Catholic Family Vignettes

She’s home.

Not our home…her home.  A single week of recuperation, the majority spent in two separate hospitals, in two different states…many consultations with specialists and therapists…appointments for follow-ups and assessments…and a new prescription:

Rest.

Her ability to rest is a miracle in itself.  That she walks, talks, breathes, smiles, laughs, weeps, rages, loves and lives is a wonder.  There is no way to discount the severity of her injuries, yet it’s easy to do so.  To look at her, talk to her, you’d never know that anything had ever happened.  Her face is as lovely as ever…her body is whole.

But inside her head…structurally and cognitively…there’s much to overcome.  Physically, she must wait to regain hearing in her right ear, while waiting for the partial facial paralysis to diminish.  Yet, with God all things are possible.  She received the sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick from Father yesterday and within hours she experienced a peace of spirit she hasn’t had in sometime.  Her frustrations seemed less obvious, the outbursts, at least for now, are subsiding and I pray will soon be gone, all together…

She needs to rest.  Just rest and allow her poor skull and brain to continue the healing process.  Soon enough, she’ll begin therapy and slowly begin to return to daily activities.  I’m hopeful that her ability to see the big picture will return in full and she will realize just how very close to death she was.  85% of patients with her injuries are fatalities…the remainder are comatose or suffering from surgical interventions and great disability.  She has been spared so many things, but the future still holds much uncertainty…

…but isn’t it the same for all of us?  At any moment, all that we consider “fixed” can change.  To quote Meredith:  “I always knew what I was doing, how I felt, how my body would be…all of these things seemed fixed.  Until they weren’t.  It’s hard to know what to do next, but I’m going to try to sort it out.”

Sorting it out while she lives the new “normal.”  We’re sorting it out, too.  This has been and continues to be an emotional roller coaster.  Heights and depths; twists and turns.  Her family is at the ready, here to support and encourage her as she tries to make her way through this labyrinth…I only wish it weren’t from such a distance.  For now, I’m praising God that she does have her grandparents and sister close by…that she has friends who have promised to help and encourage her.   She wants nothing more than to enter the field of nursing.  She will do so with an entirely different perspective, I’m sure.

Thank you so much for your prayers and support.  This has been, quite frankly, the most trying experience I’ve ever undergone.  I feel emotionally and physically spent, wondering how on earth I can get back into the swing of home education and full-time college.  Once again…with God, all things are possible.

I’ll be leaning on Him, resting and trusting that all is according to His most holy will…

Blessings,

Kimberly