Jennaishealed.org

Well I should have updated this when it happened, but I failed to do so.  A few months back Jenna was moved to her OWN apartment thus working on increasing her independence and autonomy with her eventual return to home as the eventual goal.  It was absolutely fantastic because we got to go visit her every weekend because we got to stay with her, thus avoiding the expense of a hotel.  I was so excited it was ridiculous, and seeing her every weekend was awesome.

Unfortunately, the rehab center declined to renew the lease on the apartment and they returned her to a group setting again.  She will only be there a couple more months but it was a great disappointment to hear that she was being moved back.  There was nothing we could do about it since the rehab center has control over that.  I will leave my bitter comments about Corporate America effing over the little guy  for a fatter bottom line for another venue.

In any event, we *are* preparing to bring her home.  It will be SO nice to have her back again.  We miss her terribly and if this goes the way we all hope it will go, she will have a person to stay with her during the day and take her to therapy appointments.  Most importantly, it will bring this whole thing full circle again.

The accident ripped our family apart, and more than anything I have wanted to put it back together again.  In the mean time I have kept Jenna’s name and image ringing in Cooper’s ears in her absence and taken him to see her as often as is possible.  Mostly for Cooper’s sake because he deserves to have a mommy, and so help me he’s getting his back again.

Like I said right now we are working through the details of bringing her home and setting up the funding so she can be safe at home while I work.  The goal has been October of this year for a while now and we all cannot wait!  It is hard to describe what a joy she is to have around.  Her personality just shines and she is hilarious to boot.

In other news Cooper started second grade today.  I took pictures and videos so Jenna can see it also.  That is one thing I need to do more of, shoot videos of Cooper so Jenna can see more of him, more often.

Work is good, Cooper had fun at his Day Camp all summer, although the last couple of weeks it was so damn hot they spent a lot of the days inside watching movies.  Not what a summer camp is supposed to be about but oh well…

More, later!

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…

Took Cooper again, and had a lot of fun.  At least he did.

Actually it is extremely satisfying to have Cooper and Jenna together.  She has missed out on him so much that the normally precious moments every “normal” parent so deeply appreciates and cherishes, are a thousand times more precious for Jenna, and myself as the person who kind of has to remember them for her.   But just walking around a grocery store with Cooper waving his little styrofoam play sword ($2 at the dollar store, go figure) and just being “Cooper,” and having Jenna there to watch and absorb it, is something akin to bliss.

We got there in the middle of the afternoon and drove up to our hotel in DuQuoin, IL, about 20 miles up the road from Carbondale.  This was due to Carbondale being booked for something at SIU most likely.  We just stopped in to check into the room and so Jenna could go to the bathroom, and asked at the front desk for a good local restaurant to try as a break from the whole chain restaurant (Cooper loves happy meals) thing.  Anyway it was a nice little place in downtown DuQuoin, which itself was a nice little old-style downtowny area.  I forgot my camera otherwise I’d post pics.

Saturday we had breakfast at the free continental thing at the hotel and then went to the “Castle Park,” which is becoming a regular tradition for us, spending the balance of the day there.  Dinner was at the local MickyD’s, where Cooper enjoys the play area.  In case I haven’t mentioned it in the last five seconds, that kid is EXTREMELY social!

Sunday we left a bit early so that Cooper and I could meet up with a friend in Terre Haute and meet his six -year-old son, and get a little tour of the town.  It was a nice little tour and some interesting possibilities were talked about.  Thanks again Jaime!

Unfortunately Jenna has already lost her new $250 glasses, but we are hoping they will turn up asap.  We wont be able to visit again for a few weeks due to financial constraints, but are looking forward to it whenever it might happen.  Jenna did very well this time, and Cooper is very much looking forward to going back, as am I.

Drove down with Jenna’s parents and Cooper for a few-hours day visit on Easter sunday.  Hunted eggs, and Cooper ran around the “Castle Park” with yet more new friends.  That kid is EXTREMELY social, and loves to play with other kids.  I may have told this story on here before but back when he was about 3 years old, my mom took him to a take-out Mexican restaurant to pick up some food.  As she went up to the counter to order and pay, he finds another family, grabs a chair from another table, slides it over and sits down with them, just chatting it up like nobody’s business.  I wish I was that non-shy when I was his age!

Anyway Jenna was fine, she is really doing well.  We are still working on getting her to be more independent in preparation for her coming home.  She is supposed to do her own laundry, etc. (I may have mentioned this before.)

Going back this weekend for another visit, with Cooper.  Was going to go the weekend following this one but Cooper has an all-day field trip that friday and that would mean we’d get there at night and he’d be exhausted.  This way we get there in the early afternoon and can enjoy the rest of the day together.  Downside is that the next visit will be at a greater interval away due to financial constraints mostly.