Baby steps

As all you dedicated readers know, Gilly arrived home yesterday. He found the whole experience rather challenging. He felt disoriented, and started to take stock of his situation. Luckily, his nephew Evan was here in a flash (he detected my concern from a distance, Lord knows how) with Grandma (Gilly calls my mom this) and our ray of light, Keren.

Gilly expects a lot from himself. Evan encouraged him to take baby steps, and in time he will resume many of his previous activities. It's next to impossible to hold this guy down for any length of time, so I'm sure he will face his physical challenges head on, one obstacle at a time. Evan, Keren and Grandma soon grew into Fred, Yaron, Tamara, Max and Rosanne. We huddled together and surrounded him with our love and support.

I'm relieved to report that after a delicious bath and a long, restful sleep in his favourite water bed (with his favourite wife, of course), the world seems a lot brighter.

He had an offer for a visit from Keren's dad to cut the rest of his hair to match the shaved spots. He accepted with gratitude, and so the next photos may reveal a new fashion trend.

A Gilly anecdote: He was feeling very down yesterday as I mentioned. I asked him if he would like to have full reign of his movements around the house. This was just the ticket to begin the dialogue of what he was thinking (a feeling of being held hostage in his own environment). I asked him where he wanted to go, and he replied, "Downstairs." This is really his domain.

Well he recently fell all the way down that staircase before we knew what his problem was, so I was being sure to keep the door to the staircase closed. I hesitantly agreed to walk ahead of him if he promised to slowly descend. He was down in no time, scouting out his office, answering a few business calls and listening to me read his email messages (eyes are still not up to par). He wanted to remain there alone, so I asked him 3 times to promise he'd call me when ready to ascend. "No problem", he said. A few minutes later he magically appeared at the top of the stairs, sauntering into the kitchen with assurance. I admonished him for failing to call me, and he simply grinned and said, "Oh well, I'm here, aren't I?" Now this was a normal Gilly response!

Did I mention that he made me coffee yesterday? Well today, he dressed in a flash and started to study his handiwork. He is contemplating how to continue and eventually complete his amazing work.

For those who are unaware, he broke down a good part of our wall between the kitchen and diningroom a few months ago, and was almost finished laying the bricks to complete the livingroom when he had to fly off to Bahamas, and then Africa. He's SO close to completion that it drives him crazy. This may need to be a family project, becasue we won't be letting him take control of power tools anytime soon. Excuse the pun, but grouting together may be a real bonding experience. As Tamara keeps telling us, "When life gives you lemons, make lemonade." Look for a stand outdoors in the near future. He'll probably build it himself.

So I will try to add the 3 pictures I took of him this morning. Suffice it to say that rather than staring blankly into space, only speaking when spoken to as he did yesterday, today he is now puttering about, trying to remember phone numbers, where the coffee filters are, and details of all sorts. He is concerned about all the work he has left to do, and this may push him to get busy in some way or another. In our 24 years together, he has nver NOT been busy until now, so wanting to again is a good sign, I believe.

Continue calling and visiting (remembering that he tires around 8:00 P.M.) and be sure to call first, because we may go out at some point. He's itching to visit the fruit store where the 'gang' knows his name (you know, like Cheers). He wants to thank them personally for the enormous basket of fresh fruit and other goodies that made his hospital stay that much more tolerable.

More news tomorrow. Have a great day, y'all!