Jennaishealed.org

But we are going to rise above and kick ass!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abnormal_posturing

Lately I have been working on her to get her to write everything she does down.  The problem is that she doesn’t realize how impaired her memory is, and thinks she is getting better so she doesn’t actually have to do any work.  I’ve been working on her over the phone to disabuse her of that notion but it continues to persist.

This morning I think we made a little progress.  After discussing (sometimes a bit harshly I admit) it at length with her this morning, she called me back a few hours later and read me a whole list of all the little things she had done since our last phone call.  It brought a huge smile to my face because she is actually doing the work that is going to allow her to come home full time, for good.

What I tell her is that her full-time job is to WORK on getting better, not just sitting around waiting for it to happen.  My “spritual journey” has gone full circle through all of this, but one thing has stayed consistent with biblical teachings, and that is that the Bible never says that God helps those who help themselves.  That is a myth and a lie.  The Bible actually says that God helps the helpless.  Jenna is not helpless, so she is on her own.  She can do the work that it is going to take to get her out of the CCS facility and back home with her son where she belongs.

I tell her that I will never give up on her as long as she never gives up on herself.  The moment she does that, I’ll do the exact same thing and just leave her there.  Its harsh but effective.  Today’s little litany of her activity since this morning is evidence of that much.

I love Jenna and will do anything and everything its going to take to get her back home with her son, including kick her metaphorical ass when it is needed.  The beautiful part is Jenna is at the point now where she can rise to the occasion and kick back.

I love this girl!

Cooper and I have moved out of the inlaws’ house (finally, thank God), out here to a friend’s “farm” in Rosedale, IN.  It is a tiny little hamlet outside Terre Haute, and the house sits on nine acres of land.  It includes a gigantic backyard the size of a soccer field, a largish horseshoe-shaped pond at the bottom of a gentle hill (behind the soccer field), and a number of outbuildings.  My buddy has a ton of project cars and other fun stuff to do.  We can go shooting in the backyard since we are outside of city limits, there is a gas-powered golf cart to ride around on, among other things.

The house itself is this pretty big old farmhouse, and Jenna got to visit out here last weekend.  It was absolutely AWESOME to have her here. It was a wonderful, peaceful visit over the weekend.  It was a bit of a drag having to go get her on Friday, then take her right back on Sunday, but hopefully we can get longer home visits in the future.

Jenna did very, very well.  The only issue she had was trying (and failing) to remember the layout of the house.  Jaime (new housemate) had a ton of people over to help work on one of the project cars (1989 Helios Blue VW Jetta 16v identical to the one I had in Alabama, and was blasting the music out in the garage.  Jenna and I were sitting outside the garage listening to the music and just hanging out.  There were also a bunch of kids there, and a lot of other activity, all of which Jenna tolerated very very well.

We are going back to visit on Friday the 11th, and hopefully Carbondale isn’t hit in a 8th-anniversary attack.. Something tells me we’ll be safe in the middle of bumblef*ck southern Illy…

Not tomorrow, but soon.  Her birthday visit was awesome, and made it clear to everyone involved that it’s time to prepare for her return!  This is awesome news!!!

She still has some issues to work on, but the major reason why she was/is in the CCS facility was the fact that her bipolar condition blazed out of control after the brain injury.  I lived with this condition for three years, dealing with constantly recycling rages of anger and screaming, until it got to the point where I literally could not take it anymore.  I had been driven into the brinks of insanity myself, from which I thankfully recovered.  It took a good year+ to come back from the brink of hell but here I am.

Anyway the birthday visit was fantastic.  Just about everything is going as best as can be imagined, with minor hiccups along the way.  I am starting a business in addition to working in a not-for-profit law firm that helps people of modest means.  Right now I am just a mostly-unpaid intern but things should change by the end of this month, and I’ve branched out with a side business repairing broken iPods and laptop computers.

Cooper and I are going to see Jenna again next weekend and will be sure to love her as much as possible.  I tell Cooper that our #1 job is to love his mommy.  He is such a sweet little child.  Just an amazing kid.

More later!

Best part is I get to go get her and bring her back to Indy for five days.  Due to medicaid rules, she can’t be away from the facility for more than five days at a time, and only on special occasions like holidays and the like…Anyway, I’m cleared (from work) to go get her this coming Tuesday, then I have to have her back in Carbondale no later than Saturday at midnight (I’ll really have to have her there by bedtime which is about 9-10pm as her evening-time meds knock her out pretty fast, plus I gotta four-hour drive back to Indy that night).<p>Ima leave at about 4am Indy time to get there about when she should be waking up, then bring her back to Indy by about lunchtime or early afternoon anyway so that we have the rest of the day to hang with Cooper.  If I could rig his carseat to recline more so he could sleep in the car, id consider bringing him, but the car (1991 BMW 325i) is pretty small (and his seat is pretty huge) and there’s not much room as it is.I’m excited!