Glimpses
It's good to be home. I left 8/28/06, and have driven almost 7,500 miles. After only a few days, the journey required all my mental energy so that I was simply too cognitively tired to post. Without regard to chronology, here are some glimpses of why my brain was so fried and of the wonders God has done to see me through.
I awaken to the phone but cannot immediately find it. I am parked in a vacant field but do not remember driving here. What state am in? Sort of looks like eastern Colorado... but I'm not supposed to be in Colorado. No time. Did I leave a gate open? Will cattle or sheep escape? My brain flits from one thought to the next as I frantically try to focus on the telephone voice asking me questions about my brain injury. Slowly, things come together. The Florida psychologist I contacted before I left home is calling. Well, his wife/secretary/assistant is calling to screen me as a potential patient. She must have found me confused enough to need their help because she said I was accepted. Thanks be to God, for I had been praying about that. Losing Dr. McCormick has been a real blow.
Yellowstone is wondrous. No, I'm not lost again, we chose to make a side trip to Yellowstone because it isn't too far. A light dusting of snow makes it magical as light filtered from partly cloudy skies plays softly on the many textures of trees, grass, rock and earth. Wildlife abound and are quite comfortable with their human visitors... that often leads to problems for both. Donna and I do not feed or approach the elk, bison, moose, etc. It's snowing and almost dark as we leave over a narrow mountain road. A sign warns us that roads are not maintained after 6:30 P.M. The road is treacherous. I have not been afraid on the road in a long time but my heart is icy with fear now, not for myself, but for Donna. God takes us safely off the mountain and we stop, famished, at The Garage Cafe for a long overdue meal.
We spend several days in Faulkton, SD at the home of my 2nd cousin Esther who makes us feel like royalty. Donna does a dozen things for Esther I wish I could have thought of... but I had no list and without a list, I cannot seem to know what needs done. Esther rounds up local kin folk for a mini Cooper reunion. Other cousins, Bob and Evelyn have us over to dinner. It's good to be with family. I am thankful Donna could meet them and they all just loved her!
Later, we go to Aberdeen, SD and spend a couple of days with more kin folk, then we're off to Iowa where we stop at another cousin's home, gathering family history and genealogy at every stop. I had never met the Iowa cousin and am acutely aware that I am not keeping up with the conversation well at all. Donna carries the day, and Norma loves her. I don't know what we talked about.
Our next stop is in Rock Island, IL to visit another cousin we've never met. She's quite elderly and very witty. When I call for her address, she gives me the name of a hotel saying "you can't miss it; it"s the only hotel in town!" Rock Island is one of four cities known as the "Quad Cities," a huge metro area. Still my cousin only knows the name of the hotel! It's dark and I'm tired. We get off the freeway but can't find a gas station and end up lost. I try to avoid the bridge over the Mississippi (I don't like big bridges) but end up being funneled onto it and into a not-so-nice neighborhood on the other side. I pull over to pray and try to figure out where we are. We decide to get a room and look for our long lost cousin tomorrow.
Back across the "Big Muddy" we go and cannot find the freeway. We make a left in the direction I think we must go and there at the curb is a bus. I stop to ask the driver about the freeway and the hotel. The hotel is right in front of us just three blocks down! All the while we thought we were lost, God was leading us straight to the right hotel! Our cousin is a charming, petite woman who enjoys great views from her corner suite on the top floor of "the only hotel in town." I'm so glad we met her!
The scene repeats itself over and over. We pull in for gas, stop at a cafe or motel, and cannot find our way back to the freeway, or perhaps we get on the road going the wrong way. Sometimes, I just don't notice when we are supposed to turn onto a new route. We do a lot of turning around... sometimes after going some distance in a wrong direction. I think God uses each detour to put us in the right place at the right time... maybe to be a blessing to someone or perhaps to save us from an accident or some other mishap. I don't mind being lost. Thankfully, neither does Donna.
I left my camera in one of the motels. Donna figured out which one and when I call, the owner, a small Arab man with a heavy accent who had made waffles for us the morning after our stay, tells me he has the camera and will send it. The camera arrived unharmed two days ago. I call the man to thank him. I also thank God and pray the man has heard what I have told him about the Lord Jesus.
The address for my new neuropsychologist that I gave my lawyer and CA doctors is not correct. The stuff the lawyers sent him came back. It's not a transposed number, which I do a lot of, but an entirely different stree, etc. I am trying to get that corrected.
I vacuumed, washed walls and mopped and feel better. Richard doesn't see dirt. He picks up the clutter and thinks the house is clean. I was so frustrated when I came home, I went in the bathroom and cried... then I hurt his feelings by saying he hadn't cleaned. He said, "Yes, I did clean. You should have seen it before I cleaned!" I cracked up!! He got over his hurt quickly and laughed with me.... Then he said, "Seriously, I spent all day cleaning before you came home." Considering what it looked like when I got here, that is scary!
I awaken to the phone but cannot immediately find it. I am parked in a vacant field but do not remember driving here. What state am in? Sort of looks like eastern Colorado... but I'm not supposed to be in Colorado. No time. Did I leave a gate open? Will cattle or sheep escape? My brain flits from one thought to the next as I frantically try to focus on the telephone voice asking me questions about my brain injury. Slowly, things come together. The Florida psychologist I contacted before I left home is calling. Well, his wife/secretary/assistant is calling to screen me as a potential patient. She must have found me confused enough to need their help because she said I was accepted. Thanks be to God, for I had been praying about that. Losing Dr. McCormick has been a real blow.
Yellowstone is wondrous. No, I'm not lost again, we chose to make a side trip to Yellowstone because it isn't too far. A light dusting of snow makes it magical as light filtered from partly cloudy skies plays softly on the many textures of trees, grass, rock and earth. Wildlife abound and are quite comfortable with their human visitors... that often leads to problems for both. Donna and I do not feed or approach the elk, bison, moose, etc. It's snowing and almost dark as we leave over a narrow mountain road. A sign warns us that roads are not maintained after 6:30 P.M. The road is treacherous. I have not been afraid on the road in a long time but my heart is icy with fear now, not for myself, but for Donna. God takes us safely off the mountain and we stop, famished, at The Garage Cafe for a long overdue meal.
We spend several days in Faulkton, SD at the home of my 2nd cousin Esther who makes us feel like royalty. Donna does a dozen things for Esther I wish I could have thought of... but I had no list and without a list, I cannot seem to know what needs done. Esther rounds up local kin folk for a mini Cooper reunion. Other cousins, Bob and Evelyn have us over to dinner. It's good to be with family. I am thankful Donna could meet them and they all just loved her!
Later, we go to Aberdeen, SD and spend a couple of days with more kin folk, then we're off to Iowa where we stop at another cousin's home, gathering family history and genealogy at every stop. I had never met the Iowa cousin and am acutely aware that I am not keeping up with the conversation well at all. Donna carries the day, and Norma loves her. I don't know what we talked about.
Our next stop is in Rock Island, IL to visit another cousin we've never met. She's quite elderly and very witty. When I call for her address, she gives me the name of a hotel saying "you can't miss it; it"s the only hotel in town!" Rock Island is one of four cities known as the "Quad Cities," a huge metro area. Still my cousin only knows the name of the hotel! It's dark and I'm tired. We get off the freeway but can't find a gas station and end up lost. I try to avoid the bridge over the Mississippi (I don't like big bridges) but end up being funneled onto it and into a not-so-nice neighborhood on the other side. I pull over to pray and try to figure out where we are. We decide to get a room and look for our long lost cousin tomorrow.
Back across the "Big Muddy" we go and cannot find the freeway. We make a left in the direction I think we must go and there at the curb is a bus. I stop to ask the driver about the freeway and the hotel. The hotel is right in front of us just three blocks down! All the while we thought we were lost, God was leading us straight to the right hotel! Our cousin is a charming, petite woman who enjoys great views from her corner suite on the top floor of "the only hotel in town." I'm so glad we met her!
The scene repeats itself over and over. We pull in for gas, stop at a cafe or motel, and cannot find our way back to the freeway, or perhaps we get on the road going the wrong way. Sometimes, I just don't notice when we are supposed to turn onto a new route. We do a lot of turning around... sometimes after going some distance in a wrong direction. I think God uses each detour to put us in the right place at the right time... maybe to be a blessing to someone or perhaps to save us from an accident or some other mishap. I don't mind being lost. Thankfully, neither does Donna.
I left my camera in one of the motels. Donna figured out which one and when I call, the owner, a small Arab man with a heavy accent who had made waffles for us the morning after our stay, tells me he has the camera and will send it. The camera arrived unharmed two days ago. I call the man to thank him. I also thank God and pray the man has heard what I have told him about the Lord Jesus.
The address for my new neuropsychologist that I gave my lawyer and CA doctors is not correct. The stuff the lawyers sent him came back. It's not a transposed number, which I do a lot of, but an entirely different stree, etc. I am trying to get that corrected.
I vacuumed, washed walls and mopped and feel better. Richard doesn't see dirt. He picks up the clutter and thinks the house is clean. I was so frustrated when I came home, I went in the bathroom and cried... then I hurt his feelings by saying he hadn't cleaned. He said, "Yes, I did clean. You should have seen it before I cleaned!" I cracked up!! He got over his hurt quickly and laughed with me.... Then he said, "Seriously, I spent all day cleaning before you came home." Considering what it looked like when I got here, that is scary!
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