"Go West, young man, and grow up with the country"
-John B.L. Soule (1851)
We crest the steep hillside as the evening's soft light begins to dance shadows over the rolling foothills. Bold, Malbec-coloured clouds spill themselves across the inky sky as the endless, snow-laden peaks blush and stagger in a joyful, drunken dance. Inside the warm cocoon of our vehicle we stare, transfixed, until the light show fades behind a shimmering curtain of stars.
To my right, wide-eyed with wonderment, Riley greets each familiar bend in the road like a long lost friend. It is his first trip to Canmore in years, and he is savoring every moment! The silence is punctuated with his exclamations: "spectacular"..."even more beautiful than I imagined it to be"..."unbelievable!" We are headed West, as a family, to spend New Year's Eve with my mother, sister, brother-inl-aw, niece, and nephew. It is a favourite tradition, but one that Riley has been too ill to participate in for years.
2013, a New Year, and one ear-marked for recovery and renewal! The miraculous progress Riley made in Kansas has held and he has been slowly improving since his arrival home. With his tenacious spirit and the addition of physiotherapy (at home presently but he starts a rehabilitation program this week...January 14th) , Riley has now walked outside for half a mile; made his way up and down three flights of stairs; tied his shoes, put on shirts and done up the buttons, and showered standing up unassisted! He has been to a quiet evening church service, watched fireworks, attended a theatre production of A Christmas Carol, and hosted a guy's movie night.
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| Winter Walk- Downtown Calgary |
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| New Year's Day walk in Banff with Grandma Lindberg |
It has been heartwarming to watch Riley reconnect with family and friends. He received the following e-mail after a recent visit with close family friends Carmen and Jim:
" Words cannot describe how we feel. It was wonderful to see you, to lay eyes on you after all this time. You seem so fully 'Riley'...it took my breath away!! Your inner beauty shines through so brightly, as it always has...it is so very apparent to me that far better things are waiting for you. That your whole, beautiful, rich life awaits you."
The NewYear will not be without significant challenges, however, as Riley still has a number of debilitating symptoms that plague him daily. In particular, his face continues to burn painfully and it remains partially paralyzed, causing him excruciating pain when he smiles fully or laughs out loud. Unless he is outside in freezing weather, Riley has to have a cold fan on his face at all times. We are currently exploring options to determine the neurological roots of his facial symptoms.
Despite a high caloric diet, Riley also struggles to gain any weight...his 6' 1" frame weighs a meager 115 lbs ! Although he has added small portions of soft food to his diet, he still exists primarily on Dixie cups of rich blended soup and smoothies. In order to maintain his progress and further reduce symptoms, he will be traveling back to the Hansa clinic with Christine later this month.
In addition, in order to boost mental clarity Riley has been benefitting from four hours per day of supplemental oxygen. He is also seeing a biological dentist to deal with massive inflammation, possible infection, and to have his impacted wisdom teeth removed.
Although the road to Riley's full recovery remains somewhat elusive, we rejoice daily at his recent transformation, and give humble thanks for the countless acts of generosity and kindness bestowed upon us by so many! May your New Year be filled with moments that take your breath away and remind you of all that's wonderful in this world of ours! May any sorrow you experience prepare the way for deeper joy.
Terry and family
"Sorrow prepares you for joy. It violently sweeps everything out of your house, so that new joy can find space to enter. It shakes the yellow leaves from the bough of your heart, so that fresh, green leaves can grow in their place. It pulls up the rotten roots, so that new roots hidden beneath have room to grow. Whatever sorrow shakes from your heart, far better things will take their place." - Rumi
