Thank your lucky stars.......

Yesterday was the first day Chelle and I spent together since last week. We decided we would go to the Farmer's Market in Pittsboro and go see a good friend of ours who was also in a motorcycle accident 25 days ago.Something about riding extended periods in the car really causes my ham-string to act all crazy, and I thought I was going to lose it after spending an hour straight in the car. Then we get to Chapel Hill. We were visiting Matthew, who is the son of Michelle's former employer's. He had multiple brain injuries, had to be put into a coma when he was in ICU because his injuries were so severe. So we make it up to his floor, get to his room and it is empty. Quickly we went to the nurses station and asked if he was still in physical therapy, we had tried to plan our visit so that we wouldn't be there at an inopportune time. The nurses told us just to walk around, that he spends most of his days circling the rehab floor non-stop. When we first seen him, walking with his Mom under one arm and his Father on the other, I had to choke back the tears. I used to see Matthew all the time whenever I worked at the restaraunt beside his. He looked so different. He was always clean shaven, but now he had a cast-away like beard because he had been in a neck brace since he had been there and hadn't been allowed to remove it until just earlier that day. It was hard not to cry, and believe me I don't cry at many things. But here was this young man, who was so full of life and vigor, and he wasn't the same. I talked to him, but Michelle did an awesome job talking with him and treating him with so much love and compassion. He hugged her as soon as he seen her. She gave him some zuchinni bread she had made. At first we tried to sit with him in the room, but he didn't want to be still. So we began to loop the rehab floor in one big endless circle. Michelle eventually ened up supporting him on his left side, with Matthew walking in the middle and His step-dad on the right. While walking behind them his Father told me that he walks the hospital halls non-stop, that he has so much nervous energy from his brain trying to heal that he just keeps moving constantly. He has to re-learn even the simplest daily tasks that we take for granted, but his long-term memory is intact. He remembered about some soap that Chelle had sent him two weeks earlier. The look in his eyes told me he was in there, but they had him so drugged up that I can't remember seeing him blink his eyes once. I have to give props to his Mom and Dad, who have been there every day since he was life-flighted up there. He has come so far for some one who was given such a bleak prognosis, and I pray that he will contintue to do so. where I am going with all this is simple. When you think you have it bad, or life is constantly handing you lemons, it could always be worse. Be thankful for what you do have.
On another note at the Farmer's Market I got to meet some of Chelle's former selling friends at the various booths. You should have seen how many people knew and missed her. She had to tell most of them that she didn't live at the farm anymore, that her and Don were no longer together and that's why she wasn't selling her goat's milk products and eggs anymore. But one thing that stuck with me was how everyone she talked to, she not only inquired about them, but also various family members and spouses. She has an awesome heart and it's always nice to see the love that other people have for her as well. She is an amazing woman. I know she has went through some pretty big changes since she left the farm, and everything she knew at the time. I am so proud of her, and how far she has come in such a short period of time. Secretly I feel blessed to be able to be there for her, to share with her my life, my heart, and my soul. I couldn't be in better hands. I used to be a very jealous person, but being with her has changed that also. I have never been one to share, but Chelle is such a loving and giving person that I know I can't keep here all to myself. She always contributes something positive to a conversation or situation, and I can't in good conscience hoard all that for myself.
I'm hopefully returing to work next week, and I have mixed feelings about it. I do miss working, but I think that doing the "house-wife" thing has worn off on me somewhat. Beleive it or not I am stressed over how I am going to balance going back to work and trying to keep things in order. I know Chelle will be there to help me with this, but I am the type of person who finds comfort in being responsible and think that once I return to work it will be more of a challenge to keep up with the clothes, the cleaning, the shopping, etc.
This last paragraph is for Matthew. If you pray, pray for him and his family. He is so young, with so much life left to live. He has made amazing progress, but has a long way to go. I look forward to seeing him out of the hospital and back to his old self.