Leaps and Bounds

OK ... Mom passed "blog control" back over to me for this evening. We (Chip and family) drove over to Athens to visit with Dad today. What an amazing sight to come off the elevator onto the 5th floor to find Grandaddy there in his wheelchair with a grin on his face!

We moved into their dining area/activity room on the fifth floor and enjoyed some time with him. He smiles and laughs, and as reported earlier, the evidence of his surgery is slowly disappearing below a new crop of hair. It was wonderful for us to see him once again in familiar clothing ... he was sporting red and black despite the rough evening we had yesterday with the Dawgs and South Carolina.

Dad is doing remarkably well with his therapy. While we were there, we could tell it was difficult for him to sometimes finish a thought, but we were confident he was taking in all that we were saying and doing. After a while, he turned toward his room and that was our signal that he was ready for his afternoon siesta. We got a chance to meet his roommate, who was very nice and about to be discharged, and visited a short while in his room, complete with his own personal TV swiveling around on an arm above his bed!

Mom said he was dressed and in his wheelchair sitting at the doorway of his room when she arrived today, and let out a huffy "Well ..." as if to say "I've been waiting ... where have you been?" She said he also took a stab at his first Sudoku puzzle, which is a daily favorite of Dad's. She took a gander later and it appeared he was completing it slowly, but in order. AWESOME.

Jimmy and Brenda (Mom's brother and sister-in-law) visited with Dad later in the afternoon, and Skeeter and his son Bucky visited after that. We stayed in town long enough to have dinner with Mom and visit with her a bit once she got home from the hospital. As we were driving out of Athens, I got two simultaneous text messages from Bucky and Skeeter. They tell a fantastic story:

From Bucky: Leaps and bounds of improvement with Grandaddy today!

From Skeeter: I just had a 3-hour CONVERSATION with my Dad.

Praise God ... for all of it!