice visit with Candi. I was very touched when she asked to hold Rick's hand and pray with us. It was very special and it meant a lot. Thanks, Candi, for making the effort to come see us and for your prayers.
Our trip to Wendy's was in separate cars. Cheryl, Tamara and the girls went on ahead so they could get there right away. Rick and I needed to stop back by the hospital to see his doctor friend, Dr. Butch. We had missed him by 10 minutes when we were there earlier that morning. Dr. Butch served in Viet Nam with Rick and talked him through putting in chest tubes in the POW ward. Dr Butch has been very interested in keeping up with Rick. We didn't have very much time with him but it was good to see him for the few minutes we had. Bev had to tend to some errands before she left and she had to drive her own car since we weren't coming back to Vermont.
So I was driving and Rick was in the passenger seat. (He didn't get to ride up front at all on the trip because the girls needed to be up there to navigate.) He was so alert. He noticed all the scenery and kept making comments about it. "Oh Joyce, look!" "Isn't that beautiful?" I was so impressed that he was noticing all this. On the way up, he slept most of the trip. He seemed to be making a big change. He was happy and enjoying things. I was enjoying him being this way.
We had a great time at Wendy's. She has a great play area for the kids. A nice swing set with a climbing tower and slides. The girls enjoyed playing on it. When Bev got there we were able to use the hot tub. It was big enough for all of us to get into it. the girls enjoyed putting their heads under the water, playing with ice cubes, and climbing on the seats. Wendy prepared a wonderful breakfast for us Saturday morning. Thank you, Wendy, for going all out for us. We really enjoyed our time with you.
Rick go really teary that morning and ended up not eating anything. He got anxious and couldn't be still. It was hard for Wendy to see him that way. Of course it is hard for all of us, but this was the first she had seen it. He didn't ever really calm down.
On the trip home he would get anxious and we would have to stop so that he could see me. We were riding in different cars. Towards the end, I rode in our car with Rick and he did some better. He didn't sleep much this time at all.
We arrived home this morning at about 3:30 am. Whew! What a long trip. I sure am glad I didn't have to drive. Cheryl and Tamara and Erin decided that they would rather drive straight through than stop and get a motel room. The girls were asleep and I was with Rick so the last part of the trip was pretty smooth. It was good to get home in our own bed. We slept in this morning until we woke up which was about 10 am. We got ready and went to the church picnic. It was good to see everyone. Rick was so animated. He was talking to everyone and making jokes. They may not have made much sense but everyone laughed.
I am so glad that we were able to make this trip. Thank you, Cheryl, Tamara and Erin, for making it possible. I would never been able to drive that distance.
Bev would like us to come back up again very soon. We will have to see what we can do. Maybe fly the next time.
Thursday was a rather quiet day. It turned out to be pretty but the stables were closed because of the wet ground and we didn't get to have our horseback ride. So we took Mara and Emma down to ride on the pony that Bev has for her granddaughter, Kelly. Mara really enjoyed it and asked for a second ride. Emma was still a little nervous about it and her ride was cut short. When asked if she wanted a second ride she said, "No." Amazingly, Rick showed no interest in the pony at all. He sat on the porch steps watching and talking to his foster brother, Wayne. He didn't try to handle the pony or pet him at all.
I was excited that he called me by name a couple of times. When the pony was taking Mara for the first ride, I decided to sit down by Rick on the steps. there wasn't much room so I sat behind him. Rick said, "Oh Joyce, I can give you..." He didn't complete the sentence but moved over to allow me room to sit beside him. A little later we went into the house to see the remodeling Wayne had done in the kitchen. (This is the old farm house Rick had grown up in.) Wayne had a dog that tends to run away when he gets loose so he asked that we be sure not to let him out. We got in ok, but when it was time to go out, Rick was holding the dog's collar and wouldn't let go. I asked him to let go of the dog and go out so I could close the door after us. Rick didn't want to let go. After asking him a few times, (I'm sure my agitation was showing.) he said, "Joyce!" very sharply with a tone of voice that I knew was saying, "Stop telling me what to do." Finally, Cheryl was able to get him to go outside and I was able to close the door without letting the dog out.
Our plans changed Thursday. We decided to go to Connecticut to see Wendy and Ed and family Friday afternoon and leave from there on Saturday morning. Otherwise we wouldn't get to see them at all. Wendy's youngest, Katie, is the same age as Mara and Emma. We knew they would enjoy getting to know each other.
Friday morning, Rick got up to go to the bathroom. I just didn't want to get up then so I was hoping he would be able to go by himself. Well, he wandered around the house and eventually ended up outside. Tamara woke up as he was coming back in the basement door. (She was sleeping there.) She brought him back inside and up to our bedroom. Apparently he had to go to the bathroom pretty badly. When I was helping him sit down I noticed a couple of drops of blood on the stool. Well, I decided then that I needed to have him seen by a doctor. We decided to take him to the hospital ER. His urine tested clear. There was no infection and the doctor didn't have any suggestions about where the blood came from. I saw some pinkish stain on his underwear once after that. So I have made an appointment with the family doctor to get it checked out further. Anyway, this took up our morning for getting ready to leave.
We had planned to leave for Wendy's about noon on Friday. But we got a call from his cousin, Candi, asking if we could get together before we left. So we planned to meet at the Applebee's that is right off the interstate for lunch. Since we were already right near by, Rick, Bev and I went directly there instead of going home to get our things in the car. That meant we had to go back home afterwards before leaving for Wendy's.
We had a very nice visit with Candi. I was very touched when she asked to hold Rick's hand and pray with us. It was very special and it meant a lot. Thanks, Candi, for making the effort to come see us and for your prayers.
Our trip to Wendy's was in separate cars. Cheryl, Tamara and the girls went on ahead so they could get there right away. Rick and I needed to stop back by the hospital to see his doctor friend, Dr. Butch. We had missed him by 10 minutes when we were there earlier that morning. Dr. Butch served in Viet Nam with Rick and talked him through putting in chest tubes in the POW ward. Dr Butch has been very interested in keeping up with Rick. We didn't have very much time with him but it was good to see him for the few minutes we had. Bev had to tend to some errands before she left and she had to drive her own car since we weren't coming back to Vermont.
So I was driving and Rick was in the passenger seat. (He didn't get to ride up front at all on the trip because the girls needed to be up there to navigate.) He was so alert. He noticed all the scenery and kept making comments about it. "Oh Joyce, look!" "Isn't that beautiful?" I was so impressed that he was noticing all this. On the way up, he slept most of the trip. He seemed to be making a big change. He was happy and enjoying things. I was enjoying him being this way.
We had a great time at Wendy's. She has a great play area for the kids. A nice swing set with a climbing tower and slides. The girls enjoyed playing on it. When Bev got there we were able to use the hot tub. It was big enough for all of us to get into it. the girls enjoyed putting their heads under the water, playing with ice cubes, and climbing on the seats. Wendy prepared a wonderful breakfast for us Saturday morning. Thank you, Wendy, for going all out for us. We really enjoyed our time with you.
Rick go really teary that morning and ended up not eating anything. He got anxious and couldn't be still. It was hard for Wendy to see him that way. Of course it is hard for all of us, but this was the first she had seen it. He didn't ever really calm down.
On the trip home he would get anxious and we would have to stop so that he could see me. We were riding in different cars. Towards the end, I rode in our car with Rick and he did some better. He didn't sleep much this time at all.
We arrived home this morning at about 3:30 am. Whew! What a long trip. I sure am glad I didn't have to drive. Cheryl and Tamara and Erin decided that they would rather drive straight through than stop and get a motel room. The girls were asleep and I was with Rick so the last part of the trip was pretty smooth. It was good to get home in our own bed. We slept in this morning until we woke up which was about 10 am. We got ready and went to the church picnic. It was good to see everyone. Rick was so animated. He was talking to everyone and making jokes. They may not have made much sense but everyone laughed.
I am so glad that we were able to make this trip. Thank you, Cheryl, Tamara and Erin, for making it possible. I would never been able to drive that distance.
Bev would like us to come back up again very soon. We will have to see what we can do. Maybe fly the next time.
posted by Unknown at 7:22:00 PM
1 Comments:
Dad said my name twice yesterday, but of course he was very upset. He's been very depressed since returning home. But I don't think I've heard him speak my name in so long, it took me off guard.
--Tamara
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