sept 1st

We have had a wonderful summer - lots and lots of sun and warm weather. Barbara and Suzanne and the grands are on Vancouver Island for a short vacation. Barbara gets home tomorrow evening. I have been looked after by my friends and the guy who lives in the basement.
My sister Carol and her husband Denny were here for a few days and left yesterday.
It was wonderful to have them and they have agreed to try to get up twice a year which will be wonderful for me to look forward to.
Our son Tim is off on a trip to New England for 6 days with his girlfriend for a wedding and to visit her relatives. Kayti, (Christy's daughter) is off to New Zeland for quarter of school. Kelly is off to North Carolina to see her boyfriend. Kara in now living in Manhattan, NY working to interviewing canadates to teach in a private school system called uncommon schools.
Felt really good all the time guests were here.
Great Movie -"Radio" about a retarded black boy who is befriended by the local football coach. I highly suggest it.
Been reading books on apologetics that only a theological nerdly guy like me would like so I won't recommend (God, Reason and Theistic Proofs).
Any recommends of books from anyone would be appreciated.
Thanks for your prayers to keep my spirits up.
Best Wishes and Blessings,
Don

Hi

Great day today. Sunny weather for book club at a home on the Lake. Good discussion of "Finding Calcutta" by Mary Poplin. Tomorrow we are all to the county fair with the Grand kids and Suzanne.
Keep looking up.

Don

sorry

I have not been blogging lately because the news is not much fun. I am asked often "how are you". I normally give the pat answer that everyone else does "I am fine", but I am no no longer going that. I am going to say "not so well. Ever since my accident life has been difficult for Barb and and I'. It continues to be so. The pain in my chest has been awful for several days. See the Doc next week but don't expect much. This is part of the deal for many folks with paralysis. The guys in the wheel chair group have told me so.
BUT, as long as we are alive we can hope for better days.
Barb Christy and Kara are at a cooking movie today. I was delighted not to be invited.
Finished re reading "The Woman in White" It is the third time I have read it. It is a 600 page adventure, mystery and romance. The author - Wilkie Collings was more popular in the 1900's than Charles Dickens. I will read it again sometime.
It has been a joy to sit in the yard the last few weeks. Warm and sunny but do hate to see the winter come but it is the prelude to next Spring.
Have had lots of help lately doing the stuff I used to do around the yard. Walls repaired, Gate fixed and lots of clean up near the barn, which has been rented to a woman for the past two months. She has a good job but likes privacy. She also has a border collie like our but they do NOT get along.
Barb continues to be a brick but our life is not as much fun as it used to be, at least I don't think I am as much fun for her as I was.
"Casting all your cared upon Him because He cares for you."
Blessings to all
Don

thought

I have never had much patience with pacifism and their fuzzy thinking. They are always asking 'can you picture Jesus shooting someone with a guy?' I just realized that there is a perfectly good answer - 'yes' if you can picture Him putting a millstone (millstones weigh about 200 pounds) around a persons neck and throwing them into the sea. This is exactly what he suggested and it is recorded in Matthew, Mark and Luke. (So what would He say about abortionist?) Jesus said that 'they' (the person with the millstone) would be better off - presumably because it would stop them from doing further harm to their own souls.

No news here. Our book club book this month is "The Cellist of Sarajevo" - The story of how three different people coped with life under bombardment and snipers. I do suggest for your reading.

My friend John Granger's new book "Harry Potter bookshelf" came out last week and is doing well. After Barb read it she is back reading the Potter books again.

How to post more frequently.

Don

Hi

Still here. The pain in my chest which has been with me ever since in got home seems to be letting up. It that continues, I will be a very happy camper.
Days are pretty much the same. Friends come over to visit. The grand kids stop by often after Suzanne recuperated from her operation. All appears to be will with her.
John Granger, My friend who writes books about Harry Potter was here for a day and it was great to see him. He acknowledges being THE authority on the Harry Potter books.
Am reading his book "The Harry Potter bookshelf". Over my head but good reading anyway. Also reading a bio of Henry Jackson who was President before Lincoln and another book for book club.
Tim gets off the boat for 6 straight weeks before going back to his two weeks on, two weeks off schedule.
Christy and Greg are in Hawaii for two weeks.

Drop me a note at "Holmesdb@gmail.com" if you wish.

He sustains us,
Don

suggestion

Go to 'samekindofdifferentasme.com' and look at the video and read about the book.
It was our book club discussion book today.
We are o.k.
Don

a prayer

O Dear Lord, come quickly

To heal the millions of folks who have lost their minds and spend every day staring into space;
To heal the millions of friendless folks who live in rest homes who have no future to look forward to;
To rescue the millions of women in forced prostitution around the world;
To rescue the millions ow women who are stuck with men who abuse them;
To rescue the millions of men, women and kids who are hungry and dying;
To relive the millions of folks who live with daily pain;
To rescue the millions who live in fear of the daily violence of war:
To rescue those who are bewilder by the pain and suffering in the world;
To heal the minds of the millions in prisons and jails all over the world;
To heal the millions of folks blinded by their own sin and can not see the beauty of God's goodness.

O Dear Lord please come quickly to heal us all.

hi

It is a beautiful day in Bellingham. Barb is delighted to sit on the patio and read after doing her gardening. She has a beautiful flower garden to enjoy when the sun is out.

Life continues to get better for us. A year ago I could not have imagined it ever being this good again. Not driving yet. It is hard to practice as we have to take the driver seat out, etc. Reading lots and doing stuff - church, lecture at the college, little league softball (Dull, as no one can throw strikes) but the whole family is there so we visit. Also enjoy sitting in the sun - I sometime feel like a 95 years old man just enjoying the sun.

Just found a new renter for the barn I had almost finished remodeling when I got sidelined. He is a 49 year old parts manager for the local Ford Dealer. Just moving to Bellingham from a nearby town. I think we will be friends. He goes on mission trips every year so will be a Christian friend for us.

Trying to do some writing but not very successful at it. It is hard.

Suzanne is going to have an operation on the 28 of May so Barb will be busy either at the hospital or with the kids for several days or more.

Christy and Greg are out sailing today and Tim gets back on his boat for another two week stint starting tomorrow.

We look forward to our netflix fix every week. Saw the the "Illusionist" last night. A complicated mystery. Enjoyed it but do not give it a high recommendation.

Barb is reading Ann Rice's books. She is a VERY famous secular writer that has become a Christian and is now writing 'for Christ' as she puts it. I have never heard of her but my literary friends says she has a huge following. You can look her up on the web -'Annrice.com"

Hope all is well with you,

Blessing
don

thought for the day

It is a great relief and benefit to be caught in our sins. It, at least temporarily, frees us from the illusion of our own righteousness and forces us to fall humbly at the feet of Christ. B. R. Pembly

book

Finding Calcatta by Mary Poplin - go get at the Library
Bookfinder.com new for about $12.00
Can read reviews at Amazon.com
Happy to be alive.
Don

hi

Heard jo ann poplin speak at the college last week - She teaches PHD students at Clairmont in California - a very heady school.

She has spend her live in a religious quest before spending 6 weeks with Mother Teresa and was completely converted to Christ. She spoke very openly to about 200 students at the college.

A girl asked "why can't I be good without God". I went away thinking she was answered:
"You may be able, relatively to others, to be a good person but God will make you a better person than you could be without Him." i.e. If you are interested in being a good person, why not be the best you can be and you will need God to do that. If you are only interested in moderately good compared to other people then you can probably to that on your own. An specific individual Christian may not be as good as a specific non Christian but they would be a better Christian with God than without God.
I thought this was a great answer. Hitler might not have been a very good person even with God but he would have been better than he was. Mother Teresa might have been a pretty good person without God but was even a better person with Him.

Does everyone know about netflix? We have been in it for two years. WE have recently teamed up with another couple that we see ofter so for $5.00 a month per couple we can get new movies as fast as we send them in. Two a week if we watch the day we get them. Net flix pays the postage both ways. No trip to the video store and no $8.00 movie tickets and no late fees. Go to netflix.com for full info. WE watch histories, documentaries but mostly dramas. They have thousands of great dramas. You can click on a title and get a synopsis, the industry rating, the average viewer rating (1-5 stars)

Just saw Rebecca - one of the best mysteries we have ever seen. Master Piece Theater. We will watch it again some time.

Great to have summer here again. Love to sit in the Sun and read and watch the dot.

Would be open to good book or Video suggestions.

Don (watching the obituaries)

hi

No new news -
Must see Video - Woman named Golda - Great documentary on the 3rd prime minister of Israel and a great survey of what has been going on in the middle east.
Barbara just got back from Hawaii where she and Tim (our youngest) spent a week on Lawai. It is wonderful for her to get away once and a while from her ball and chain (me)

I was well looked after in her absence by a friend who moved in with us for a week.


All is well.


Don

note

Did you hear about the atheist tht was complaining about Christian holidays and was told to relax because there was also a day to honor his beliefs - April 1st -
The fool has said in his heart 'there is no God'

another early morning thought

Does prayer work?
Of course it does EVERY time.
The only problem is that we don't know HOW it works.
It is perfectly obvious that prayer APPEARS to be an unreasonable activity:
God does not need our advice or information or even our praise.
We pray: 1) because we can't help but do it some times and 2) because
we are commanded to pray by a very good Authority.

When something happens that we pray to happen, we can never know for sure if our prayers had anything to do with it or not. It might have happened even if we had not prayed. The command still stands and we should not get attached to the results.
Thy will be done - - .

So there!!!!!

driving !!!!!!!!!!!!!

Drove the Van Yesterday - first time driving for 2 1/2 - Our son Tim went with me to the parking lot of a Park near here. Harder than I thought. Lack of trunk control of my body made it hard to turn. The gas and brake are fine, just turning is a challenge.
I will probably have to practice a lot before taking the driving test.
Finished the book Amish Grace. Rather tedious and too much praise for the Amish tradition. I have no respect for the Pacifist tradition. To refuse to fight to protect the weak is not a Christian idea.
Don

Who

I received a comment from Rebecca but do now who she is?

wake up early

I wake up early and lay in bed thinking - my thought today was:

Most Christians believe that God is always present with them.
Some Christians feel this presence at some time or another, which means that at other times they don't feel his presence at least not in the same way.

One could therefore conclude that when His presence is felt, the feelings correspond to reality and that when we don't feel his presence then our feelings do not correspond to reality. He is obviously present even if we don't feel it.

One ought to conclude from this that we should pay no attention to our feelings because they are not a reliable guide to reality. We should consult what we know from what HE said about His presence - I will Never leave you or forsake you.

Feelings are not a good guide as to what we ought to believe or what we ought to do. Our conscience is related to our minds more than to our feelings. The word conscience broken down is 'con' and 'science' (with knowledge)

Now you can go to sleep.

Have not tried to drive yet even though my hand controls in the van are ready to go.
Don

great day

The on going pain in my chest was the best it has been since I got home. A GREAT JOY!!!
Hand controls have been put on my car and I should get it back tomorrow. FINALLY.

Finished the book Voyage for Madmen - 8 men set out alone in different boats in the 60ties to sail around the world without ever touching land and getting not help of any kind from any one. 1 Made it, six quit and one committed suicide. One Frenchman who was ahead in the race decided not to go back to England after getting around the world, and headed for a second trip. Quite a story.
Starting Amish Grace - our book club book this month about how the Amish community dealt the the murder of a group of their school children by a man who was mad at God for some losses in his life.

God bless you all,
Don

tip

Procrastination is the thief of time.

correction

The movie I recommended last blog was not 'hidden children' but "Secret Lives" Sorry
My van went to the shop today to get the hand controls put on - FINALLY.
Don

movie must

GO rent Hidden Children - a tragic and inspiring documentary about the people who hid Jewish children at the risk of their lives and the lives of their children all over Europe during WW II.

Active day - Bank, Trader Joes and Costco (great piece of peperoni pizza)

We do not witness to what we have seen and touched but to what they (the disciples) have seen and touched. We pervert the Gospel if we think we have to add our experience to their witness. D. Bonoeffer.

Bed time.
Don

day

Beautify sunny day -

Life is Good

Our caretaker who is usually here every day for 3 hours is sick so my friends have been filling in. Miss the caretaker - a 26 year old pre-nursing student who is wonderful but I can't praise him too much or he might read this blog and want a raise.

Stock market up lately - great.

Don

convinced

"I am convinced that the suffering of this present world are not worthy to be compared to the glory that shall be in us."

"Casting all your cares upon Him for he cares for you"

the eagle

The Eagle
by Alfred, Lord Tennyson

He clasps the crag with crooked hands;
Close to the sun in lonely lands,
Ring’d with the azure world, he stands.

The wrinkled sea beneath him crawls;
He watches from his mountain walls,
And like a thunderbolt he falls.

?

not as good as i have been
but better than i was

go figure

Wednesday

Went to a Lenten service tonight at church. Saw friends - rather a superficial discussion about Lent.

Barb went to hear a speaker at a bookstore that had written a book about care givers.
She thought it was helpful. No one who has ever been a caregiver can understand what a life-changing experience it is. She said by what she heard that she thought we were doing fairly well.

Suzanne brought me a new book today - Rebecca - will report.

Grand kids by today for an hour and will be here for a longer stay tomorrow.

Hope to get my Leviticus notes from my power point presentation on the blog soon.

Please pray for our daughter - Suzanne's back as she is in serious pain, sees doctor on Thursday.

My pain comes and goes - was o.k. today.

Lewis - "love is not an emotion but an attitude of the will, that attitude that we have naturally toward ourselves but my learn to have about other people."

Don

more Lewis

Progress can be made only with a resisting material.

Good day here - 2 inch snow but sunshine later

Reading "Voyage for Madmen" a report of the 1960 sail boat race around the world by eight contestants sailing along. Scary!!!!!!!!!

Finished Leviticus yesterday so now I can go back to church.

Don

Faith

FAith is the are of holding on to what your reason has once accepted in spite of your changing moods.
csl

hi

good book club meeting tonight - China Road - see previous blog

One of the book club members drove the van with 6 of us to a Restaurant on the Ocean for a great dinner -I think a great dinner is a good burger and a baked Potato.

Feeling quite good lately. Made arrangements to get controls on our Van in about two weeks - has taken for ever.

Heard a guy speak at a bookstore yesterday who was a fighter pilot (p38) in
ww II who got shot down and was in
Buchenwald for a time and saw the smoke from the burning Jews and others. Fascination evening.

Our grand daughter Kara age 26 just got a job in downtown Manhatton recruiting teachers for a charter school in New York and New jersey. She starts in Sept.

Don

from Barb

Note from Barb -

Greetings from 'nurse Jane fuzzy ears' (character from Uncle Wiggley). Since I am not a computer buff I shall have Don type in a note from me.

I want to rave about several books that brightened my gray February days: a book of poems - Diary of an Old Soul (George MacDonald) (of The Princess and the Curdy fame), Valley of Vision - puritan prayers, Mudhouse Sabbath by Laren Winte. You can't go wrong on any of them. Find them eBay, Amazon, Bookfinder, etc. Tell me what you think.


It's startling bring and beautiful today with about 8 inches of fresh sparking snow below us and our surround garden and trees. I think I'm in Narnia without the white witch.

Barbara

thinking

cs lewis -

"Logic is the king that all events in all possible worlds must obey"

In other words,if it is logical it must be true.

If you have the right information
and you process is accurately then you come to Truth every time.

But we must be humble because there is no way we can be positive that we have the right information or that we have processed accurately.
Don

one foot of snow tonight in the area

go buy this book

CHINA ROAD - Great story of a journalist traveling 3000 miles across China. Sometimes he gets the Impression that China will one day rule the world and the next day he is convinced that the whole thing is going to fall apart because of the corruption of the communist officials that run the show. Barb and I think it is a great book - it is our book club book for next month.
Been mostly staying home and enjoying the indoor winter. Get the grand kids overnight this Saturday - fun.
Pray for me if you wish that I would get serious about writing a book "Fire the Clergy and Burn down the churches" subtitled 'A modest proposal for Church renewal". Take a guess at how much money we spend on the staff and church up keep and how little we actually spend on the poor. The Bible says little about paying church workers and staff but a lot about the poor.
What is anyone reading that you recommend?
Don

update

Jan 12 Happy Birthday to me 74
Great Series on pbs tv from now to summer on Sunday nights= Classics
Last Sunday and yesterday a four movie - Tess by Thomas Hardy = Excellent - much better than the 2 hours movie.

Heading Christys tonight for bb dinnes.
Will post my SS notes from Yesterday on Leviticus later in the week.

Life is good.

Don

Hi

I have so many people telling me that they check my blog that I must say something more often. We have had a flood in the N.W. More water, snow and freezing than we have seen since we moved here. Basements getting water for us and both our daughters. Nothing major

Am studying for my Sunday School class that I am beginning this week and leading on the book of Leviticus. There is a lot to learn from this book. I may try to keep my notes posted on the blog site.

Barb and I are doing well. Things are going so well for us that we don't see how they could get much better but each week seems better than the last.

Expect to get the parts that go on my Van this week so maybe is a month I will be driving. Barb is not excited about this. If I can't run a chain saw, what makes me thing I can manage a van? We will see. Watch the obit pages.

I bet that Senator McCain may be the most relieved man in America. Who would want the job that Obama now faces.

Best Wishes.
Don

movie reccomend

Great movie that maybe you have already seen - Tender Mercies - much Gospel content.
Don

dec 2008

Our whole crowd was here for Christmas. Three kids, two son-in-laws 5 Grandkids plus Barb and I. Fun to see the Russians-- ages 7 and 9 -- and their excitement for Christmas.
On Dec 24 we had another gang at a community hall - most of our family and all of my
brother's family - about 25 in all. We do this every year.

Nothing newsy to report.

Watched a video last night that we highly recommend - John Q - it is a well made film with Denzell Washington and Robert Duvall and is well-done propaganda for National Health Care. (A great idea but how do we do it?)

Most snow and cold weather we have seen since we moved to Bellingham. Will try to update the blog more in the coming year.

They have strict laws in Maine about hitting animals on the hiway. I recently heard of a man who hit and wounded a pig. The driver thought no one saw him as he drove off. The next day a policeman came to his door with a ticket for $500.

When the man asked how he knew he had hit the pig, The officer replied that the pig had squealed.

Silly jokes cheer me up once and while. I am not seriously depressed - but I do get bored. Can only read so much and the stuff on the TV is awful. Teaching sunday school next year on Leviticus may prove to be a good thing.

The weather has kept us from getting out much but it is warming up today and the forecast is for warmer weather.

May Christ's presence be real to all my friends -

Don

HI bloggers

Big News - Planet Narnia (book title) was published about a year ago. It solves a mystery. For 50 years scholars have wondered about two thing related to the Chronicles of Narnia. 1) Why would as scholar write a book for children? Scholars don't do this. 2) What ties the books together. Aslan is not important in all the books and different kids appear in different books. The author Michael Ward (Website: Michaelward) has solve the mystery. Each book is based on the mythology of one of the seven planets as view my 16th century cosmology. Read the comments on his blog site.
Scores of scholars have read book and they all agree with his interpretation. They says that this work will even more contribute to Lewis's reputation as a scholar.
Apparently Lewis never told anyone about this. The book Planet Narnia is in my opinion unreadable. It is a phd thesis. I have emailed the author and he says a rewrite for lay people is due out next summer.


Free insight about Lewis:
When Douglas Gresham (Lewis's stepson) was asked if he thought Lewis was a genius he replied:
"Oh, absolutely, there's no doubt about that. He was a complete genius. He also was a very fast reader, but he had honed the talent and perfected the strange memory that resulted in never forgetting anything he had read. Now he could, he could ask you to pick any book off of his shelves, and you would pick a page and read him a line and he would quote the rest of the page; in fact, quote the rest of the book until you told him to stop. He had this enormous capacity to remember everything he'd ever read."

This book Planet Narnia is causing quite a stir. The Chronicles of Narnia will be taken a lot more seriously and many may now be reading more of Lewis's other works. The next Narnia movie will be out next summer with more to follow. Hope I live long enough to see the all.

Other news - My sister (Carol) and her husband (Denny) are coming up to visit us from
Nebraska this week end (Dec 6). We don't like them and tried to discourage them from coming but they are coming anyway. They have been here before and we told them not to come back but I think they are deaf and like free food. Denny likes jokes:
A man's wife had just completed writing her first book so he went to get her some flowers and candy to celebrate. The clerk asked if he was celebrating some thing and her told her "Yes, my wife has just completed her first book."
After a pause, the clerk replied "Slow reader?"

We are doing quite well as we approach our two year anniversary of my accident (Dec 16) Life is good again after it not being so good for a long, long time. Still not driving as I can't seem to get any co operation from local mechanics to install hand controls on my Van. We think that life will get better and better as time goes by, at least hit has recently. Care taker here every day until noon. I usually am up the rest of the day and to bed about 10:00. Watch lots of football on the tube. Read, to email and putter at my desk. Football - our washington huskies have the longest loosing streak in the nation.

Interesting note: Plato points out that our conscience speaks out loudly when we are about to do something we know we shouldn't do but is much more quiet about neglecting things we ought to do.

Our grand daughter going to Westmont College in Santa Barbara survived the fire but there was much damage to the college classrooms, dorms and faculty housing - 13 faculty housed burned to the ground. They had a very long Thanksgiving vacation but back to school this week.

Christ is King.

Don
Had a great thanks giving at Suzanne and Jamie's house 24 people.

need visitors

Suzanne here, popping in to say that Dad's van is in the shop and has been for quite awhile, so he can't go out and is getting a bit restless. If you can fit a visit or a phone call into your schedule, you would be a blessing.

end of sept

Another month has flown by. Getting out more and more and feeling much better from week to week.
Movie tonight - "Grace is Gone" a very touching true movie about a Father and two daughters whose wife and mother is killed in Iraq. Getting out this week to a lecture and a men's group. WE get the grand kids twice a week while Suzanne teaches two nights a week at the local community college.

A group of men continue to get together in my home on Saturday a.m. We read books
together. We have been meeting for many years.

Am reading two good books - Fly Boys about the part played by the Navy pilots working off of air craft carriers in WWII. George Bush senior was one of them. The other book Reason for God is by a Presbyterian Pastor - Timothy Keller. He is head of a 5000 member church in New York City and has been involved in starting 100 churches with in New York City. The book is called "Reason For God" and is an intellectual defense of Christianity. It is very good.

You can all send my sister a Birthday card in October (17)
Margaret Holmes
Oakland, Nebraska
(It is a small town)

summer almost over

Hi to all you who occasionally look up my blog.
We seem to be doing better every day. Controls on my Van should be done in f couple of weeks. I am up in my chair now all day with an occasional nap.

I supervised the installation of a Basket ball hoop in our drive way for our grandson Andy today. Now I need to find a basketball.

Just started a new book call Flyboys recommended by an onld college friend.

Barb has made peace with our new life. She and Suzanne and the two grandkids just got back from a week on Vancouver Island.

We have had absolutely beautiful weather for a few weeks so I have been outside a lot.

This gal from Alaska has made quite a stir - who would have ever predicted it?

We are ok and appreciate your thoughts and prayers.

Life is good again because God has made it that way. I wish it was good for everybody.

Don

bad day

Scroll down for blast about the Shack.

Today is great but yesterday was a bummer. I take about 10 pills every morning. Barbara takes them out of bottles and puts them in a cup. We have been doing this for a year and a half. Yesterday we had a pill that came carded and Barb tore it off and put it in my cup reasonably assuming that I would take the pill out of its container. I never look in the cup so I put the pills in my mouth and swallowed the whole thing.

The card was about 3/4 of an inch square with very sharp edges. The pill was inside a little plastic container with tin foil on the back. Of course it got stuck in my throat. I thought it was just a stuck pill so I drank a ton of water but could not get the 'pill' to go down. I called Barb for more water and she brought it and wondered why I was having so much trouble and then asked it I had taken the pill out of the plastic container. I asked "what container" and then we both knew what had happened.

It was starting to hurt especially when I swallowed. We called the doctor and said to head for the emergency room at the hospital. I got there at 10:30 am and got home at 6:00 p.m. with the pill gone. They knocked me clear out for about 25 minutes and shoved a little camera down my throat and them pulled it out with some sort of grabber.

IT WAS AN AWFUL EXPERIENCE.

But I was pleased with the doctor even though it took forever waiting for different doctors and nurses and paper work. All's well that ends well. I am now a little hoarse but otherwise back to 'normal' with no pain.

Getting out a lot lately for different activities.

Best Wishes to All,

Don Holmes

update

We are having absolutely beautiful summer weather in Bellingham. I am now up in my power wheel chair all day some days without getting tired out. Life is truly getting better again. Hope to get my car equipped soon so I can drive and release Barb from chauffeur duty. The grand kids were over last evening and I had hoped to play chess with Andy but I got upstaged by "Marry Poppins". They never get tired of watching Mary and Bert.

Finished "Post American World'. It is our book club book that meets this Friday. I can tell from the book if I should be discouraged or encouraged about the place of America in the future.

Tim is in the midst of negotiations to buy a power boat that sleeps 4. He would moor it near where he works so he could get some solitary time. He works two weeks on and two weeks off, 24 hour days with three others in tight quarters but has lots of free time in between boats and putting our oil booms to absorb oil if there a spill -- kind like a fireman's job. He says that it would be great for the family for he and my two son-in-laws to go fishing and for the new grand-kids to go boating overnight to some of the islands in the San Juan Islands.

Still fuming about the "Shack". The more I think about it the worse it is in my mind. The feminization of the Trinity is just awful. The profound differences between the feminine and the masculine should be respected. We are all feminine before God. We are his bride and He must therefor be best represented by masculine imagery. It stands Christian theology on its head to promote female imagery as approproate imagery for the Trininty.

God is ever-present and we have no complaints.

Don

doing well

Hi - We are doing quite well. Getting out more and more to Church, meetings, kids' homes - they all have ramps except for Tim.

Just finished a book on tape - The Long Walk, a book published in 2006 about 7 men who escaped from a Russian Prison in Siberia and walked 4000 miles in about a year across the Gobi desert and Himalayan mountains to India. It is number 4 on Amazon.

Video - Broken Brides: Great drama on reconciliation.

Very hot here - nearly 90 degrees which in hot for Washington.

There is a reunion this week in Nebraska for my family. I have two sisters in Nebraska. Counting all the kids there will be quite a crowd. My brother and most of his family is going.

Life is beginning to get good again. For a long time I thought is would never happen. I have a caregiver from 9-12 a.m.every day. Neither Barb or I could get along with out them. We see Suzanne's kids quite a bit. I help Andy to read and we play chess.

Will keep you posted about books and videos. I still dislike The Shack even though it is very popular.

I passed my eye test and driver written test so I will be able to drive when I get hand controls put on our Van.

Don

life is good and getting better

Hi -
Friday evening and I am off to watch Jake Locker and the Bellingham Bells play baseball. Greg, My son in law is taking me. Barbara just called for supper so I will add more soon.
Don

The Shack

My summary criticism of the Shack is that the author apparently thinks that Christ came to take away our pain rather than to deal with our sin to make us presentable to God. "Behold the Lamb of God who takes away (not our pain) but our sin".
Scroll down two blogs for more criticism of the Shack. I heard the author speak recently - very sentimental.

UPDATE

For the Shack review - scroll down to next blog

We are doing well. It has taken me a long, long time to get adjusted to this new life.

Getting out 3 or 4 times a week. Going out for dinner tonight. Routines are working and my spirits have been very good. Wonderful to see summer come. Our book club meets next week. Going to Vancouver next week to Regent college where the author of The Shack is having a discussion with the Regent faculty. I am taking tomatoes. I will report the outcome.

Thanks Ira for the long letter and to Dan for the several emails.

Our two new grandkids are a continual joy. They were here all day Friday doing yard work.

Will share our discussion at Book club after we meet Friday.

Don and Barbara

review of a book The Shack - a runaway best seller

The Shack - A very critical review.

Overview:

Mackinzie Allen Phillips (Mac), who has had his young daughter murdered in a shack during a camping trip, is invited by God to revisit the shack four years later. At the shack he is met by the Trinity in the form of a large African woman (God the Father), an Asian woman (The Holy Spirit) and a Jewish man (Jesus) He has apparently been invited to the shack by God to help him deal with the pain of the loss of his daughter. (P.92) There is some attempt by God to help Mac deal with a variety of theological questions.

What do we know about Mac?

1) He was raised in a rather harsh Christian home.

2) Family devotions were tedious and boring.

3) His father had a drinking problem

4) He has been to seminary

5) He is a rather superficial thinker as he never faced up to the problem of the evil in the world until he experienced the loss of his own daughter.

6) He has some familiarity with church and with church beliefs.

The author of the book has declared on a web site that the Mac in the book is really a picture of himself. He has also stated clearly that the book is a book of fiction.

The book, in many ways, is a theological disaster. The first and most glaring error is the feminization of the Trinity. The biblical writers, from cover to cover, all seem to think that the masculine image is the most appropriate image to represent the Trinity. Nobody suggests that God is a man -- only that the masculine image is the best image to represent God. C.S. Lewis says that the whole universe is feminine before God. God gives and the universe receives. Even in sex, the male gives and the woman receives. What justification do we have to declare that the Biblical writers and 2000 years of church history are wrong in preferring the masculine image to the female image to represent God? Any religion that puts the feminine at the heart of the universe rather than the masculine would result in a religion very different from historic Christianity. This is important. (See C.S. Lewis - 'Priestesses in the Church' in God in the Dock.

A second error is the clear assertion that there is no hierarchy of office within the Trinity (p 121-123). The whole New Testament speaks of hierarchy of office. The Father sends the Son, not the other way around. The Son prays to the Father, the Father doesn't pray to the Son. The creeds say that the 'Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son', the Father does not proceed from the Holy Spirit. The author of this book boldly puts words in God's mouth that don't square with the Biblical record. The whole tone to the relationship of the members of the Trinity the each other is annoying. They kiss each other all the time, They call each other and Mac sweetie and honey.

Odd things about the story:

1) God twice refers to the possibility that Macs pants might be or get full of poop (p 88, 121).

2) All three members of the Trinity became human in the Incarnation (p. 99)

3) Suggests that Jesus is physically ugly. (p. 113)

4) States that God the Father has scars on her writs that match the scars on the wrists of Jesus. (p 95)

5) God loves everyone equally but he especially has love for Missy (the dead daughter p 92). He is also especially fond of everybody (119). The word especially loses its meaning if it applies to everyone. Verbal confusion.

6) God is bigger than the Son and the Holy Spirit. (Why?)

7) God cries (p 95) (the author does not seem to realize that there is a strong theological support for the idea that God is impassible)

8) The attempt to discuss the problem of free will is very superficial (p. 94-95)

9) “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me” God explains this to Mac by saying that Jesus was wrong, He was not forsaken, He only felt forsaken. This complex problem is explained away quite simply - too simply.

10) “When all that humans can see is their pain, perhaps they lose site of Me” (p. 96). This is only true if humans have not had good teaching in church. The whole point of the book of Job is that a man can suffer terribly without losing his faith in God. Suffering should not have any effect on a person's belief system.

11) When God tries to tell Mac that He is more than just a large human, Mac says that His explanation does not make much sense. (p. 98) Why not? It’s not that complicated.

12) “When we three spoke ourselves into human existence as the Son of God we became fully human - - we became flesh and blood.” (p.99) Where in the world did the author get this idea?

13) Mac seems to think that we learn truth from our experiences (p.102). This is true if by experience he means thinking but not true if he means his feelings. Mac is a bit weak on thinking.

14) Jesus is clumsy (drops a bowl of batter) (p.104). God calls him ‘greasy fingers”.

15) Mac is very impressed they way the members of the Trinity treat each other. (p 105). “How different this was from the way he (Mac) treated the ones he loved” How?

16) There is a frequent subtle hostility through out the book against theology, seminary, rules, law, obedience, religion, authority, power, judgment, repentance, guilt, responsibility, expectations (p. 112, 123, 148, 158).

17) God uses slang. “Those things will give you the trots if you ain’t careful (p.121). “You ain’t heard nothin’ yet’ “(p 203).

18) Jesus and God the mother are so dense that they can’t understands Mac’s questions about hierarchy within the trinity (p. 121, 122).

19) God is very disparaging of human's ability to determine what is good and evil (p.147). This is theological and philosophical nonsense ( see C.S. Lewis - Abolition of Man and the book of Romans)

20) “power in the hands of independent humans - - does corrupt” Maybe often but not always

21) God is critical of Mac for judging the actions of other people (p. 158). This is contrary to common sense. We are not to judge motivations but are compelled to judge actions.

22) God says that judging requires that you think yourself superior over the one you judge (p. 159). More nonsense. All we need to judge the actions of others is common sense. We don’t need to think our selves superior.

23) Jesus loves people who he had judged worthy of His love (p.163). This is a flat contradiction of God’s grace. We are not loved because we deserve it. He loves us in spite of the fact that we are not worthy of it.

23) Jesus says that he has no desire to make non-Christians, Christians (p.182). What kind of nonsense is this. He has no desire to make people his followers?

24) Mac asks ‘why didn’t you tell me about Missy (the killed daughter) before?’ (p. 176) What has he learned at the shack about Missy that he didn’t know before? We are never told.

25) All the evils of the world are all related to religion, politics and economics. (p. 179) A silly assertion.

26) The Bible doesn’t teach you to follow rules (p. 197), yet Jesus said, ‘If you love me, keep my commandments’.

After Mac’s encounter with God in the Shack the great sadness of the loss of his daughter was gone. Is this a good thing? How would anyone want this kind of sadness to be gone?

Why is this book receiving such a positive response? Because it presents a very mushy and undemanding God, one that satisfies our emotions and makes no demands on our minds. If laypeople were better educated theologically this book would be a colossal flop. If people are being ‘blessed’ by this book, it only means that God can use even bad teaching to a good end.

Apparently the author went to seminary. I wish he had stayed awake in class and would have avoided writing this awful book.

april

not dead yet - alive but not kicking. We are settling in to a routine that will probably be reflective of the rest of our lives. Care givers work we me til about 11:00 or 12:00. Up in my wheel chair til 9 or 10. Watch news and videos with Barb. Fortunately reading has become possible. For a long time I did not feel up to reading - I don't know why but I just could not get interested in anything I read. For the last week or so this has changed and I am now looking forward to reading. It will probably be my main activity in life. We get out as much as we want, Church, shopping, visiting kids and grand kids. Our Van is working fine. Hope to get controls put on the van so I can drive - probably within a few months.

Andy, our 8 year old grand child has learned to play chess well enough that I have to pay attention or he will take my pieces. It is actually fun for me. Juliana, age 6, likes to play and knows how the pieces move but she can't really play.

Hope the Obama beats Hillary and that McCain beats Obama. The talking heads on TV are going wild with over analysis and predictions. We usually watch Rick Steves at 7:00 week nights and his travel series.

Delighted to see summer coming. Barbs flower garden is blossoming and she is anxious to get back to gardening. She loves to work in her garden. I think life is now good again for her and meI need less and less help. I can get in and our of bed to my wheel chair by myself and am perfectly content to be home alone if she needs to get out and about.

In spite of the fact that we seem to be doing better, I can not avoid admitting that being in my situation is a real bummer. I can't complain (who would I complain to?) as millions of folks are a lot worse off than I am in a variety of ways.

Will we travel again? Hard to say as the ideal seem fraught with logistical problems at the moment but we know others do it so who knows.

Will try to let you know when we see a good movie or read a good book.

Don

leap year day blog

Hi my friends -

I am pleased to update all on my blog. Feeling better and adjusting better every day. The doctor today told me that most people in my condition almost feel that life is almost back to normal after a few years and we are beginning to think that it may be true.

We are getting out more and more. I got a new power chair recently that was too big for the lift on our van so had to get another van which we found at a very good price. It is working well. Yesterday we even went to the mall for some shoes. Why do I need shoes? - to protect my toes when I don't drive carefully.

We are getting more and more back into our evening reading when we don't watch videos we get from netflix.

About once a week we get one of the grand kids from Suzanne for an afternoon. They are a handful but we are delighted to have a new set of grand kids in the family.

Greg (Christy's husband) is in the process of turning a closet in my room into a bathroom so I have something to entertain myself in the daytime - watching him. Has to tear out a small wall and then do the plumbing. It bugs me to watch when I would love to help.

We have two care givers that alternate days that work from 9:00 to noon every day. At first I did not thing we would need them but don't see how we would get along without them. Hard to explain but with laundry, meals, daily exercise of my legs (called range of motion to keep my joints limber) assistance to get on and off the commode and assistance getting a bath - it is a load. I have a guy 5 days a week and a nurse two days a week. We may not need them forever as I get stronger and am more able to take care of myself. No longer going to physical therapy as I exercise at home.

Following the election closely - I want Obama to beat Hillery and then for McCain to become president. Newt Gingrich was my first choice but --. Did you hear that Chelsie Clinton asked McCain who he most feared and said "Osama, and Obama and Yo Mama."

The frogs are beginning to peep at night which we hope is a sure sign of spring. It has been an easy winter with little snow and almost no freezing.

How do we survive financially? Quite well - Medicare and our medicare supplement have taken care of almost everything. Our retirement income has been sufficient so we are not going backwards. (Except for today when the market dropped 315 points) We feel fortunate as some folks in my condition have to spend all ther resources and then end up on medicare in a nursing home -- a miserable existence -- I was there for three months before I could start therapy.

Looking forward to Prince Caspian movie which comes out in May.

Best wishes to you and thank you for your prayers,

Don Holmes

We are doing great

Hi to all -
Yesterday I received a new power wheel chair to replace the one that had been given me that really did not fit very well. The new chair is really great - I thank you all who pay taxes as Medicare paid for it - that is you.

We have gotten out a lot lately - Church, mens groups, errands. We are reaching the point where life is good again - a long path, but I think we are making it.

Reading a really great book - Amazing Grace - on the life and work of Wilberforce. Recommend it to all.

Don't really have anything more to write - ask me questions and I will answer.

Great to be alive and to know Christ is present.

Don

update

First blog of the new year -

I have been living in a kind of mental fog ever since the accident on Dec 14 2006. About a week ago I began to wake up clear headed and with a new since of optimism and have felt real good lately. We are getting out more to events in or town, seeing friends, church etc. Haven't felt much like reading until lately. We joined NETFlix so watch videos several times a week.

Watching the race a lot lately. Delighted to see Obama ahead of Hilary but my man is McCain.
Read both books Obama wrote. Fascinating person. He know what life at the bottom is like.

The older grand kids are all gone again. Kara teaching in L.A. Kelli a Junior at Whitworth and Kayti a freshman at Westmont. It was wonderful to have them home for Christmas vacation.

The Siberian transplants, Andy and Juliana are doing well. They added a new dimension to Christmas this year. It is fun to look forward to watching them grow up.

I turn 73 next week and even though I have no legs am delighted to still be in good health. I sleep and eat well. Barb is having some soreness in her legs which she is looking in to next week at the Doctor.

We are doing better as a team to work out how we are going to make our lives work. This is a MAJOR adjustment for the both of us.

We see all of our kids a lots. Doing well - appreciate your prayers.

Don

christmas eve eve

Barbara and I are home, me watching the Seahawks and Barb addressing Christmas cards. We are having a quiet peaceful day before the flurry of activities during Christmas week. The three older granddaughters are all in town. All of Bob's family and our family will all be getting together tomorrow for a Family breakfast. Christmas this year may be almost normal for us. We are adjusting better and are having more good days than bad days lately. Even managed to go out for dinner this week.

Am in the process of getting some wall pulley weights to work out at home so I will not have to go to physical therapy any more. It has been a hassle to get in the wheel chair van and have Barb drive me there once or twice a week. Now I will just have to have the discipline to use it. It is crucial that I keep my arms strong.

Great video of Christy and the kids.

Hope to start raising funds for the International Justise Mission after the first. IJM.Org for more info.

The Lord is Good and we feel very blessed.

Best Wishes

update

Surprise - Surprise - an updated blog - This will be a long one to cover for all the ones I didn't write.

Daily life:

Up about 8:00 - 8:30 for breakfast, pills.
9:00 - 11/12 Hired help.
1) exercises my legs to keep them healthy.
2) assists me getting on the portable potty for any where between 30 to 60 minutes.
3) twice a week helps be get on to a bench on the tub for a bath.
4) helps me get dressed, pants shoes, etc.
5) helps me get into my wheelchair for the day. I use what is called a sliding board to get from the bed to the chair.


12:00 - lunch

afternoons: once or twice a week Barb takes me in our wheel chair accessible Van to the hospital for physical therapy - a rather rigorous work out to strengthen my upper body.

I nap almost every day and people stop by to visit.

See my family a lot. Christy and Greg, Suzanne and Jamie and their two kids and Tim who works two weeks on and two weeks off on a boat. He expects to get his Captain's license any day. Had a big gathering at Suzanne's on Thanksgiving day.

I was one of three speakers at Church a week ago on a thanksgiving theme. Following is what I said:

About the third week I was in the hospital, I received a phone call from an old friend. I was too tired to talk to him so he talked to my wife. He asked her "How is his faith". When Barbara told me this is made me mad as I took it as a kind of insult. What is the world was he asking or implying? Was he curious to know if my injury has caused me to disbelieve in God? Or was he asking if my injury had caused me to disbelieve in the goodness of God or was he asking if my injury as caused be to disbelieve in the promises of Christ. This is silly. My faith and I hope your faith is founded on historic facts related to the life and death of Christ and his promises, primarily his promise that he will never leave us or forsake us.

There is a minister in New England by the name of Robert Farrar Capon who wrote a book called Hunting the Divine Fox in which he relates the following story:

A man was traveling late at night in the middle of winter over a mountain pass when his car quits running. He gets out of the car and opens the hood and sees no obvious problem. As there was no traffic he begins to fear that he may freeze to death when he sees a light coming up the hill. He begins to have hope but then sees that it is not two lights like a car would have but only one light. As the light gets closer he senses that that light comes from a figure and he begins to think that it is Christ. And then realizes that in fact it is Jesus and he is excited. What does Jesus do? He takes the man by the hand and they go and sit in a snow bank while the man freezes to death.

I then asked the congregation to repeat with me three times the promise "I will never leave you or forsake you".

How are we doing? Better but it is not easy.We are gaining hope that we can get our life back.

My over riding emotions are fatigue and frustrations. Living in a wheel chair is more difficult than I imagined but it is getting better. I attend a group that is all wheel chair people. They say it takes about two years to get fully adjusted and I believe it. I still have trouble believing that this has happened.

More blogging later today.

Off to physical therapy

Don

(psst)

(since Dad is not updating his blog I'm taking the liberty of telling you that I am talking about him over on my blog: Adventures In Daily Living.)

Oct 30

Hi Blogger Fans.

I don't write often as there is little to write about. We work hard to get through each day with some good days and some not so good. We watch Videos and read and get out several times a week for therapy. Big accomplishment this week was getting from my chair via the sliding board to the bench in the bath tub for the second time. Funny what makes news. Getting stronger each day from therapy and work at home.

Finished the biography on John Newton. Barb is reading "Inside the Third Reich" which I had read before. 600 pages by Albert Spears who was Hitler's architect and munitions head.

Friends stop by but not too many. Like to visit with friends.

Am taking pills to help my legs not flinch but it makes me sleepy.

Barb is leaving for Hawaii next week so my friends will be filling in.

Did you hear about the little girl who was beaten by several sets of foster parents and when asked where she would like to live said that she wanted to live with the Nebraska football team because they couldn't beat anybody ( My sister in Nebraska sent me that).

In talking to other wheel chair people, they say that it takes about 2 years to adjust to wheel chair life so I will be half way on Dec. 14th. I believe them.

We are doing quite well.

Don

finally

Finally in mood to update.

We continue to adjust to our new life. Still have trouble believing this has actually happened to us and I do mean us as it is huge adjustment for Barb as well as me. Our Van is working out well. Go to out-patient therapy one or twice a week and will probably continue to do so for six months or a year.
They sometimes work me pretty hard to build up my arm strength. I am not in any pain but life is very difficult and frustrating. Nothing is easy.

Watch lots of football and news. Read lots. Just finished a biography of Sidney Potier and John Newton. We joined net flix on the twice a month program.

See lots of our kids and grandkids. Juliana and Andrew are a kick. They are doing great with their language. Barb was fixing lunch for Andy and asked him what he would like. And he said "Anything you fix will be appropriate". A year ago he did not know a stitch of English.

In case you are curious, we have had not had any major medical expenses because of all this. Medicare and our supplement have worked wonderful.. The joys of being over 65. YEH.

We are not church-shopping but are going to visit a church this week. They meet every other week in the evening for a pot luck before worship. On alternate weeks they do community service projects. Interesting.

What you like to hear about in my blogs?

Don

flu shots

Psst . . . just a gentle reminder to get your flu shot, particularly if you plan to visit my parents this winter.

Best,

Suzanne

doing well

Hi to all those in Blogger land. We are still adjusting to the situation. I have developed much sympathy for all who struggle in life. Lots of folks struggle for a variety of reasons. I don't know what God's plan is for all of them is but I know they are not forgotten.

Reading a biography on Sydney Poitier and John Newton. I suspect that I will get a lot of reading done in the next few years. Can you suggest some good books or videos?

With our new van we are getting out some - a good thing.

My family continues to be of immense help so the burden on my wife is somewhat manageable.

Best Wishes to all,

Don

PROGRESS

Nothing but good news lately. We have been getting out more now that we have a wheel chair van. Found my new pair of glasses that have been missing for 10 days. I had been laying on them under the sheet. They are titanium and very bendable so they were still o.k. Been getting good reports from our three grand daughters, one teaching school in L.A and the other two in school at Westmont and Whitworth. Suzanne and Jamie and their two kids are on vacation in Vancouver Island and Barb is going to join them next week for four days.


Have been able to get out side more as the weather has been beautiful.

Has been fun watching a local boy make good as the Washington Huskies quarterback - Jake Locker.

Barb is grateful for the many phone calls and cards of encouragement and so am I.

Just finished reading the Glass Castle - interesting true story about a homeless family and their advendures.

Now reading Ninety Minutes in Heaven about a man in a terrible accident, 'went to heaven for 90 minutes' and his struggle to get his life back.

We are making daily progress in our new life.

Don

doing great

WE are making great progress every day.
We have purchased a Van. I can't drive it but Barb can and haul me around like a sack of potatoes.
It is quite comfortable. I have to duck as I drive in but have lots of head room after I get in side.
It has a very good lift for my chair. WE have been out several times and it gives us a lot of freedom on our own schedule.
My sister Carol and her son Brent from Nebraska have been her for several days. We spent part of the afternoon by a ocean beach with a lunch. It is great to get back to doing regular things.


I fell asleep in my chair and fell on the ground a few weeks ago. Barb was nearby and called my brother and his son to pick me up. I was quite comfortable laying on the ground for 45 minutes.

Read a lot and watch sports on T.V We also rent Videos.

Will try to keep more current with the blog
Don

(missing a Sunday post)

Dad didn't post last Sunday so you didn't get to hear about

• falling out of his chair onto his head
• buying his van
• going in the van to a family party in a park
  

Maybe if he is besieged with comments clamoring for news he'll keep to his 'post every Sunday' post. Just maybe.

It's worth a try.

day by day

Sorry I missed blogging last Sunday - two days late.
Big week last week. The mens group from my church met here on Wednesday. This first time I have been with them since last year. Also the book club met here on Saturday - six couples.

We are hoping to get a Van soon so we will not be dependent on the city disabled bus.

I am sitting up most of the time. It is good to not be so tied to the bed.

If previous blogs have sounded a bit depressing they are probably accurate. We seem to be doing better now but it has taken a while to adjust.

Got to church again last Sunday.

We finished the last Harry Potter book and liked it a lot.

If you have specific questions I will try to respond on the blog site.

Don

update

Still here.
Each weeks gets better.
Went to Costco by myself on city handicap van to get new glasses.
Having our book club meeting here this week. First time I can go to our book club since last year.
We have been meeting for over 25 years.
I am able to read a lot.
Hope we can get a handicap van soon so we are not so house bound.
Spend lots of time in the yard throwing the ball for our dog Emma.
Having quite a number of friends stop by which is much appreciated.
Still don't know what our life is going to be like in the long run.
Need to find some way to justify my existence beside just staying alive - any suggestions.

Don

UPDATE

We went to church for the second time today. Using the public bus transportation to get there.
FHinished the new Harry Potter book this week and was no t disappointed.

Going to out patient therapy once or twice a week. Will probably continue this for a year or so.
They work me pretty hard.

We are getting our routine at home down pretty well and things are better for both Barb and I.

Looking for a wheel chair Van and hope to have something with in a few months.

Have been to two movies lately so we are getting out a bit more.

This whole process of adapting to live in a wheel chair has been a lot more difficult than I imagined. I am up in m wheel chair almost all day now.

Looking forward to a visit from my sister Carol from Nebraska next month.

More next Sunday.

Thanx for your prayersl

Don

Birthday Bash

Much progress this week and feeling great. Saw the HP movie last week and also saw
this week. Had a birthday party here today for four family members. MANY family members here with much noise and conversation.

Life is beginning to get good again. Working on getting a Van that I can drive- hope to have some thing within a few months.

Reading the new Harry Potter book - the last one. Kara, Kelli and Suzanne all have finished it thought it was great.

Spend most of the day up in my power wheel chair. Can get around well in the house and the yard. The Whatcom transportation authority is wonderful. They will pick up and take me home from anywhere in Whatcom County for free. I have been out with them about 8 times and will continue to use them until I get a van.

We have gotten our routine down so it is quite manageable for Barb and I. I think my sister and brother in law from Nebraska are coming up for a visit in August. Very much looking forward to having them here.

Will try to post every Sunday.

Don

doing better

Hi Bloggers

Made my first fun outing (doctor visits don't count) Friday evening with Barb, our daughter Suzanne and two grand daughters to see Harry Potter. I am a big fan of the Potters series.

Also make it to Church for the first time today. It was exactly seven months ago today ( Dec 14th) that I got hurt.

I have felt better and stronger the last few day than I have since the accident. It has been a long and difficult struggle both for Barb and myself. I spend the morning with hired help. Get up about 9:00, eat breakfast that attempt to use the portable potty which is sometime successful and some time not. We then exercise for about ten minutes to strengthen my arms which have now become crucial to getting back to a normal life. I then get up using a sliding board to get into my wheel chair for the day. A sliding board is a piece of wood about two feet long and eight inches with that acts like a bridge between the bed and the wheel chair. I sit up in bed, push my legs over the side of the bed, put the sliding board under my bottom and then with my arms slide into the chair. This used to be real difficult but is now becoming much easier.

I read a lot, visit with friends who stop by, throw the ball for the dog and enjoy the nice weather. Suzanne stops by often and I get to play with the two Russian grand kids which is great fun. My older grand kids: Kelly is home from Witworth College for the summer, Kara is home for a few weeks, Kayti is working at a Berry farm store. I see them a lot. I am getting to the place where life is good again. For a while I did not think it could happen but it is happening.

Several verses from the Bible have kept us going: "I will never leave you or forsake you" "The suffering of this present world are not worth of being compared to the glory that shall be revealed in us."

If you have question I would be glad to answer. I have obviously lots of time on my hands.

I have no idea how I will put my time to good use but am very optimistic about the future.

Best wishes to all and thanks for keeping me in your prayers. I will attempt to update my blog every Sunday.

Don Holmes

pics

There are some nice pictures of Dad on a few of my recent posts on my other blog.

• click here for pics
• click here for video

update from don

Hello to all -
Difficult for me to sit up and type - Balance still not good
so my blog is out of date. It is harder than I expected to adjust to my new life. Everything is hard until I get more strength in my arms. I am able to sit up about 4-5 hours a day and making slow progress every day.
Family has been great. Barb going to Hawaii (Kauai) the end of the month with Christy for a week long well deserved break.

Best wishes to all.
Don

mountains falling into the heart of the sea

God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea. ~Psalm 46: 1-2

finally a note from me

Sorry to be so slow with my first real blog. This is the first day home where I have felt like sitting up out of bed for any length of time. After laying on my back for four months, I get light heading sitting up. Very normal I hear. This have been long ordeal and very difficult for Barb as a full time care giver. She and my kids have been great.

I have never been in pain from the very beginning. A real blessing. I think it will be several months before we discover what our lives will be like. I am now in a wheel chair and learning to adjust. We have hired some part time help to help get on the throne and roll in bed - Have to roll from side to side every four hours to avoid bed sores which can become a serious problem. Look forward to the time when I can sit up most of the day in my wheel chair and read and do stuff on the computer. Some one has given us a power wheel chair so we will have to acquire a vehicle to carry it. Probable a month away for this.

What can I say about the whole process? The three months in the nursing home were tough waiting for the operation to heal so I could get to therapy. Therapy for five weeks was hard but it was the final step before I could get home.

I still have a lot to learn about taking care of myself. It may take quite a while. For the present I sleep a LOT and do exercises to build up my arms.

This has not been a spiritual experience. Getting hurt should not effect a person's beliefs. Nothing has changed. Truth is truth and getting hurt is irrelevant.

Reading a book about Obama. Very interesting person.

Thanks to all who have sent me emails and cards and phone calls. You have all meant a lot to me.

This whole thing in not a tragedy - just a great big nuisance.

Love to all,

Don

dictated from Dad

Hi wonderful friends!

I am happy to be at home and I am trying to make life as easy as possible for my wonderful care-giver, my wife.

In the next days I'll post a long blog for everybody.

Best wishes to all,

Don

every day is better

Every day he is stronger, but we've a ways to go.

Mom is tired. I am tired. Looking after Dad is a non-stop project. If you are considering helping, please do. Specifically, we need people to commit to coming by between 5 and 6 in the evening to put him in his chair for dinner, and then again between 8 and 9 in the evening to get him back to bed. We will need this for the next month or so.

We have hired in help for the mornings from 9-12, and then I go over from 12:30 to 4 with kids in tow. Paid helpers only come for 3 hour minimums, so it seems a bit silly to bring them in for 15 minutes of help.

Helping him transfer is really a matter of helping him stay balanced. It is not laborious, but it is more than Mom can safely do.

Other than the transfers, we can handle his therapies and other needs.

If you would like to help, please email me at chndlrs@msn.com and I will add you to the LotsaHelpingHands website from whence you can sign up for whatever help suits you.

home at last, home at last

Dad ate dinner last night at his own table. His yummy dinner was provided by his lovely niece-in-law Kristi.

Help!

If you asked to be added to the list, you were. I have a whole bunch of you that show up on the "Added but not ever Signed-In" list. You need to confirm you participation by responding to the email that you got. I'm guessing that some Junk Email filters sent the email to never-never land, so I just sent another. Check your inboxes. It should have a subject line like this: [LHH] blah blah blah.

The instructions are easy to follow. Give me a call if you need a walk-through. 398-7687

That being said, we need meals on Wed and Thur of next week. Thanks to those of you who already signed up.

I've never in my life seen my Mom on the receiving end of this sort of help. She is usually the Helper. She is thrilled to hear that dinner is coming.

Through all this, the outpouring of love and support from my parents' friends and even the children and friends of my parents' friends have been a great sustainment to all of us. Even more than ever, I want to be like my folks when I grow up.

Autonomic Dysreflexia

Last time I visited Dad, I learned about Autonomic Dysreflexia.

I'll try to explain it in non-medical terms. Something goes wrong in the body, the sort of thing that would, in a non-paralyzed person, result in discomfort or pain and action to relieve the discomfort or pain. In paraplegics, it can happen that the nerves sends the pain or discomfort to the 'auto-pilot' part of the brain but of course no message reaches the part of the brain that can do anything to relieve the discomfort or pain. Well, the body still knows that something needs to give, so it ramps up its response, basically starting a physical panic response in the body of someone who doesn't have a clue that he or she is in crisis. AD can be life-threatening.

Speaking of life-threatening, did you know that the statistics indicate that if a person survives the first ten days of whatever caused them to become paralyzed, they usually live at least another ten years. The far-and-away leading cause of death for paraplegics is, however, pneumonia, so if you are sneezy and wheezy, don't visit my folks.

Anyway, back to AD; if you would like to learn more, click the link above.

Why am I getting all medical on you? Because many of you have offered to help, and if you are like me, the more you know the more comfortable you are. So I'm just going to share whatever comes my way.

questions you haven't asked, but probably have wondered about.

As we are ramping up (har har har) for Dad's big move home, I thought I'd guess what your questions might be. How'd I do?

What muscles work? What ones do not? Dad has good back muscles. He can control his forward tilt with his back. He has no tummy muscles, so flopping backwards is a problem. His range of loss in the front is about two inches below the nipples.

What about, uhm, er, tolieting? These websites should answer all your questions and perhaps then some: #1 and #2.

Any chance of recovery? Not so much. The neurosurgeon said that the injury was complete, which means that the whole spinal cord was damaged. An incomplete injury means that the front or the back or some part of the cord was not damaged, and those folks have more function than Dad. Dad's spinal cord was not severed, but all parts of it were damaged by the bits of crushed vertebrae.

By the way, lots of folks tell stories about people who broke their backs and are walking again. Therein is the difference between damaging your spinal bones and damaging your spinal cord.

Any chance of improvement? Absolutely. He regularly has twitchy legs in response to his legs being bumped or touched. This is a good sign, even though the twitches are involuntary. Today the therapist was trying to get some good twitches going so that Dad could, on an up-twitch, grab his leg in preparation for moving it off the bed.

Where did he get that fabulous haircut? I did that. Dad can be glad he wasn't my first haircut, featured here. I don't charge anything and I think they both overpaid.

LotsaHelpingHands.com

Dad's website at LotsaHelpingHands is so cool.



Once you are signed up you can log in and see a list of what is needed for each day and where the gaps in. What a great resource!!

Saw Dad today. He is great.

Jamie was talking to someone on the phone tonight and the term handicapped came up in reference to Dad. Jamie said that he has having a hard time getting his head around that word in connection to Dad. I was staring at Jamie slack-jawed. It had never ever occurred to me that Dad is handicapped. Well DuH! I suppose he is. But the thought had not crossed my mind.

Lotsa Helping Hands

Just want to explain a bit more about the Lotsa Helping Hands resource. Here is what can happen:

easy peasy

You email me (chndlrs@msn.com) to ask to be added.

You receive an email that explains how to get set up and includes your special one-time activation info.

You follow the instructions in the email.

You get signed up and logged in.

(Karen McKay and I load the site with all the times, dates, and details of what is needed.)

You peruse the needs and see what fits your skills and time available.

You sign up right then and there.

Think of all the phone calls this will save!!

Why, yes, you could help!

It's time. All those offers of help are about to be called in. Karen MacKay has graciously offered to coordinate the volunteers and is using the excellent online resource LotsaHelpingHands to keep us all organized.

The easiest and most efficient way for you to get on board is to visit the sign-up page and, after agreeing to the terms, clicking on Contact a Coordinator at the bottom of the left sidebar to email me at chndlrs@msn.com. This will send a request that you be added to the Don's Helpers community. After a coordinator adds you as a member, the system will send you an email with your sign-in link. You must use the email to sign in the first time. After that you can go directly to the website.

In addition, Karen may be calling you. :)

Don's Field Trip

Dad got to go home for a couple of hours this week. They needed to test drive the ramp and confirm that the doorways, restroom, etc. were all going to work for him. It was a real treat to see him under his own roof again.

after 7 please

Dad is working really hard every day and has asked that we don't visit him until after 7:00 pm as he needs the late afternoon and dinner hour to rest up. He loves visitors, but do wait until after 7 please.

email update

We are about to close down the notesfordon gmail account as it has served its purpose.

If you want to send email to Dad (and please do) use the link to St. Joe's form in the top right corner of this page. It will get printed and delivered to him, though he will not be able to answer it. I would expect that in May you can start to use Dad's old gmail address and he will be able to both receive and reply to your mail.

If you want to send mail to Mom, she is the new owner of her very own email address and a laptop with which to use it. You can mail her at bjlholmes @ gmail . com -- take out the spaces.

I'll post bigger and easier to see pics of the ramp in the next few days.

pics from the ramp project!

The New Normal

If you haven't been to see Dad yet, or if it has been awhile, you may be feeling sorry for him, imagining or remembering him frail and weak. You really ought to go see him. He is indeed a bit thinner and more horizontal, but his mighty presence is glowing strong and he is getting used to the new normal

The best time to visit is in the evenings.

coming along nicely

Dad is super! I heard him say to visitors today, "I'm okay, this is all just a big nuisance."

I went to therapy with him one day. You can try this. Lie down on your side. Put the lower arm over your head, palm down. Get up without using your legs or your tummy muscles. It's really hard.

Answering his own phone

360/715-6427

One month

Dad has a discharge date. He'll be back home this time next month.

Today the kids and I accompanied him to therapy. We watched and cheered as he moved himself, with only a little help, from lying down to sitting up. You try that using ONLY your arms and chest, no abs, and no legs for leverage. He is making fabulous progress.

It's going to be okay . . .

The last three times I have visited Dad it has seemed like a normal visit, not a lot different than dropping by the house for a chat. He is transitioning from a patient to a person, if that makes any sense. I didn't need to DO anything for him, just share my kids and the news of the day and hear his news.

He happily ate the Burger Me! burger we took him. He is 180 pounds at six and a half feet tall, so he needs fatty high protein foods.

He is happy. He is well. He is strong.

ring ring

Tonight my phone rang and it was my Dad. This is the first time since Dec 13 that Dad has picked up the phone and called me. We exchanged news of the day, just like old times. I cannot possible articulate what this meant to me. It was as if he is moving back into his old spot in our lives.

All Settled In

Dad is so happy to be back at St Joe's Rehab. The staff there are just the cat's pajamas.

The guesstimate is that he is four weeks from moving home. I get all teary just thinking about it.

Moving Day!!

Tomorrow is the BIG DAY! Dad is moving to St Joe's Rehab Center - South Campus. We are all so excited. This is the beginning of the last bit before home.

He can receive email there if you use the St Joe's form. Put South Campus Rehab in the spot for room number.

Dad will be very busy during the day, so the staff asks that visitors wait until after 6:00. He should have a phone in his room and as soon as I know the number, I'll share it.

oops

. . . so sorry about the rather grouchy posting yesterday. If you read yesterday's post on my other blog you'll probably forgive me.

emails

Thank you for all your recent emails. Especially from you NE folks (You know whom I mean).

Just so you all know, neither Mom nor Dad is checking the old holmesdb@*****.com email address. I just spent TWO hours cleaning out the 756 emails that had accumulated in it. I would much rather spend this time playing with my kids. So, if Don and Barb are on your email list for your ministry or small group or whatever, please take them off the list for awhile.

Personal notes, on the other hand, are always welcome at notesforDon@gmail.com.

Farewell to Turtle

Today is the three month marker of Dad's accident and is the first turtle-free day. He is so pleased to be without it. He can now sit straight up without the brace.

It was warm and balmy here today so Dad got to sit outside with the sun on his face for about an hour. He is in good spirits and looks much like his old self, just thinner and more horizontal.

a wee delay

St Joe's is in the middle of a big remodel so they won't have a room for Dad until the middle of next week.

a letter from Dad

From Don:

__________________________________________________________________

Dear Faithful and Wonderful Friends Far and Wide,

Too many people have contacted me by various ways for me to be able to write a personal note. Please understand that your cards, phone calls, and emails have been a great encouragement. I won’t deny that lying on my back for three months has been difficult.

I’m delighted to report that next Wednesday on March 14^th I am scheduled to be relocated to St Joseph’s Rehabilitation Center, if they have a vacancy. I’ve been told that rehab will take between two and four weeks. There I will learn how to dress myself and how to move from bed to wheelchair to car and to take care of myself. I have been in very little pain and my mind is clear and I am very optimistic about the future.

I hope to spend some time raising funds for International Justice Mission.

I do not understand how people who know not Christ endure the hardships in life.

Best wishes and God’s Blessing to all and with tears in my eyes thinking of all of you.

Don

P.S. My wife and family and Emma-dog have been bricks. They have been here everyday.

Counting down the days . . .

. . . to the big move.

On Wednesday, Mom and Dad took the bus over to St Joe's Rehab Center for a tour. As soon as Dad's turtleshell comes off -- sometime next week -- he is ready to transfer. St Joe's is the last stop before home.

email

Dad's email address is still notesforDon@gmail.com and he still loves to get email. (hint-hint)

Turtles we love, and one we are weary of

My favorite kind of turtles are the ones with pecans and caramel and chocolate. Certainly not the plastic kind with Velcro straps that my Dad will be wearing for another two weeks.

Yes, please come visit

Dad is doing rather nicely these days and welcomes your visits in the late afternoons and early evenings on weekdays and about anytime on weekends. He is very much looking forward to transferring to St Joe's in about two weeks.

A good patch

Dad is in a good patch nowadays. My dear cousin took my germy kids for an hour-and-a-half and I got to go see Dad. He has had a good five days: sleeping, eating, and doing therapy well. His spirits are good.

Tomorrow he will go by ambulance to Harborview in Seattle to see his surgeon. The surgeon will determine whether or not it is okay to take the turtleshell off. Once the turtle is off and Dad can do three hours of therapy, he can transfer back to St. Joe's and start his "Going-Home" work.

Dad looks forward to, and welcomes, visitors. If you would like to see him, please do. Around 7 in the evening works best for him, but some other times (especially on the weekends) also work. Just give me a call at 360/398-7687 or 360/920-4699.

A better day

Mom called to report that Dad had a much better day. He used the beazy board to both get into and back out of the wheelchair, he sat in the chair for an hour and a half without getting dizzy, he did an hour of his arm exercises, and he ate. I even got to talk to him on the phone for a minute or so and he sounded much improved.

all the news

Dad informs me that it was not a kidney infection, merely a UTI. Sorry for the misinformation.

He has not had a particularly good week. His tummy is upset (probably the antibiotics) and he is not eating well. He weighs just a tad over 200 pounds now. If you are praying for him (and we do hope that you are), please pray that his appetite and taste-buds would be renewed. It is very hard to see him so thin.

Weekend Report

Dad had a hard weekend. He was nauseated and feverish and generally ill. Turns out that he had a UTI that ended up as a kidney infection.

I got to go in last night to see him. Bear (his dog) went with me and was very cuddly and well-behaved. Dad and I got to have a nice long visit; these are rare for me as I usually have small people in tow.

The Official Word

Mom called this morning to report that Dad met most of his goals last week.

Every morning he shaves and brushes his teeth by himself.
He puts on his own shirt.
He puts on his pants with moderate help.
He can roll from side-to-side unaided.
He can sit on the edge of the bed unassisted (!!) for five minutes.
He can lean on his elbow on one side and then transfer to the other side with a little help.

I do wish I could see him.

Poor poor me

I've had a cold for the last week and have not gotten to see Dad as bearing germs into his room is a big no-no. Apparently he has had a terrific week, chatting and partying all hours. Everyone says that he looks great and is better tolerating sitting up and is general perky and engaged. Everyone says they've had lovely visits with him.

So, the reason you haven't had any posts to read is that I've been very busy sitting on my pity pot.

Change in Visits

They have revamped Dad's therapy schedule such that he is all tuckered out at 4:00. His new window for visiting is after 7:00 in the evening. If you scheduled a 4:00 visit, don't be surprised if we call you to move or cancel it. Sorry about the changes; Monday brought him a new regime.

Visits

Dad is now ready for visits, but no more than one visitor a day. He has asked me to arrange his visiting calendar, so if you would like to go see him, please call me. His visiting windows are around 4 pm or after 7 pm.

My cell phone is 360/920-4699 and my home line is 360/398-7687. If you call on my cell phone and the connection is sketchy, please redial on my home line; I have dreadful reception at home.

If you want to make arrangements before 9 am or after 9 pm, please use email: chndlrs@msn.com .

There are three questions that he tires of answering, so we've put them in the FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) column to your left.

Super Saturday

Had a great day with Dad today. He was reading the newspaper when I got there and sustained active conversation about the greater world for a full three hours. He ate most of his dinner, feeding himself and occasionally commenting on how tasty the food was. He really does seem to have entered a new phase of daily improvement.

Tuesday

Dropped by to see Dad today and went home singing and smiling. He is perky and slept well and was nibbling a little on snacks. He is nearly six weeks post-accident and seems to be gaining on it daily.

Turtle Shell

Inquiring minds (well just one actually) have asked about the turtle shell. Here is an illustration that is similar to what Dad wears. It helps hold him up as his spine heals. They did surgery on Dec 16 and at that time said "3 months", so we are expecting to be done with the turtle shell mid-March.

Friday Update

Got to see Dad today. He was sitting up and joined in the every-other-week care conference. Goals for the next weeks include getting him up in his chair twice a day for at least an hour-and-a-half each time. You've no idea what a big deal this is. Sitting exhausts him, but the only way to get stronger is to do it, so he is facing weeks and weeks of having to exert himself whilst wanting nothing more than a good nap.

An hour into the sitting, his blood pressure was 106/60, which is really good for him.

Wednesday

This is the time of the week that I don't get to go see Dad much, so all my news is second-hand. Mom says, though, that he appears to have turned a corner and is sleeping and eating well more often than not. Tomorrow will be the five week marker of the accident, and we've been told that for healing ribs, week four is the worst, so it is nice to get that behind us.

Mom and Dad have asked me again and again to thank you for your cards and letters. You may never know how much your notes mean to them. Reading the daily mail is the highlight of the day, and we portion out the readings so that they last the day. Thank you (and keep 'em coming).

Monday

Yesterday I spent the morning and early afternoon with Dad. He ate a lot and was awake most of the time. He very much enjoyed, and is still enjoying, all the birthday cards and emails.

We ended up taking Bear, the younger border collie, to our house and Emma travels with Mom to the nursing home each day. When I stopped by this evening, Emma was snuggled up with Dad in his bed. Right now Bear is sleeping on our daughter's bed, so the doggie situation seems to be resolved.

Still no visitors please. Thanks.

Weekend Report

Many apologies for the lag in posting. It's the first week of school for me, and even though I am only doing some administrative work, it all adds up.

Anyway, thanks for the deluge of cards and emails. Dad had a huge pile of birthday greetings.

Every day he is a little stronger and can do a little bit more. Little being the key word here. He is definately moving in the right direction, but it is slow slow progress. Fatigue and lack of appetite are the big hurdles right now.

He is not receiving visitors at all. When we are there with him, we don't talk much, just sit and hold his hand and fluff his pillow. Occasionally he is chatty, but it is a rarity which we are, frankly, hoarding.

Again, thank you for the cards and letters. They are a great blessing.

CS Lewis

Included in The Collected Letters of C.S. Lewis, Volume 3: Narnia, Cambridge, and Joy, 1950 - 1963 is a letter written to Dad by C.S. Lewis in which Lewis answers three questions that Dad asks. The book was recently published and Dad was right pleased to find that his letter had been included. Dad had donated the letter to the Marion E. Wade Center at Wheaton College (his alma mater) about 40 years ago. For your reading pleasure, I'll try to borrow the book and type in the letter -- as well as the reconstituted questions to which the letter responds.

Tuesday Newsday

The sparkle is back! Dad had a great day and his big round green eyes had sparkles in them when we visited tonight. It was indeed a high-tide day.

Random Thoughts

In the first weeks of Dad’s paralysis, I kept thinking how awful this was, how could such an awful awful thing happen to him? As I’ve visited with the other families that we met in the hallways of the various hospitals and wards, I’ve come to see that paralysis is not the awfulest thing ever. I’ve chatted with a woman whose Mom can walk around, dress herself, eat, listen to conversations, but she cannot produce language. Her stroke damaged the part of the brain that makes words, so she can’t talk to her family. I think that is more awful. This morning I met a man whose Dad, just like ours, was busy and active and then boom! a stroke, and out went the lights. His Dad’s body is frozen, but healthy, and his mind is fragmented. This is more awful.

I know it sounds as if I am taking comfort in the fact that others are more miserable, but it’s not that, really. I think it’s that paraplegia is more rare, so we perceive it as more dreadful. But these families that have weathered strokes would probably trade places with us in a heartbeat. Dad’s mobility is changed, but his person, his intelligence, his humor, his fortitude, all the parts that make him the man we know and love, those parts remain.

On another topic, please don’t worry when you read that he is weak and tired and that weensy ordinary things (like eating or chatting on the phone) wear him out. This is normal considering how much trauma his body has endured and how recently he was injured. Most of the people who come in to work with him comment on how well he is doing. Today he is feeding himself and tugging his own covers and initiating taking a drink. He could do none of this a week ago. So, yes, he is indeed weak and tired and is not taking phone calls and is shooing visitors out. From a medical point of view, this is normal at this stage. It will pass.

And on a third topic, whenever I talk to him he asks about emails and his dogs. I know that most of you cannot help with the dogs, but you can email. Big thanks for the ones that arrived today. notesforDon@gmail.com .

Friday's Care Conference

On Friday we met with the care team and outlined the expectations for the next few weeks. This upcoming week they will be working on getting Dad into his turtle brace every day and then raising the head of the bed up so that his sitting tolerance can be improved. The following week he will work on sitting on the side of the bed and eventually moving into a chair for sitting. Sitting is the key to everything: healthy breathing, self-care, etc.

Emma and Bear

Do you have a fenced yard and long for some doggish activity? We have two lovely border collies that need some temporary housing as their current home-life is rather lonely. If you could help us in this way, you would be giving the blessing of peace of mind to mom and dad.

Private Room

Dad was moved into a room without a roommate this evening. This is much better for mom as she has a place to put her things and can nest a bit. He had an off day today, not much energy and not much eating. His vigor seems to ebb and flood like the tide. We are hoping that tomorrow is a high tide day.

Birthday on the Horizon

A week from Friday (Jan 12) is Dad's birthday. Let's deluge him with birthday cards.

Don Holmes
c/o 6017 Medcalf Road
Bellingham, WA 98226

I put my address instead of Mom and Dad's as I didn't want to broadcast their home address across the worldwideweb. However, if you know their home address, feel free to use that.

Don't worry if you have a hard time knowing what to say in the face of such a profound life change. It's left many of us rather at a loss for words. But who doesn't like being remembered on their birthday?


Dad started feeding himself and is eating reasonably sized meals and is able to do a few things for himself (pull up covers, adjust pillow). He was just too weak up till now. Every day he is significantly stronger than the day before.

email

Dad's new place does not have email. If you want to send him notes, you can send them to notesforDon@gmail.com and I will check his mail and print the emails and take them to him.

And on a completely unrelated topic, this afternoon I spoke with one of Dad's old friends who did not know that this last fall we adopted children in Russia, so the cute quotes in Russglish that I had shared had made no sense to him. So, in case you didn't know, our children's first language is Russian and they are learning English.

New Year -- New Location

Even as I type Dad is getting bundled up to move to his new place, the Alderwood Park Convalescent Center. This is a place where he can regain his strength and let his ribs heal before moving back to St. Joseph's for rehab.

He is sleeping well at night and eating a bit more every day, so we are headed in the right direction.

We do need to ask that you refrain from visiting at this time. We are all looking forward to entering the next stage, the one in which visitors are the highlights of the day, but we are not there yet.

Sunday

A reasonably good day. He ate fairly well and rested quite a bit. He welcomes your phone calls (though he only lasts a few minutes) but is not up to visitors quite yet. There will be weeks and weeks in the nursing home in which your visits will be a great blessing, but we are not quite there yet.

Saturday

I think it is safe to say that Dad has weathered the rough patch. He sat up for two hours today and ate most of his lunch and dinner. The contrast between Thursday morning and Saturday morning is remarkable.

Fabulous Friday

Wow. Dad is so much better. We are so appreciative of the good nursing care and attentive doctor care and your prayerful care and God's faithful care.

Grands

Last night the little grands (my kids) got to see Grandma and Grandpa for the first time since the accident. They handled the hospital environment quite well and were delighted to see their family. When we got in the car, they both said, "Thank you for hospital" and at bedtime reiterated, "Thank you Mama for Dedushka y Babushka (Grandpa and Grandma)." We talked a little about how sad it was to see Grandpa with Ouch. Andy said, "It's okay. More bolshoy (big) sad, no see Grandpa."

I'll resist cluttering this blog with my cute kid stories, but I thought this was so sweet.

Thursday Evening Update

Well they added a few quarts to Dad and his anemia is looking less alarming and the antibiotics seem to be helping his lungs as they no longer sound like a coffee percolator and best of all he ate a good part of his lunch as well as his dinner, so some of the day's anxieties have lessened.

Thursday News

Dad is in a rough patch. The medical team members are concerned about anemia and pneumonia and are taking preemptive measures. He is weary and we need to ask that you do not call the hospital or come to visit at this time. He needs to sleep.

It has been decided that he is not ready for rehab. He needs to get his strength back and let his ribs heal. We expect him to move to a skilled nursing facility sometime next week and then come back to St Joe's rehab in late January.

Wednesday

Well what do you know? The "Here-Have-Some-Pain-Med" nurse is out of the picture and Dad's appetite has returned.

And Even More Tuesday News

Dad is all settled into his new room at St Joe's South Campus. He is all tuckered out from the move.

Though they are looking forward to visitors in the next few days, they are not quite up for it today.

When that changes, you'll want to know that visting hours on this floor are from 4:30 to 8:00 on weekdays. I'm not sure about weekends.

More Tuesday News

Moving today to St Joe's in Bellingham (!!!!!!).
Not receiving visitors.
Not receiving phone calls.

I'm at home and getting the news second-hand, so I'm really amazed by this. I'm trying to figure out if this is good news or bad news.

edited at 1:10 pm to add that I think it is good news.

Tuesday News

Not moving today.
Not receiving visitors.
Not receiving phone calls.

Dad is really weak and is not eating. He was eating pretty well until the weekend. I personally think the weekend nurse gave him too much pain med, as when that arrived his appetite fell off.

Merry Christmas!

Posting from Bellingham:

The news of the day is that the chest tube came out yesterday (it was draining all the internal ick from the damage inflicted on the tissues by the jaggedy broken ribs) and that tomorrow or Wednesday Dad is expected to move to the Rehab center at the Pacific Campus of Providence Hospital in Everett.

Sunday

Well, we are all happy and excited here. The discharge nurse dropped by today, which was a pleasant surprise as we thought that we wouldn't hear from anyone until Tuesday. She says that he can move on next week. We are waiting on two things: an open bed in Everett and the chest tube coming out. We've found a very hospitable B&B for mom. The proprietress was a rehab nurse and is very welcoming.

On my way to the hospital this morning, I was walking in a daze and missed my turn. I ended up in front of an Episcopal church and was greeted by a friendly deacon. To my surprise I blurted out, "do you bring communion to the hospital?". They do. They did. We had a very small service bedside.

Dad's got the bed all situated so that he can watch the game. Mom and I are feigning interest, but I don't think he is at all fooled.

Saturday

Today Dad snoooozzzzzzzzzzzed. It was a day of rest for him, napping nearly the whole day. He was awake for a few visits with friends who came by and was clearly delighted to see them. The highlight of his day (and Mom's) are the emails and phonecalls and visits. If you call, don't be sad if he can only talk for a few minutes. He savors the call for hours. So, a big thank you for encouraging and uplifting my parents with your thoughtful attention.

We are in the process of deciding where to do rehab. Of course, all the people whose job is to advise and inform us are out for the long weekend. Our choices are Providence Rehab Center in Everett or Harborview. The medical team here says that either one would be good, so we are trying to figure out the other elements. I think we are leaning towards Everett as we have found a nice place for mom to stay and it is much closer for visitors from home. If you have any experience with either of these rehab centers, do let us know.

Friday

Posting from Harborview Hospital

I am back in Seattle again, officially on duty as grape juice dispenser and fluffer of pillows. It is so good to see how much improved Dad is after four days away. The post-surgery mental furriness has dissipated and his color and spirits are good. The big adventure of the day was sitting in a wheelchair. First Dad got to sit in it, which tuckered him right out. Then we got to sit in it. I haven’t figured out yet how to do a wheelie, but I’ve got the 360 degree fast-spin down.

Tomorrow we will receive a few visitors (please call first if you are thinking of coming 360/920-4699) and generally hang out. Tim is here for the weekend, which is a joy to us all.

As soon as Dad’s chest tube is out he will graduate out of the acute care ward and into the next milder level of care. At this point we can probably get a better picture of where and when he will start rehab.

A week ago today

A week ago today, at about this time, Dad had his disagreement with the tree. When he arrived in ER, and for quite awhile after, his blood pressure was 50/33. How bad is this? See this chart. His core temperature was 80 degrees. How cold is this? See this article.

We are so grateful for the grace and mercy and generosity of God that He spared Dad's life; we are grateful for Greg and Jamie, for searching for him until they found him; we are grateful to the medical team for their skills and tenacity. Join us in our evening prayers of Thanksgiving.

Still a good thinker

Dad had his cognitive assessment today and passed with flying colors. This does not surprise me, but it is reassuring to hear it from people with credentials.

Today his projects include sitting up, napping, chatting with family, and the grand finale: transfering to a wheelchair and eating his dinner sitting up. He'll be exhausted, but every day he can sit a bit longer.

The Future

On Monday before I left Harborview, we got to talk to the rehab doctor. Of course he was reluctant to make any promises for this particular patient, but we asked him if, for patients with this sort of injury, what we had pictured for the future was a reasonable expectation. He said "Yes."

So we are expecting that other than using a chair and having a rather complicated way of handling waste products, Dad will be able to live a relatively normal life: go to church, go to grandkid's sporting events, go to movies, do many of the things he loves to do. There will be a hard transition period, and certainly some pieces of the old life will not be coming back, but the new life can be pleasant and rewarding.

He and Mom have requested that, as soon as he is medically cleared for take-off, he be transfered to Bellingham for rehab. No one is willing to predict how long this wait will be. My secret (well not secret if I post it here) hope is that he will be back in Bellingham by his birthday, January 12th. They will start rehab and physical therapy at Harborview of course, and then move him when it is appropriate.

I'm still mustering up the energy to describe our experience at Harborview. It was rather a trauma unto itself.

Evening News

Posting from Bellingham, so this is all second-hand news.

Mom and Dad called this evening, absolutely thrilled to receive 17 emails as well as a handful of snail-mails. If you sent one, know that you have richly blessed my parents.

They also report that Dad sat all the way up today for 15 minutes. Every morning and evening he will sit up for a wee bit longer and they hope that tomorrow he can eat his dinner in a chair. Sitting up greatly reduces his risk for pneumonia, which is the last major risk he is facing.

What Happened?

Here is, as best I know and likely with many small errors, what happened.

Sometime after 1 on Thursday the 14th of December Dad went out to either cut a tree or cut a branch off a tree. Jamie and Greg seem to think it was a tree, Dad says it was a branch. I haven't been there yet. The cut split (?) and bucked back (?). I really don't understand this part, but guys that cut wood seem to know what that means. Anyway, a large piece of tree fell on Dad. Apparently it heard it coming and wisely turned away. I just now realized how grateful we should be that he didn't get tangled up with his chainsaw at this point.

The tree hit him mid-back, a bit more to the right. He was knocked out and lay in the cold and the rain until he was found sometime between 7-8. According to the hourly report of weather for that day, it was below 40 degrees the whole time he was there, and then jumped up to 50 when the famous storm blew in around 8:30. At first glance I thought, "how sad that it didn't get warm until right after Dad was found". Then I realized that that is one more thing to be grateful for. But we are getting ahead of the story.

Somewhere between 6 and 7 Mom called us as she was worried she couldn't find Dad. Hours earlier she had blown the horn for dinner (they have fog horn they use to call the dogs or to call Dad in if he is out on the land somewhere). He hadn't come. She had looked around the obvious places but couldn't find him. His car and billfold were there. They had planned to go to Kayti's concert that evening. So, either he had left in someone else's car, completely forgetting to tell Mom and forgetting that they had plans, or he had been injured such that he couldn't respond to her calls. I relayed this to Jamie and he put on his coat and went to search.

Jamie and I thought Dad had probably been up on a ladder or something and had fallen and possible rolled downhill and/or tried to walk down hill to the nearest neighbor's house rather than uphill to his house. So Jamie searched the back pasture and the orchard and the field. Finding nothing he searched the house, the attic, the garage, the barn. When Greg (Christy's hubby) and Bob (Dad's bro) arrived, Jamie and eliminated the house and their land. Jamie and Greg searched the roof. They stood in the driveway, flumaxed. Greg noticed an extension cord crossing the driveway and wondered about it. They followed the cord with the spotlight. It left our property and went down the hill, what we used to call the trail to the woods, but is now the shortcut used by residents of the trailer park at the foot of the hill. Very far down the hill, the spotlight found the chainsaw stuck in a tree. Below it lay what appeared to be an unliving body. Jamie and Greg rushed over, of course, and to their amazement, Dad turned his head and looked at them. Jamie shouted up to Uncle Bob to call 911.

Greg reports this conversation:
Dad: "Who are you?"
Greg: "Greg"
Dad: "Who?"
Greg: "Greg Hart. I'm married to Christy."
Dad accepted this, so he appeared to remember her.

The ambulence came and got Dad loaded onto a back-board. I had already called over my dear neighbor to be with the kids so I could join the search, so I had my coat on and was heading out the door when Jamie called me to say that he was found. I asked if his life was in danger; Jamie said he couldn't lie.

I got to the hospital right after Greg and Mom. Not a one of us was allowed back to see him. The chaplain came. This should have been a clue. At this point we thought Dad would be discharged that night or the next day and we would all scold him soundly and he would take it easy over Christmas. We didn't know that he was so badly damaged. The chaplain acts as liason between doc and family. She was kind and helpful and very gentle as she kept having to bring us a little more bad news. Dad's core temperature was 80 degrees; they were having trouble warming him. He had a collapsed lung with lots of fluid and blood. They were taking him to a full body CAT scan to check his internal organs. At one point they told us that after CAT scan he would either go to surgery or to ICU. I think this is when we realized that he wouldn't be home over the weekend.

So, they moved us up to ICU waiting room. We had a long wait and lots of fretting. At this point we thought that the hypothermia was the big deal. The charge nurse assured us that they felt confident they could get him warm. They were pulling his blood out him, heating it up, and putting it back in. It was working. She mentioned that the neurosurgeon on call was en route. This should have been another clue. I guess I didn't want to hear it.

We were sitting in the ICU waiting room when a tall doctor came in.
Doc: "I'm sure you know about spinal injury."
Us: "No, this is the first we have heard."
Doc: "Blah blah blah 6th vertebrae blah blah no chance of recovery." (I'm not hearing well at this point.)
Me: "What kind of timeframe?" (I'm thinking he just told us dad is dying.)
Doc: "????"

So we get it straightened out that he is not dying, just paralyzed. So the paralysis news hits me at least as good news.

So Dad gets settled into ICU. We get to see him. He asks what happened and is incredulous that a tree would have the nerve to hit him. Out of the blue he says "But I didn't have my chainsaw with me." "Yes Papa, you did." He doesn't yet know. Later, the hospital tramua liason, a very kind man, explains to us the surgical options: St. Joe's or Harborview.

Mom and I spent the night at her house. We dozed off around 4. I woke up at 5 and went back to see him. He was awake. The first thing he did was ask if I knew the worst. The morning Doctor had told him. He was fairly resigned to it, though deeply sorrowful for the impact it has on Mom and the rest of us. He particularly grieves for the change this will incur in his time with his little grandkids. Here is one of my favorite pics of one of their favorite pastimes.

In the early afternoon they helicoptered him to Harborview. That will be a new post.

send an email

You can send Dad an email at the hospital. It will get printed and delivered to him. I don't know his new room number, but he is on 7East.

settled in

Dad graduated out of ICU today and is in a regular room with a door and only one other patient in it. He ate a bit of real food today and seemed to enjoy it. His spirits are good.

I drove home tonight and am dead weary. I'll try to post more tomorrow.

Evening Report

Posting from Harborview

Dad was fitted for his turtle brace, which he'll get tomorrow. Our old friend Tom Lane came down and prayed with us. Cousins came by. And then, much to our surprise, my sister's old Young Life leader is a nurse our on ward.

Dad started the day on a lot of pain med, probably too much as he is so unaccustomed to any sorts of meds. He fuzzed in and out of the day and I think the nursing staff has a better feel for how little dope it takes to have a big impact on him.

We were blessed today by visits from friends and family. If you are thinking of coming, wait a bit. He'll be here awhile and he'll be better able to converse with you and relish the blessing of your visit down the road a bit.

Sunday

Posting from Harborview Hospital

Dad is doing great. Everyday that doesn’t bring pneumonia or other complications is a good day. Because of the rib injuries, deep breathing is painful. But deep breathing is necessary for keeping the lungs fully functional. So we help the nurse periodically harass him to inhale strong and deep.

We expect him to be in this ward one more night. It is a one patient / one nurse ward, so he is well tended, but it is very public. There are 24 patients in this room. The more traditional ICU unit is full-up, so the Post-Surgery ward is serving this function for Dad. They expect him to graduate to “acute care” tomorrow, but we don’t know if this will be a new ward or an actual room. We of course would love for him to have a room.

Today he will be fitted for his brace and as soon as it is on he can sit up. At that point the docs can better assess his readiness for rehab.

Good Tidings

Dad is out of surgery and nothing bad happened!! and it was much shorter than expected!! and because it was short he didn't swell up so it is likely that the breathing tube will come out much much sooner than predicted. We are so grateful.

They used steel plates to connect vertebraes 3 through 9 so that Dad can sit up. They expect to sit him up tomorrow. Because he has a small fracture on one of the vertebraes on his neck, he will be in a neck/torso brace for 3 months. This will probably be a blessing to his many broken ribs.

We are all giddy with relief and exhaustion.

Here is the link I promised to my Aunt Donna: The Inn at Virgina Mason.

Saturday

Posting from: Harborview Hosptial

Dad went into surgery at about noon. The surgeon says 4-5 hours. The anesthesia staff said 12-15. We are averaging the estimates.

It is expected that he will be too swollen to remove the breathing tube until 24 to 72 hours after surgery. This means that they will continue to do his breathing for him and that they will have to keep him sedated it in order to make this work properly. So he will be groggy and unable to talk post-op; definately ICU. We are expecting that he will be down here for weeks healing and learning how to live his new life.

Please hold mom up in your prayers, as living away from home during this is very draining. We are staying in a lovely inn a few blocks from the hospital. They have a shuttle service to the hospital which we really appreciate. Even so, home is better for restoring one's fortitude.

The surgery, as I understand it, is to tidy up the bone fragments from the crushed vertebrae (#6) so that they don't make trouble elsewhere. There is a teeny tiny hope that this surgery would mitigate (only a little bit) his condition. My personal prayer is that it would lower the line of loss (current midchest) to 6-8 inches lower, which would give Dad the use of his abdominal muscles which would help him a lot. The medical staff, here and in Bellingham, have been consistent in telling us that even this little improvement would be statistically rare and not to be expected. So if you are thinking that the surgery will make him walk again, this is the reality check. Do join me though, I ask, in praying that it restores some useful muscles.

Surgery is in the basement where we get no cell phone service and no internet. We come up to the entrance to check messages now and then.

Do feel free to post or email your questions. I'll answer as I can.

We are clearly in a crisis and I keep wanting to call my Dad and have him come swooping in to the rescue, or even to just talk me through it. It's so weird to have him not in his role.

nightly update

surgery is in the morning

It took forever to get him out of ER -- he got in in the early afternoon and into his ward bed at 11:00 pm. Harborview is full to saturation with people that, in the big power outage, opted to use charcol brickets to heat their home. The halls, the rooms, every part of ER is full, one family per bed.


Greg got us a room at a lovely place - turns out to be the last room in the city as refugees from power outages have filled them all. We love GREG!!!!!

Dad is in good spirits. Weary.

We are off to bed.

Hard News

Dad had an accident while cutting down a tree. It bucked (?) and hit him hard. He must have seeen it coming as he had the presence of mind to turn away so it hit his back and not his front. He has crushed many ribs and damaged his spinal cord. Here is the conversation that Dad reports:

Doc: You've broken your back.
Dad: Broken my back? Does this mean I am paralyzed for the rest of my life?
Doc: I'm afraid so.

We are grateful that it is midback, so Dad has his arms and will be able to self-mobilize with a chair. He is feeling plucky and at peace.

He's just been airlifted to Harborview hospital in Seattle for surgery to fuse his spine so that when he does get to sit up he is not flopsy. I don't know when the surgery is: tonight, tomorrow?

I'll post as I can.