Perception

I'll start this blog on a soap box and end up on Will's recovery (With a couple of blueberry comments mixed in of course). My soap box. This morning I was listening to a talk on William Tyndale. He was a scholar and protestant who lived in the 1500's, who despite death threats from the catholic church, went into hiding to translate and publish the bible into english so it could be available to the common people. While this is an act of heroism, in his day it was a perceived to be an act of "throwing pearls before swine." He was thrown in jail for a year and a half and then hung and burned at the stake.

Truth is something worth fighting for even if those around us don't always see it. In Ohio, and here in Utah, Will has received some ugly, and not true, marks. He has been perceived to some doctors as not caring and uninterested in becoming a doctor. However, in an interview Will had this week he was deemed overqualified for a lab position that could give him more experience and lead to continuing his career as a doctor. Perception right now is killing us. Many reading the blog may have the impression that I am the driving force (seeing as I am the vocal one ;) Well the truth is I have asked and almost begged him to let this go. To move onto a different career. It's too hard to get back in. His deficits too great. Will knows and I'm guessing the followers of this blog know that whether I am married to a janitor or a doctor it doesn't matter. All I want is to be with Will and for him to be happy. But Will refuses to let go. His love for medicine and to work in the field of medicine has only grown since the stroke. He also once said to me "What kind of example would I be to our children if I gave up, we want them to learn the value of hard work…"

So the next question is -- why such a discrepancy in perception. Well I am going to hit you all really hard on the head with a cast iron -- I mean really hard ;) And then ask you a lot of questions and expect high performance and clear answers. Meanwhile, don't close your eyes while I am talking to you, and whatever you do Don't try to sleep off the jolt. That is not acceptable in the "real world" we have to be vigilant and anxious at all times or we're not successful. I know I am being dramatic. But I hope the drama has created the effect I was looking for. Will is and continues to work himself out of a daze. Instead of a cast iron, Will's brain was deprived of oxygen for more than 13 hours. The fact that he is alive is a miracle in itself. Him taking more than a couple of years to recover is exactly what I expect, with so traumatic of injury. So will he ever fully recover is the real question we're asking? The good news is we still don't have to rename this blog. Will seems to come out of his daze more and more every day/week. It is harder to see the change. Much like at first as a child they seem to change weekly but by their late teens it is hard to identify physical changes as readily. Will's recovery gets more difficult to describe, but I can guarantee the doctors in Ohio who saw him a half a year ago would see notable changes. He is just more with it now. His logic and ability to describe situations is more dynamic. Will is recovering. He is not 75 and at the end of life. He's 32 and just beginning. His brain has great capacities to heal-- just watch the blog you'll see great things happen :)

So the blueberry comments I promised-- I've posted a picture of my ever growing belly. Meanwhile, Will's smile is also ever growing with the approach of the birth of his first child. We will find out May 11th if we are having a girl or boy. My guess is it is a girl and Will's guess is that it is a healthy baby. So I hope Will is right and I imagine I've got a fifty percent chance of being right. We're soooo excited to be parents, despite financial hardships I can't imagine not having this child come into our lives at this time!

Sincerely,

Summer

Biking in Colorado

So last weekend Summer and I went with her sisters and there husbands and families on a bike riding trip to Colorado. The trip started out with almost being canceled. Derik, Summer's brother in law, who was pretty much planning the trip called us up at 11:00 the night before we were supposed to leave to tell us that he couldn't go because he had to much work to do. Well, that of course was not acceptable so we worked on it a little bit and it ended up that he could go. We just had to leave a little later than we had originally planned. In other words we got to our campsite at about 1:00 in the morning. Anyway we all slept well that night and the next day after a delicious breakfast prepared by Summer we were ready to hit the trails. Well almost. I, unfortunately, had the misfortune of having a flat tire and so while the rest of the group went for a ride Summer and I went into town to find a bike shop. We did and were able to get my bike in working order in time for the afternoon ride. The afternoon ride was great, the first half was uphill and then it was downhill with some great scenery. Unfortunately, just before we reached the downhill part of it, Tyler, my other brother-in-law, got a flat tire. It was kind of more than a flat tire, a small explosion maybe. Anyway, Summer was nice enough to offer to let him take her bike and walk back with his. Part of her willingness may have something to do with the little blueberry (baby) inside of her. So with that we finished riding the trail and then found Summer at the end of it. After that we went back to camp and had a delicious dinner and played some games before retiring. The next day Summer and I went with Tyler and Cami around the lake and then we took off for a picnic and relaxing ride home.

The first four pictures are from the trip. The last two, however, are from a recent hike Summer and I took up Waterfall canyon in Ogden.