Giffords

In the last few weeks this name has become common in homes across America and the Globe. I don't know how many people are on the edge of their seats wondering what is going to happen with Representative Gabrielle Giffords, who was hit with a bullet to the head. Reading the articles day after day to hear about her recovery steps. One day she is able to open her eyes another she can hold herself up in a standing position. Today she is leaving the hospital to fly to a rehab center in Texas. I am sure your heart aches for her, as mine does, and that you pray for her and hope the best for her.  I am also sure that you can see where I am going with this blog. Will is not too far off from what she has and will continue to experience. Life will go on for her associates and friends, but it will stop for her for a while.  Life will also be strained for her family for awhile.

If I could have sometime with her family-- what would I say to them. Will it tear them apart, will it pull them closer together. Will there be an end to her recovery, will she be the same person she was when all is said and done. Will she ever heal from the emotional wounds from that fateful day.  I don't know what I would say to them. I would hope that in the weeks and years ahead they will have faith in her recovery. I pray that they will see that there are some endings but many more beginnings. I hope it will not tear them apart. I hope it will help them to have greater love for one another, even when things don't work out exactly as planned-- not at first at least. My heart does ache for Gabrielle Giffords, but I don't think she'll wish away what happened- already she can see how her unintended sacrifice is bringing a community and nation together. Her pain and struggle will bring her and those around her to their knees more often. I would never wish such a difficult situation on a person, but I certainly would never wish it away.

As for Will's update he is a trooper lately. He is busy 100 percent of his waking day. Applying for jobs, and recently Physicians Assistants school, studying for a radiology test he needs to take to get a limited practice license, preparing speeches for his toastmaster class and of course continuing to study for the boards (which he has to take next year to meet the deadline). On top of these of course he continues to volunteer at the clinic, in a lab on U of U campus, and at the temple at least twice a month.  As far as his recovery- I admit I wonder how much is actually happening-- is he really recalling more information every day and organizing more of his activities, etc… These answers are not always black and white-- but I do believe he is still recovering and I know he will do amazing things with his life. I think I've said it before, but I believe a lot of his recovery is about our faith and less about what will eventually come to be. If we give up than maybe his recovery will stop. There is not time to look back -- so Will and I do our best not to look behind us and to keep moving forward. And for those reading this blog, keep dropping to your knees to ask for miracles, because I know they will come, both in your lives and our own.

Some recent highlights

So I haven’t written for a while and I guess there are a few things I should talk about. First of all, I guess you should know, my wife, Summer, broke her ankle the other day. Actually it was on our anniversary, the 30th of December. She was clearing the snow off the car and was almost done when she slipped on some ice. I actually found her a little later and brought her inside. At first we didn’t think it was broken, but as the day wore on it became more apparent to her that she needed to go to a doctor. When she did decide to go I was in Salt Lake so she had her Mom take her. Fortunately, she came back without a cast, but she does have a boot or brace for the next six weeks.

Now, as far as I’m concerned, the big thing that happened to me was that I had a residency interview in Ohio last month. I stayed with Dan Hecht, a friend of mine from when I was a med student. The interview was at Ohio State and I feel pretty good about it, unfortunately, I still have to get another interview, for years two through four, for me to actually have a place. Hopefully that will happen soon.

Concerning Benjamin, he is doing great. We are still waiting for him to roll over, but we expect that he will roll over soon. That’s the hope anyway. One thing he did do today was, while we were at church, he actually put his binky in his own mouth. Normally that’s something we have to do.