Month: November 2024

Big News and A Fun Fall

Time for another update!  First, the big news…news that some of you know and some don’t, so I get the joy of sharing it again.

Our daughter, Andrea, came over one day with a gift bag for us.  I was puzzled as I took out this framed picture.

Puzzlement turned to pure joy as we realized what it meant.  As Aaron says, “We’re going to have another baby!!”  We’re so happy and so thankful for God’s great blessing.  

Then several weeks later, another surprise.  We were given a pumpkin and inside…well, see for yourself.

Now Aaron tells everyone, “We’re having another baby.  My sister is having a GIRL!!  I’m scared to have a GIRL!!”  🙂 

We’ve been having a beautiful fall.  We got to introduce Ryker to the fun of jumping in leaves. 

Then Aaron wanted to lead us on a walk around our neighborhood pond.  It was really a precious time of Ryker happily following Aaron, and Aaron turning around to keep an eye on Ryker. 

 Ryker now says Aaron’s name fully and clearly.  He absolutely loves his fun Uncle Aaron.  And Aaron is responding with more interactions and smiles.  We do not take this for granted.  All of us are so very happy and thankful for the loving progress that has been made.  

Another very fun event was taking Ryker trick-or-treating in our neighborhood.  We didn’t know if he would wear his outfit, but he did, and he loved every minute of it.  Of course, this Gramoo was smiling from ear to ear at our adorable little cow!

But another precious part of the evening was that Aaron really wanted to go along.  He wore his Pharaoh costume from two years ago and was as eager as a young child.  

I wondered if anyone would question it when they saw a bearded, balding man at their door.  Thankfully, everyone was kind as could be and Aaron had so much fun. He and Ryker going trick-or-treating together was just another very sweet time.  

Aaron turned 40 this month!  He doesn’t see the significance of that at all.  It’s neat that age doesn’t mean a thing to him.  He doesn’t focus on the fact that he’s the oldest in our family and he doesn’t compare himself to his siblings in the sense of life events or accomplishments.  That’s a real blessing indeed.

I have mentioned thankfulness in this blog several times.  We truly are thankful for every blessing, for every step of progress with Aaron, and even for the steps backward that are an inevitable part of Aaron’s life.  

We are forever grateful for the love of family and for the joy of time together. Thankful, too, for friends like many of you who love and pray for us. 

 And for the certainty that God will guide us in each day and year ahead.

Hurry and Wait!

I’ve written before about how hard it is for Aaron to wait…for anything!  It doesn’t matter if he’s waiting to go to his day group in the mornings, or to Meals on Wheels on Thursdays, or to go shopping, or to watch a program with me, or to eat a favorite meal I’m fixing…waiting is not his strength.

As an example, one night Aaron didn’t want to go to sleep until I came up to bed so that we could do his nighttime routine.  

“Mom!” he said, “when are you coming to bed?”

“I don’t know,” I replied.  “I need to get done with some things, and it’s still early.”

“Well,” he responded, “when you’re done with doing things and it’s done being early, when will that be?”

Oh Aaron.  

He is not easily deterred.

This past Friday night, Aaron was in a tizzy as he was both excited and anxious that his friend Barb, along with her two daughters and a good friend, were coming to take him out for his birthday lunch.  

He wanted to know what time they were coming and then re-affirmed the time over and over.  He talked about where they would eat, what he would order, who was coming, what time should he get up in the morning, etc., etc., etc.

As I was drifting off to sleep, thinking that maybe, just maybe, I would soon hear his steady SLEEPING breaths on the baby monitor on my nightstand, instead it was:

“So first I’ll take my shower in the morning and then I’ll drink my coffee.  Then will I have time to watch a movie, Mom?”

“Mom?”

“Mom?”

 I sure do get plenty of deep breathing exercises.

The next morning, Aaron did take a shower, and he did drink his coffee, but he did NOT watch much of a movie.  Instead, he followed me around the house and then outside as I did some straightening on the porch and in the yard.

He finally got some of his energy out by rocking on the porch, but he is able to multitask, as in talking about waiting while he rocks.

“I just want Barb to come real quick,” he said.  “But she won’t be able to come real quick, right?”

“That’s right,” I replied.

“She just needs to take time, right?” he added.

“That’s right,” I numbly answered.

It was quite for a hopeful minute.

“Does she know how to get here?” he questioned.

I assured him that she did.

He dug in his pocket for his pocket watch.

“It’s 10:43,” he informed me.  “That means it won’t be long till she’s here, right?”

I wanted to tell him that it would be longer than I wanted it to be, but I didn’t.

More deep breathing exercises.

He finally went to sit under the maple tree and crunch mulch in his trash can.  This helps him relax and unwind.  

You have no idea how tempted I was to join him and see if it might do the same for me!

Ahhhh!  Blissful quiet!    

“Mom!  What’s the car of Barb look like?!”

Dear Aaron!

He was beside himself with excitement when the car of Barb pulled into our driveway.  

And he was every bit as excited when the car of Barb brought him home.  He bounded in the house with lots to tell of what they ate and of shopping and of all the goodies he had been given.

We love that these sweet friends gave Aaron a very happy day.

It truly was worth the wait, and not only for Aaron.  

No Water! No Deal!

Wednesday morning seemed just like any other morning until my husband stepped out onto our back patio and discovered water bubbling up into our back yard and between our bricks on the walkway.  Oh boy!

Gary was able to cut the water off at the meter and line up a plumbing company.  They came, did a lot of looking and some digging and some poking and some figuring.  Then we did some questioning and some signing and some down payment paying…only to be told that they couldn’t get to the job until the following Tuesday.  What?!  

That’s a LONG time without water!

So, we did some calling and some discussing and some cancelling and some finding of new plumbers.  

We also did some filling of large water containers that Gary wisely has had on hand for just such emergencies, turning on the water just long enough to get the job done.

The new plumbers came the next day and got right to work.  They worked late, digging and examining in a trench that starts in our back yard, wraps around the side of our house, and ends near the street in our front yard.

There were bumps along the way, like damaging a sewer line that thankfully was an easy repair but meant no flushing all day Friday.  TMI, I know, but I’m just being real.  And it was getting real bad!  

Location services had to come out more than once to correct mistakes they made in locating the cable and other lines.  That’s comforting, right?

The workers were so nice and a pleasure to have around.  They worked very late Friday night and were able to get our water back on!  You can guess the first thing I did.  Actually, it was the first three things I did…flush our three toilets!!  And clean like a mad woman!

The plumbers were coming back on Saturday to hopefully finish the job, but heavy rains during the night and all day Saturday put a stop to that.  Now the trench is full of water and the continuing rains leave us unsure of when the work will be completed.

But we have water!!  And more importantly, Kansas has gotten some MUCH needed rain.  We are not complaining!

As this all progressed, we were concerned about how Aaron would handle it.  Having no water is a huge deal, and huge deals are often a no-deal to Aaron.  He surprised us, though, with how well he did.  He was intrigued with the digging and getting to see the pipes under the ground.  The workers were so kind to him.  They got a kick out of his excitement.  The supervisor even saved the ruptured piece of pipe to show it to Aaron and explain what had happened.  

But by Friday morning Aaron was close to being done with all the no water business.  I knew we were near a boiling point with him when he told me that he was NOT letting me have any of his Halloween candy like he had promised the night before.  

And to finalize his decision, he added:  “I am NOT making a deal with you, MOM!!”

Imagine my surprise when later he walked in the room and laid this on the desk in front of me.  

He chuckled and rubbed his hands together.  

“We don’t need a deal,” he said.  

“You want me to have this?” I asked.

“Yes!” he answered.  “Eat it!” 

He understood when I told him I would wait…that candy first thing in the morning is too much for me.  

All this situation with having no water, though, has made me think about something that has been on my mind a lot since the horrible hurricane damage in the southeast.  I have thought and thought about the impact of such terrible personal destruction on those with special needs.  

How on earth are they surviving?

How are families handling the upheaval and its effects on their special family members whose whole world has been turned upside down, destroyed, and perhaps forever gone?

My friend in western North Carolina talked to me about her daughter who has autism, how she stepped up to the plate at the beginning and was so helpful at home and with neighbors.  But as time went on it was getting harder and harder to handle the constant pressure and stress of routines being completely disrupted and of doing things not normal for her.  Then come meltdowns and anger, which are terribly difficult for the family already dealing with more difficulties than imaginable.  

I have wondered what Aaron would be like in a situation like this, where everything he knows and expects and demands is gone.  I can’t even fathom it.  A couple days without water and he was approaching the done point.  Imagine everything being gone for weeks and weeks, forever even, and what that would do to him.

Imagine the untold number of families in these areas whose special children or other family members are enduring just that, a million times worse than our small inconvenience.  

So many special needs individuals with so many needs that are special to them.  Needs they can’t control but that must be met as much as possible.  

How they need our prayers!  

Let’s not forget them.