June 9th update

It's not sand, but it will do -Grandson 2.5yr old Declan and Sheila on the driveway of B-2

Gord with his brothers, Richard in front, Gary to the right and nephew Tyler to left

Boys putting a secure railing on guest house so Gord can visit the kids when they come.

Gord and Fiona (Andrea's wee one born March 9) - so peaceful...sleep baby sleep

Well we are into the rainy season so it is indoor things today - hence a blog update! Everywhere I go and in everything I do, I am always thinking about what I am going to write on the blog. I am getting such positive feedback on it, that I feel I need to continue - at least for a while longer. We are making such progress I suppose it is helpful to post it so that other people who may be going through what we did will have some hope.

Since our last blog, we have fulfulled a couple of Gord's dreams. He really processes his thoughts now and follows through until I manage to get it completed. One of the biggies was extending the front deck so he called his brothers Gary and Richard and nephew Tyler and they all arrived with their deck building gear and in 1.5 days they had the job done! Gord sat on the deck and supervised....our neighbour Donalda said he looked like a king sitting on his throne.....and all in all the boys had a good time and it was SO good for Gord. Family are EVERYTHING!!!! There is such a depth of emotion when I see these guys get together. Beautiful.

The other project was getting Gord into the hot tub. He loves the water and as I said before it has been the place we have connected over the past 25 years. We get decisions made, dream up projects etc. In the process of trying to fulfill this dream I did a lot of research into lifts and slings and new hot tubs but in the end I kept thinking - "There HAS to be something around this place we can use to get Gord in and out of the tub"....and lo and behold, at first I used the patio table plus myself for getting in and out. It was not the safest thing but we managed and the smile on Gord's face when he finally got to sit in his hot tub after and year and a half was awesome. Of course getting the 25 year old tub back into working order was not an easy task for me. I think I cried a little over this frustrating experience but after getting help from Peter the electrician (introduced to us by our other neighbour Glen)- we got it running. I cleaned out the little hole that I have to crawl into to start everything up, shooed out the mice etc., sprayed some smelly stuff to make it a little pleasant and Voila! we have a functioning tub and a place to stretch the arm and leg. Our neighbour Ralph came last night and installed a sturdy bar for Gord to pull himself out of the tub with, and it also allows him something to hold onto to get into the tub. I will always be there to catch him if he tips over, but all in all I think this will work.

Now for the speech. I am just about to try and find help here in Red Deer or closer I hope. I'll report on that later. My sense is that if I can find nice flash cards with words on one side and pictures on the other I could work with him to help identify objects and things and then get the name of it ingrained in his brain. He is a little more interested in the computer now but only to look at his emails. It's a start. As for doing lessons out of his binders - forget it. He really feels it is juvenile and not necessary. I know it is necessary but he can be stubborn! I will just have to keep presenting things until something works for him.

You know, this is such an amazing project for me to be assigned. I really feel "useful" in my life now. As long as Gord remains such a good sport, we will continue this adventure - mainly because we have no other choice. AND the real bonus is, I am motivated to get rid of years of accumulated "junk" around here. You should see the loads going out of here...and I have more...my arms are so sore from hauling.....but we will feel so much lighter when it is all gone. Thank goodness for junk haulers! They deserve a medal.

Love to you all

Sheila & Gord