Monday, December 29th and still here

Well, Christmas came and went and was such a joy to spend great time with my family. It was a special time for all of us. Presents aren't the most important thing in life, it's quality time together that you can enjoy. We enjoyed spending the time together.
I ran into a couple of guys that I used to work with today. One of them, Ken, is retiring before the end of the year and this is his last week at work. Another friend, Stewart, now works for another company but still does business out there. He is there quite regularly. It was good to see both of them and we talked about some OLD times. One thing that got to me was they were both curious with how I am doing. I made a few comments about my pains everyday, but their friendship to me wanted more information. I had to explain what I can do and what I can't do, what creates pains and how I deal with it. It is a good thing to have these type of friends in my life. Stewart said when he saw me at the hospital, he thought it was over for me. I don't remember him being there, but he saw what my family was going through during this time and saw how I looked at the time. He was praying for me to recover but was not sure if I would. He was real happy that God was there with me and helped pull me through this situation. People that see me everyday know when I hurt and what causes it, but these guys only see me once in a while so they really did not know. One of them said that they could tell I still have a small limp. Most people don't see this because with time, they have just gotten used to it. I know that the limp is stronger sometimes than others. They were interested in what I was doing around the house these days. I talked about putting up sheetrock and they were curious how that was going. I do OK with higher spots, but the areas near the ground are tougher to do. I can't reach down like I use to do so I just take the time to sit down and do what I can. Problem with this is when I have to get up to get something or change the size of my piece. They understood how much this hurts and understood how hard it is on me. It never fails, those that know you the best, understand how you used to be and how hard it is to deal with these changes.
That is just part of life that seems to still be there. I smile every day and keeps my attitude moving forward. Life is good and my new name will be with us in a month or so. Megan is due the first part of February and from then on, Grandpa will be a great thing.
Love where you are and enjoy it while you can. Ask God for help when you need it. He was there for me and will help you out as much as He can.
12/29/2008 and probably my last post for this year.... 2009 is coming and all we can do is be ready for it.

Tuesday, Dec 23 and still around

Well, Christmas is almost upon us and the excitement is all around. I spoke in my last note about many people wanting to say Happy Holidays rather than Merry Christmas. I have been paying a lot of attention to this and I guess I was a little hard on the subject. I seem to hear Merry Christmas more than I realized. It is great that, as a group, we take this Birth of Jesus so highly. It is because of Him that we are all here. There was a sign at our Kindergarten that said "Here we still say Merry Christmas". This put a smile on my face when I read it.
I have been waking up in the morning with my back hurting more than usual. I don't know of anything that could be causing this, but I will deal with it. My tailbone is hurting more often, too. Another one of those mysteries when God is testing me to make sure i am still moving forward.
We will be getting together tonight with my family. My niece is in town and the family wanted to get together before Megan and Matt went to Dallas to see his parents. Mom and Dad will be here and everyone but Breanna will be there. Brea had a trip to Colorado planned to go play in the snow while school was out and this was the best time to go. We will miss her tonight, but as long as she is safe and comes home OK, we will live with it.
One of the things about me is my mind will not let me get too involved with the gifting issue. Betty took care of all the stuff for the kids and all I could do was pick up a little something for her. We are doing an exchange gift tonight, but my thoughts would not have been too popular so she took care of it. I am so lucky to have her in my life! Her attention to details just amazes me everyday. I am still here because of her attention to me while I was at the hospital. I will never forget it even though I did not know it at the time.
I want everyone to have a very Special Merry Christmas and let's all take time to Praise Jesus for being in our life. Feel free to talk to God if you need a shoulder to cry on. It is AMAZING just how help He is EVERY DAY. My love to you all.
Mark 12/23/08

Another week has come and is gone... Dec 17

Well, this special time of year is upon us and the excitement is running all around. This is a special time of the year for many people, but some for other reasons than the Birthday of Christ. I think in OUR part of the world, it has become the giving of gifts. So many people focus on this. Sales start before Thanksgiving now and with our land in a state of recession, vendor's are fighting for every SALE. Happy Holidays is the common statement made by many people to AVOID using Christ's name. Once He smiles upon us, life has a different meaning. I get asked a lot of times why I am always in such a good mood. HE is the reason for this. Once you are down like I was, He has a whole new meaning. He was an important part of my life before my accident but now He is the center of My Life.
My new position at work seems to working out well, but I have more pains than I did before. I wake up in the mornings and my right pelvic area hurts. I am not sure if I am working it enough to strengthen it or if I am going too far as to make it hurt from this over exertion. I love life and I love waking up every day and will deal with this pain long enough to figure out which way it is going. Time will tell me sometime soon and then I will know what to do to help this matter out. I noticed this afternoon that I can climb ladders at work easier than I could six months ago. This tells me that I am moving forward I just need to make sure it is not too fast. I don't want to go back to where I was a year and a half ago, but I also don't want to stay where I am for the rest of my life, either. Right now, I am working with people that I did not know before and some I have not seen in a while. It is a great feeling to get to know these people and to realize how they see life in general. Trying to sort out all of this information I am taking in is some what difficult at times, but this is a challenge for my mind, too. I don't feel like I am helping this project out much, but the guy over it tells me how great I am doing. I am doing a lot of comparing drawings to data and trying to figure out if it is right or not and make changes to it to make it right.
Betty has, as usual, or house dressed up for this time of year. Getting the stuff down from the attic in the garage is a lot harder than it used to be, but I can still help a lot with it. Matt is big enough to get in the attic area now and I am closer to the ground to lift it down to Tiff. That is a great thing to be a part of. This makes our time during this month feel special. Betty has always been one of those people that enjoys celebrating His Birthday.
Life is great and I am here to bother all the people that I love. It is a great thing to be a part of.
My love to you all. Talk to God if you need some help dealing with problems or just a friend to talk to. He is there and will listen. He made my life more pleasant and can do the same for you. PLEASE don't go there the same way I did, but allow Him to be there if you need Him.
Thanks. Mark 12/17/08

Thursday, December 4 and moving on

Well, another month is upon us. It is a time to celebrate for me. This week, one year ago, I had my last surgery and spent 6 days in the hospital. I am so glad that this is behind me and I can still breathe on my own. That is a great thing to have behind me. My boss looked at my backlog of jobs to do and was happy with what I have done lately. He asked me if I could help with the upcoming turn-around that is being planned right now. It does not start until August of 2009, but they want it completely planned out before the end of the year. This is one of those BIG things that I have not had a lot of experience with. I got to climb up a couple of towers to get pictures of stuff up there and put a job together to get the item taken care of. It takes me a long time to get up and down these, but I made it. My boss was not happy that I did this because he knows how I am and how I will push to do things. I told him I was OK with it even though I am slow at it. It does make my shoulder hurt, but it is progress that I can do it. One of my co-workers said he was so glad that I was able to climb again. It is not as easy as it used to be and makes me hurt, but making it is a feat for me. He and I talked a lot about how I was when I was down and he knew some of it, but had only heard a little bit of the truth. I talked to him and explained a lot of things in detail because I know him well enough to know he could handle it. It is tough thing to talk about when someone can't handle it, but since I lived through it all and know MOST of it first hand, I don't mind telling the story. He said he has noticed my mood and how I have such a good outlook on things. I went back to the "train story" that I have told before. (If you don't know my "train story", don't be afraid to ask...) I told him how when I first woke up that I did not know my wife and kids at first, but they tell me that they could tell when I did. I was so sure at that time that I could do anything. I just needed someone coming to see me to help me up so I could "escape". Of course, they all loved me enough to know better than to try this. I finally was able to get up on my own and try to walk out. Betty came in and found me passed out in a pool of blood on the floor. I just knew I could make it. The truth hurts sometimes and the floor does, too. This did not convince me I was not ready but the net bed they put me in helped get me around.
Some of these memories will be with me forever and I am proud to say that I remember a lot of them. God was with me then as he is now. He helps me daily to move on and move upward. My mind is not quite as good as it used to be, but I hope with time, I will be better there, too.
My love to all of you. Have a safe of joyous Christmas time this year. Just remember WHY this is a holiday. This is the time when our Great One was born. Smile and appreciate every day.
Mark 12/4/08

Tuesday, Nov 25 and moving forward as usual

Well, I am doing OK for now. It seems like when I try to do things that used to be easy now hurt more today and even more tomorrow. That is OK because God let the sun come up and allowed me to be here to enjoy it. I am on vacation this week and that should mean I get to sleep late. Well, I am up around 5 to 6 in the mornings, but that is OK. It makes the days seem longer, but that is allowed, too.
I had two notes to my last blog. These replies always lighten me up. One of these was from a dear old friend of ours (Art). He introduced me to Betty many years ago and I still thank him for that. I have three beautiful daughters and one son. What a great feeling that is and a grandson coming soon. He will not be here for Christmas this year, but should be here by my birthday. The other note was from my cousin Jo. She was one of those special people in my life that helped in the way I came up (no, don't blame her for that because she helped with the good side of me). She has always been a special person for me to enjoy being around. I don't get to see here much anymore, but she is in my mind a lot. Growing up, you always look up to someone and want to be as great as they are. Her, and her sister, Lori, were a very positive influence on how I am today. I guess I love people like I do because of how they helped me growing up. Thanks Jo, and Lori, too, for being a special person in my life when I was still learning how you should be. It means a lot to me!
I went to Huntsville yesterday to do some work to our trailer there. Betty stopped by on her way back from Dallas for Megan's baby shower. She told me that she made a list of things that needed to be taken care of. I took my pressure washer up there for cleaning the green off the back side. Betty said it was about an hours worth of work. Four and a half hours later, I finished that project. The door needed some repairs, the screen door needed a handle put on and one light in the bathroom needed a "new switch". The door and screen were pretty simple to do. The light was another issue. It would not work so I took it apart to find out if it had power or not. As I was removing it, it come on and then went off again. The told me that it was not the switch. Power to it was OK. I re-wired it since that was where the problem seems to be and messed with the light bulb outlets and it worked when I left. My three or so hours there turned out to be all day. I left around 7:30AM and returned last night at 7PM. WHAT FUN I HAD! I can sure feel it today. My shoulder still hurts and I am tired all over, but I still woke up this morning. That makes it a great day, huh?
Sometimes, when people ask me how I am doing, I really don't know how to answer them. I take it as a general question and give the answer that I am thankful to still be here. I really don't think most people want the details of where I hurt and when I hurt. Someone at work asked me a while back why I was always in such a good, cheerful mood. All I can do with this is to tell why. It is a fact, the closer you are to the train, the brighter the light seems. I think at one point in my history, I was ready to board it and the prayers of family and friends kept me around. How can I not be in a good mood after that? Life is what we make it to be. Cheerful, pleasant and enjoyable. Every day is great as long as we wake up breathing on our own. If you are one of those people that has one of those "downer" moods, you need to allow God into your life and allow Him to help you make everything positive. Smile and move forward! Trust me, the shoe on the other foot is not pleasant. Appreciate what you have, smile and move forward. There are people here that are glad you are still here.
Make the most of your day. Enjoy your Thanksgiving holiday and enjoy the people around you. They are there because they are a special person to you (or maybe because there is good food). I would say for you to not eat too much, but that would be a waste of effort to ALL of us. We always do it and ALWAYS wish we hadn't. Just smile and move forward. It will be OK to suffer like we do EVERY year....
My love to all of you. Respond or not, as long as you check in to see how I am doing, I am OK with that.
Mark 11/25/08

Tuesday, Nov 18 and still here

Well, it has not been long since my last update, but I still check to see if anybody stills reads. Sallie sent me a reply to my last one and reading her comments always makes me feel loved and happy. I talked with several people that know me from work but are not there to see me daily. I speak to Randy on the phone pretty regularly and he is always so helpful to me. It amazes me that he recognizes my voice on the phone. We discussed how I am and how I am progressing. He does not hesitate to remind me just how lucky I am to still be here breathing and able to do a lot of the things I can do. Talking about it makes me remember just how lucky I really am. I have known Randy for about 4 or 5 years, mostly over the phone. I have met him a couple of times, but he is a jewel at his job. In my old position, I talked to him anywhere from two to ten times a week. Jennie is another one of those people I deal with over the phone, too. She also recognizes my voice. She is another one of those people that tells me regularly that I am one of the lucky ones. These comments always pick me up no matter where I am, but just to know they still think about how I am means so much. I have also met with her a couple of times, but mostly deal with her on the phone. She was concerned for me for next week because she would be off on vacation. I told her this would not be an issue because I am off, too. We both got a good laugh over it. I must have one of those voices that are easy to pick up on because Jeremy is another one who recognizes my voice. I am sure the phone system helps all three of them know where it is coming from, but to recognize a voice is one of those rare things.
Another thing I get asked a lot is how come I am always in a good mood. People don't realize how bright the light is unless you are real close to the train. It almost got me so everyday is great now. Smile and move forward. I have people tell me a lot that I am so easy and pleasant to work with and that is because I try to treat people how I want to be treated. Just after my accident, one of my co-workers told me I could have my old job back because there were so many people involved that were hard to work with. I never had this issue before and wondered how this would work out. So many told me that they were SO glad I was back. What should this tell me? I may be a little slow, but not THAT slow...
Life is good and life is great, but having special friends and family is always a great thing. Just think, in a few months I will start using my new name. Grandpa is one of those "old fashion" names that I am looking forward to.
My love to all of you that still read this. Whether you write back or not does not matter. In my heart, you are there in that special place. Until I decide to bother you again, I am still breathing on my own. May God be there for you as He was definitely there for me and my family. Makes this holiday season a special time for you and your loved ones.
Mark 11/18/08

Friday, Nov 14 and still progressing

Well, some time has passed since my last update, but I am still here and still breathing on my own. This makes it a great day. My Dad's birthday came and went and so did Betty's. These days, as they should be, are special to them and are an important part of life itself and I am glad to be here to help them enjoy these days.
Dad and I went hunting a couple of week ago and getting around in this terrain is still tougher than it used to be. Climbing in to the stand is still tough, but getting down is harder. I am able to do it so this means a lot.
I am convinced that people don't look at my comments posted here much anymore, but that is OK, too. I have come to the conclusion that I write here to help me exercise my brain a little bit and to update my status to those that still read it. When I take Matt to soccer practice, I sometimes try to walk a little bit around the park. I can make it most of the way around the track before my pelvic area starts to hurts. I end up limping most times by the end, but I have to push myself to do it again next time. I notice climbing ladders at work hurts less than it used to, but I still can't go to far without some pain and getting tired. When walking, my right pelvic area is what hurts and climbing gets me in the same area. I guess this is the damage I did here when I fell. I hope with time, it will get better, but the progress is not going as fast as I wish it did. I guess I can deal with the discomfort as long as God let's me wake up breathing.
Well, it looks like winter is finally going to make it here. It is supposed to be down in the 30's this weekend and part of next week, too. I guess I get to find out just what cold weather will do to my pain level. If it causes problems, God will help me deal with it and move on with life.
I get asked almost every week about my outlook on life itself. People still don't understand why I always see the bright things in life and why I am always in a good mood. I guess if these people had to deal with the problems my family and friends had to deal with to keep me around, they would realize how much better today is than where it was 18 months ago. How bright the light is depends on how close you were to the train. Yes, it nearly hit me and I am still here to treasure EACH and EVERY day.
I am going to close this note for now. My love is extended to each of you. Don't be afraid to talk to God to help you get through any problems that are there for you and your loved ones. He listens well and will help you understand what needs to happen.
Thanks for wasting your time here with me.
Mark 11/14/08

Friday, Oct 31 and still around

Another week has gone by and I am still here to bother you. This was a busy week around here but it is over. My week at work was busy but moved along with out any major issues. I woke up this morning a little sore but I kind of expected it. I did a lot of climbing at work this week. Many stairs and a few ladders, too. I still get tired pretty easily, but I hope, with time, it will get better. I still have to work hard to climb these ladders, but as long as they are short distances, I can do it. A lot slower than it used to be, but so many people say that I should not even be able to do it. I had several jobs at work that required me to climb to so I could see the work to be done. I am so glad that God helped me overcome this down spot and I may always have problems with certain things, but if I keep pushing myself, I will come out OK. Sitting on hard surfaces still bothers me but at least I can get up after it is over. I try to watch sitting too long on hard surfaces but my broken tailbone will bother me for a long, long time. Just smile and move forward.
Yesterday was my Dad's birthday and I KNOW I am in better condition this year at this time than I was last year. It is about this time of the year when I got out of the hospital. I was released the first time near the middle of October and had to go right back in for another week before I was released again. I was still in a wheelchair at this time last year and knew I had a long push just to be able to walk. Next I moved on to a walker and this was a big challenge for me. This was in November of last year and my last surgery was after Thanksgiving. This recovery has been a hard thing to deal with, but I just smile and keep moving forward. According to the hospital, I should still be in a wheelchair at this time. When I see people that I have not seen in a while, they are surprised I am doing this good already. My mind is not always where it SHOULD be, but this is another one of those things for me to deal with. I am one of those people that would just think things through as I was doing them, but now my mind will not help me do this. I have to spend more time thinking about a task and hopefully I will remember the little things that were always there for me. Memory is one of those things that I am still struggling with. Some people tell me it is my age, but that would happen more slowly than mine actually did. I sometime wish all was like it used to be, but I just have to be thankful my Family did not have to come together to put me in the ground. All of the prayers and talks with God helped me a lot.
I was able to see Tiffaney graduate college, walk Megan down the aisle at her wedding and to be here for her to tell me my first Grandson is on the way. In about three and a half more months, Grandpa will be my new name. This will be a tough time for them at first, but Betty and I have worked out a schedule to watch him when she is at school. She asks if this would be alright and we happily said YES, that it would be fine. My boss will have to deal with all the time I am off during March, April and May. I think Tiffaney is going to be able to help out in June and July while school is out for her. It will be OK and we will make it work out. Most of my Friday's will be spent there, too.
Life is good and life is great and I am glad I am still here to take in my fair share of air. If you ever needs someone to listen to you, try God, as he was there for me and my family and will help you out if you let Him.
All for now. More stuff in another week or so. Love to all of you.
Mark 10/31/08

Monday, October 20 and still here

Another week has flown through our lives and we are still here to enjoy it. Betty and I went out of town for our anniversary. We spent the first night at Mom and Dad's. It was great to see them and see how they are doing. Bob and Carol (old friends of theirs that I have known for A LONG TIME) came and spent the night, too. We had a great time visiting and remembering things. Next, we went to San Marcos, to work on our trailer that my niece is living in. We did the work around the bath tub area. We had most of the stuff to do this already, but just needed to put it in. It was a little tough to do, but it looked nice when we left. Next, we went to Austin to see Breanna. We did several things around there for her while we were there. Some of these were small items and others a little more involved. We went to eat the night of our anniversary where she works. From there, we walked over to 6th street and walked down it. This much walking still hurts to do. I had to stop and rest several times but this wonderful woman understands this. We stopped in a couple of places for a little bit and enjoyed our night together. We walked part of the way back and Brea picked us up and took us back to the car. We got up Saturday and did a few more things before we left. We left there and went to see my cousin Shannon. We had not seen her in a long time and enjoyed our visit with her. She, like many others, was concerned with how I was doing and so glad to see us. We did not get to see Rob because he was away studying for school. From there, we went to see more family. We got to see Kelley and Michael and Bryar, too. We spent Saturday night there and most of Sunday was spent visiting. Kelley was so glad to see me moving around as well as I am. Michael just went through his second round of chemo and was not feeling so great, but it is so good to see him as cheerful as he could possibly be. Shortly after he met Kelley, we got to meet him, too. I fell in love with him and found out that he is such a special person. He was one of those people that is just great to be around. We left their house last night around 8PM, headed home. We made it back to our house around 1AM this morning. I got a great night's sleep and woke up this morning feeling great. If I had realized 27 years ago that this woman would still be a special part of my life, I would not know how to react. She is the strong part of my life that keeps me moving in the right direction. Because of her, I have four wonderful kids, friends and family that cares so much for us, and a life that is full of happiness.
We got the results back from my "head" doctor. It was many pages of stuff to go through. It told us both exactly what we both already knew, but had some information in it that were questions for us. He said parts of my mind work great, but there are some issues to deal with. The anger issues are going to be an issue that I will have to learn to handle better. But my thinking part seems OK. There are some memory issues that may or may not ever work right. My left hand is not as controlled as my right one, but this is a problem from my broken left shoulder. This also explains why my writing is hard to read. (Yes, even for me). Spelling problems is another issue that may work out over time, but it will have to be pushed. He also questioned my reading comprehension. I used to love to read Tom Clancy books, but now I get lost in just a few pages. He is a deep writer that moves around a lot. He thinks I need to start with a simpler writer but I get lost with Reader's Digest... May be over time, it will get better. I will just have to work on it and focus as much as I can to get better.
There was one note put in my last message from Harry and Gayle. It was good to hear from you and thanks for being one of those two or three people that still read this. I love you both so much and, YES, you better start getting ready for winter. You are probably already seeing freezing weather and snow is coming soon. Our two or three weeks of winter are still a ways away.
Be thankful of what we have and what is coming for us. God creates a lot of special things in our life and we just have to be thankful for each and every one. I love you all so much. Until next week, I'll close for now and deal with these issues and problems as best I can....
Mark 10/20/08

Friday, Oct.10 and still here

Well, another week has gone by and all seems well. Hurricane Ike was kind to us on damage, but the gas to keep the generator running added up. We are all still alive and no damage to speak of so we are good.
I had some appointments with my "mind" doctor and some of the stuff he asked and made me do helped me to realize where I am and where I need help. Some of his questions made sense but others did not. He asked questions to see how you mind works and where it had issues. He probably found out some issues that I may understand later. Long term memory, I did OK on and he thought talking about my accident might be painful. I told him what I knew, but still to this day, I can't remember any of it. I can tell him what I was told, but that is about it. He, like my medical doctor, said it MAY come back to me one day. I don't count on it. Talking about what my family and friends went through is the hardest part. One of my co-workers died about 2 weeks back and it made my realize what this would have meant to all of you. I told this doctor that I was in many prayer groups from family and friends that meant a lot to me. I know I was discussed and prayed for in many states and even countries. The support you all showed me still means the world to me. Thanks for all of YOUR efforts to keep me around.
I know a lot of people still read this to keep up with how I am and where I am. I talked to a guy at work this week that had heard I was in an accident, but knew nothing about it. I went through the whole episode of what happened and where I was. When I went over my "pain" parts, it made him a little uncomfortable to know how bad it was. He, like me, said that God was there for me. This I know and will always remember. He asked about where I was with pains and problems and I had to explain a lot of stuff. Climbing and lifting are still my biggest issues. Sitting on hard chairs will always be an issue since broken tailbones don't go away. I can climb ladder at work, but not as fast as I used to. Walking still hurts if it is too far or on unlevel ground. I can reach the ground easier than in the past but lifting something heavy is still real hard. I thought my mind was doing OK until this doctor started questions I could not answer. It was all just to see how your mind works or doesn't work and how much you don't realize that isn't right. Sometimes things like this are hard to accept, but you just smile and move on.
Megan said her doctor told her that she is going to have a boy, so they are getting excited about all this stuff. In about 3 months I will be known as Grandpa and am real excited that God wanted me here for all of this excitement.
I would like to say thank you to the ones that still check up on me here. I love you all so much.
Mark 10/10/08

Wednesday, Oct 2 and still around

Well, Hurricane Ike came for a visit and left his mark on us all. We were very lucky on this. We lost power at about 6PM on Friday night and the winds started showing signs of Hurricane around 10PM or so. When our power went out, there was not wind or rain. Welcome to our NEIGHBORHOOD! Finally, it was turned on last Sunday around 3:30PM. 16 days without power was tough to deal with, but some many others had property damage or auto damage from fallen trees. One of our shutters broke off the upper floor (actually, half of it broke off and the other half was still up there). Trees fell everywhere around this area. About 2 blocks away, two cars were smashed and many houses were damaged, too. God was definitely on our side with this one. A friend from work loaned us a generator since he did not lose power. We spent a lot of money on gas. The weather was helpful at first because a "cool" front came in right after the wind died down and night temperatures were around 60 or so and in the low 80's during the days. This help us through the first week and we got Paul's generator the next Thursday. By then, gas was available so getting it was not a real issue.
I am still getting better every day. My shoulder seems to be better since the doctor helped with it. Reaching the ground is still a little problem and slow, but I can get there and continue to get better. I still have a slight limp that may always be there, but unless you are looking for it, you would never notice it. Stepping over things is still a challenge and lifting something heavy is still out. That is OK because God is helping me to improve daily and to help me have a great outlook on life itself.
Finally, we have cable and internet service back so I can bother you all again. Harry and Gail sent me a note to my last entry and it is good to know they still monitor this. My love for you two special people is as strong today as it always was. Thanks for your concerns about how we survived Ike. I know others still check on this once in a while and I appreciate your love and concerns.
We have a special day coming up in a couple of weeks. That crazy woman of mine made me walk down the aisle and has been a wonderful wife to me for 27 years now. October 17th is a special day and it will always be a special time for us. She wants to take a trip to see some things around this wonderful state and to see some people we don't get to see very often. She how special she is?
My you all have a wonderful day! Me and God both love you so much. Yes, it has been almost a month since my last posting, but without power and internet, posting was a major issue...
Mark

Sunday, Sept. 7th and still here

Yes, I am still around and still seem to be moving forward. My shoulder hurts less since the doctor took care of it. I still do some exercises with it and the pain is a lot less than it was before the doctor took care of it. I hope this lasts for a long time! Climbing and sitting still bother me, but I like to think I am still improving.
We are planning on going to see my cousin sometime next month. She lives in Ft. Worth area while her husband is going to school there. Betty called and talked to her last weekend and they decided that October was better for all of us. I have not seen Shannon in quite a while but I knew Rob was going to school to be an anthologist. He has quite a bit of time to get there, but steps in the right direction always helps out. I know both of their kids are off at college now, so moving forward is a good thing to do.
Matt has his first soccer game yesterday. He is back at playing goalie since he has a new coach this year. He was the assistant coach before so he knew how good Matt was at this position. We won this game 9 to 0. He stopped quite a few shots but we controlled the game most of the time. We had a great time there and went to visit my brother after it since it was near his home. We sat and visited with Scott and Karen for quite a while and really enjoyed ourselves. It was a great visit. I did have some issues at the soccer game because the ground is not level in all spots for drainage during rainy times. We had to bring drinks and snacks and carrying the drinks in an ice chest was tough on me. I had to carry the drinks and the chairs, too. I made it but not like before. It was always so easy for me before that you just don't think about the issues this fall caused me. I hope that one day I will be close to where I used to be, but I know "running" is out of the question any more. A broken tailbone will not allow this! It is like working on something low to the ground still hurts my pelvic area. I can sit on the ground to do a lot of these things, but it hurts to get there and to get up from. If I am there, don't expect me to get up too fast. I have to roll over to my knees and push up that way. I know this and have learned how to deal with this. It beats the heck out of the bed I was fixed to at this time last year and that was an improvement from the two months before that. I don't remember the first two months but I hear these stories.
Life is a great thing to deal with and when you are close to the train, the light is VERY bright. I think I was real close to it at that point in my life and I would like to thank everyone that was pulling for me. God listens to each of us and I don't really know how many prayer groups helped me out. Life is great because God takes good care of us.
I love you all so much. If you are one of those two or three people that still check on me here, thank you. If you respond, that's great, but if you don't, I still love you for your concerns for me.
Enjoy life and the pleasures God brings us all.
Mark 9/7/08

Tuesday, Sept 2 and still here

Today is another GREAT day. I woke up this morning, breathing on my own. This makes it a GREAT day! Things are going well for us right now. I finished the repairs on the porch and Shane came over and sprayed paint on it all. It really looks good. We had a little issue that morning, though. He was taking a load of wood to the dump and had a blow out and needed a ride. I had to go get him and take him to get a new tire. Before we could make it to the dump, it blew out again. This hour long trip took him about 3 to 4 hours. His trailer made it on three of four tires, but this was OK since he got his load off.
I ran onto an old friend and his wife on Sunday. They were not sure how I was and asked a lot of questions. I had to go through my list of pains and issues to deal with all over again. It does not bother me, but they were surprised I was so pleasant about it. Having pain and trouble is not something that gets me down as I am pretty used to it. People that see me pretty regularly know this and help me move on with life.
Megan seems to be coming along with my new grandchild. She is showing more and more all the time. This is an exciting thing for me and willing to get used to it. I am so looking forward in being called Grandpa. This is always an exciting issue to deal with.
Matt has soccer practice tonight, so this note will be short. I am still here and will bother you if I need to. Love to all of you.
Mark 9/2/08

Tuesday, Aug 19 and still moving along

Every day is a great day! I had to go see the doctor about my shoulder yesterday. He, thankfully, said surgery was not the answer to my problem. He did tell me that the fall ripped a couple of tendons loose on one side, but gave me an injection of some strong steroids into the area and gave a prescription to rehabilitation. I was so afraid he would recommend surgery. I was so thankful this was not my best bet. I was not sure if I wanted to go back into surgery but if this was my best hope, I would not have had much choice. I just knew how much pain this would create and how long it would take to be back to "full" strength. Again, God is on my side and is doing a wonderful job of helping me move forward.
I had two comments posted to my last input. One was from Sallie. She is one of those people that responds every so often to let me know they are still watching my progress. This is always good to hear. The second one was from a friend, Jennifer, that lives in Tennessee. She and Rob are sweet, thoughtful people. She was excited for us to be Grandparents and was also happy for Tiffaney. Tiffaney will be teaching Physics to kids that have yet to pass their TASC test. This seems like it would be one of those things that a 5 year teacher could do better, but Tiff is one of those people that will push these kids forward as much as most people could. It is one of those about her. She is good at teaching kids as long as they will try. She, like most of us, loses patience with people who will not try. But she has a way of reaching these type of people very well. When she was in high school, she tutored some second graders that could not read. She has a way of pushing you without you knowing she is pushing you. When she was in college, she spent her spare time teach some kids that were "challenged" with life how to ride horses and enjoy it. She was everyone's favorite because SHE CARED about them. Most people that were there had to be there because of classroom credit. She did it as a volunteer and stayed with it for a couple of years. Life is a challenge every day and you just have to make the most of it.
Breanna is fixing to start her Junior year of college and seems to be doing good with it. She is like the other two and will push herself to be her best. Matt is going to be starting the 6Th grade next week. He is not real excited about going back to school, but he will be fine once he gets moving in the right direction. He is in the advanced math classes. I know all kids are different but each will excel in their own way. Megan got the news yesterday that she passed the exam for dental school. She had three chances to take this test, but passed it the first time. She was not sure how she did, but her studying paid off on it. It would have cost about $100 to re-take this test each time.
That is about all there is in life these days. I still hurt doing certain things, but that is the way life is now. I will do what I can and ask for help on some other things. Yes, Jennifer, I am very lucky to have these great kids in my life. I am not sure when, but I must have done something right when we brought them up. They are all blessed with intelligence and good sense about things. They are still young enough to know they are still learning things every day. This is a blessing that is great to have around.
I just want to add that Megan said the doctor thinks she is doing fine and that she can't be sure, but thinks the baby is a boy. I am sure this made Matt happy. He will be a great Dad!
I Love you all so much. Thanks for reading up on my progress and I am sorry I get so long winded when I start typing. Smile and move on with life. I know I do and I spend a lot of time just thanking God for keeping me around. It means so much to me every day!
Mark 8/19/08 and still enjoying being around to bother you...

Here is August and still going along

August is on us and I am still getting better. The doctor said my elbow is a bone spur that must have broken in my fall. He said UNLESS is it too painful to live with, it should be left alone. He said they is a "liquid" area near this spot and the wound made from removal would not heal up right. He said some people have openings there that will not close up but always leak. I can live with this problem like it is. He was not too happy about my shoulder, though. He looked at x-rays of it and decided I needed to have an MRI done. I went yesterday (Saturday, Aug 9th) and had this done. The technician said the doctor will get these on Monday. I know that reaching for something with my right arm hurts, but I try not to do this too much. I am hoping surgery is not the answer, but if it is, I am comfortable with this doctor and will do whatever it takes to get rid of this pain.
I have the greatest of thanks to my next door neighbor. I had the shutters taken off the side of the house a few months ago and could not get comfortable on a ladder to put them back. The were repainted and have been waiting until I felt good enough to put them back. I was talking with Mark about them yesterday and trying to figure out who I could hire to do this. He said he would put them back on. He did a great thing for me because I knew better than to try this stunt. Heights still bother me but hanging off the side of the ladder was not something I would try. I can make it up a ladder, but it is not something I am comfortable with.
I don't know how many people still come here to read up on my progress, but I thank you all for being so supportive of me and my family. We saw Megan yesterday and she is starting to show and we are all looking forward to February. The first Grandchild is an exciting thing for us. We all call it "Peanut" for now, but she will want to know what sex she is carrying as soon as they can tell. She is one of those people that wants everything to be just right when the baby is here. Room will be set up just like it needs to be and all the stuff to go with this gender.
Breanna turned 20 on Friday. This was an exciting day for all of us. She is starting a new job right now and this will be a challenge to learn everything needed to move forward with it. She will push herself a lot to make this work out. Tiffaney's new job will start in a few more weeks. Teaching is one of those things that she does well. She will be teaching Chemistry and Physics to 10th, 11th and 12th graders at Deer Park High School. The good part of this is that these are elective classes that people take to learn more. It will not just be a group of kids that don't want to be there. This will be a challenge for her, but this is the kind of thing she enjoys.
My love to you all for reading this. I will post more information on my shoulder once the doctor decides what our best bet is.
Thanks for being here.
Mark 8/10/08

Wednesday, July 30 and still getting along

Well, another week has almost past and I am still here. I had someone ask me today about my accident because she did not know about it too much. She asked if I had any lingering problems with it. I told her my right shoulder still hurts to reach for something and my right elbow still bothers me once in a while. I still have issues with my right pelvic area, too. I can reach the ground, but it is a lot slower than it used to be. I am also noticing that it hurts my lungs some to cough or yawn. I have learned to live with these issues and deal with the discomfort involved.
I had to go look at a job today and it was up on the third landing and had to climb stairs to get to it. This still gets to me after this much distance, but I can make it and STILL smile about it. I trained Walter to do part of my old job on Tuesday. He will do one part and I will keep another part of it for now. I change offices sometime next week and get into my new area. I will still handle the "rush" jobs in one area and do "regular" planning in that area, too. My boss asked if I could handle this for a while. I feel like this will be easier to do this than what I do now. Smile and move forward! I can live with this. I will only be correcting jobs that I planned in the first place. If there is a problem with it, I would rather correct them myself so I can learn how to do this better.
I got out yesterday and used my weed-eater in my yard. I also did the guy behind me's yard, too. He had shoulder surgery and can't hold a weed-eater, yet. All this effort made me tired, so I slept well last night.
I know there are still people that read this pretty regularly and most don't reply to my words. I can live with this and will keep trying to move forward. We had a meeting today at work and I still have problems with those metal chairs. My broken tailbone will probably be with me forever. This is not a pleasant thing to deal with, but thanks to God and the help he gave me, I will make the most of it. All is part of life and we just have to make it work FOR us.
Thanks for being one of those that reads this to find out how I am doing and my love to you for caring about me. Thank you God for the help and inspiration you have given me.
"Peanut" is getting bigger (this is the "nickname" that Megan gave to my new Grandchild). I am excited about this and can hardly wait until February is here.
I will see the doctor on Monday to find out how my right elbow is and what can be done to resolve the issues I still have with it.
Love you all, Mark 7/30/08

Thursday, July 24 and still breathing on my own

Well, another week has gone by and I am still here. My shoulder is still quite sore, especially when I reach for things. I went and tried to help Megan and Matt repair things on their old apartment. Several things I wanted to help on would not work right. They did have some things I could do with some help. They had one light that would come on when the switch was flipped and my volt meter showed the switch was the problem. Next was the kitchen light. It was one of those fluorescence lights that just did not get bright as it should. Matt took this down and I was told the bulbs were new and still did not work right. Megan had to get some supplies from Home Depot so I told her to buy a new ballast for it. They did not have any of these so I told her to get a cheap light for a garage and I could make it work. I sat on the floor and disassembled one and re-built their old one. Poor Matt had to re-install it. Next, the bulb in the fan upstairs moved too much. I worked on it and got it tightened after a little work. Again, poor Matt had to re-install it. This reaching up still hurts too much to do. Next we started on the bathroom floor. They had done some of it but the small pieces next to the toilet and tub were still waiting for me. We ended up taking the toilet up so we would have to cut less tiles. This got the floor wet so we dried it the best we could and had to quit there because the flooring would not have stuck to this wet floor. One of Megan's friends from school was there to help Matt carry things. I was so glad for that. Justin and his wife, Brittney, were so much help to have around. I was so thankful Matt had this kind of help since I was not much help on carrying heavy things. My truck was filled up several times with stuff, so I guess my being there was not a total loss. All the stuff we did got my back to hurting. I could not move right for a couple of days, but it worked out OK.
I still have my doctor's appointment set for August 4th. This will be a week from Monday to check on my right elbow. I am a little scared about what he might find, but also excited that this might be a good improvement.
I will be training someone at doing my job starting Monday. After two weeks of training, it is his and then I will start training to take over my new position. Change is not always good, but this is something I am looking forward to. I know my pressure will be lower with less things that have to be done NOW. As a Material Coordinator, you are always rushing deliveries and hot jobs and when I came back from being out, they were glad I took it back. Now I will go to planning regular jobs that are not a DO IT NOW. I am so excited about this change. Now someone else can feel this "all the time pressure".
Life is great for me right now. Every day is great to wake up and realize just how great it is to have God there for you. Without Him and His help in my life, I think my life would be much different. I don't look for the day to see the grass from below. Thanks to all of you that helped pull me and my family through this time. I looked at some of my early pictures and they STILL bother me. Seeing myself in a wheelchair was not too pleasant, either. It makes me feel good to see how far I have come.
I love you all so much,
Mark 7/24/08

Monday, July 14th and still moving forward

Yes, another week has flown by and I am still here breathing on my own. I have a doctor's appointment scheduled for 8/4/08 to have my elbow checked out. I have a feeling that there is another run with surgery ahead, but I don't get to make this call. I have started seeing the Chiropractor trying to get me shoulder working better. The pain is still there, but seems to be getting better as we move forward with this. My neck is hurting more but that is because so long out of spot did not help.
We had a great weekend and did several good things. We helped Megan move on Friday and Betty helped again on Saturday. I could not help like I wanted to because I can't lift things like I used to and don't walk as well, either. One of Megan's friends from school was there and helped Matt move the big stuff. I felt like I was in the way most of the time, but I was there trying to help as much as I could. On Saturday, we went to Dennis' 40th birthday celebration and enjoyed ourselves there too. From there, we went across town to see my aunt and several cousins. We enjoyed this visit, too. On Sunday, I worked on trying to get my porch ready to paint. Several hours of work Saturday morning and several more on Sunday and it is starting to get ready to go forward. I still have several days of removing paint to be ready to paint, but I can see the end is getting closer.
I hear it quite a bit from people telling me they read this pretty regularly, but most don't respond because they don't know what to say. I can live with this. They still read it because the love is still there. This makes me feel good to hear it.
Betty was looking at some of the pictures taken of me when I was "down". Some of these still hurt me to see them again. The wound on my back still gets my blood moving. I knew it was there at the time, but I do not really remember how bad it was until I see the pictures. This hole was so big and I get to see the pictures to see it improve. It was a long, drawn out process, but God helped pull me through it.
Tiffaney has a job interview tomorrow for a teaching job. The big test she had to take was a surprise to us all. She thought she did poorly on it, but she passed it. We were so proud of her. Only time will tell about how this interview goes. She has one of those personality that does great teaching. She was one of those great tutors when she was in high school and worked in college with "select" kids and taught many how to ride horses when most could hardly walk without help. This is one of those special talents that she is good at, helping other become better people.
That is enough information from me for this week. God will help tomorrow be a great day and allow me to enjoy my life ahead. One day, I hope most of this pain is gone but until this comes, I will smile and move forward. My love to you all.
Thanks dear God for keeping me here to enjoy my life every day.
Mark 7/14/08

July 7,2008... What a day this WAS

Yes, my first year has gone past and I live life the best way I can. Certain things still hurt, but I wake up breathing on my own, so it must be a GREAT day. Most of the people at work did not realize what date I fell but once I told them, they were all happy I am still around. They knew it was around this day somewhere, but most did not know the date like I do. We had a great time yesterday. I cook some meat on the smoker and had some friends over from around the neighborhood. We also had some close friends over too because these people helped us out with things while I was down. Some of them mowed my yard and others helped with Matt. It really amazes me how much some people would do for you when you are down like this. Several months ago, one of my neighbors saw me digging in my front yard to find a plumbing leak and came to help. He knew I did not need to be doing this by myself and was just one of those people that wanted to help me out. We found the leak and he had all of the stuff to fix it. My PVC glue was dried up, but Bill had some. This is one of those people that God has brought in to my life and I am glad He did.
I notice that my right shoulder and right elbow are still quite painful. I still can not reach very well with my right arm and it still hurts to try. My elbow really gets painful if I put weight on it wrong. It is not at the pointed tip of the elbow, but about a 1/2" towards my shoulder. I can feel an area there that needs to be seen by a doctor, just not sure I am ready for surgery on it, yet. I know somehow I will have to go through this, but not real sure I can handle it, yet. I also notice that my pelvic area hurts if I walk too much. This pain is uncomfortable, but I have learned to tolerate it. Hilly areas really get to me because of the way your ankle is turned up, but I go slow and through it. Sitting on a hard chair still bothers me. They tell me that a broken tailbone will be there for a long, long time, if not forever. I have learned how to sit in most locations where it doesn't make the pain too much, but after some time, it still gets to me.
Yes, one year down and many left to go. You learn to do some things different and to not do other things. Live life and move forward. All is good, but live with the uncomfortable things. Love to all of you. Thanks so much for helping me still be here. Prayers and a common goal by all of you made this possible for me and my family.
Mark 7/7/08

Life is wonderful and I am still around (July 1, 2008)

Yes, it is only a few days after my last posting, but sometimes life is amazing. Breanna is renting a house starting July 1 (today), but they gave here a key so she could move stuff in. Betty and I loaded up my truck and her car with stuff for Brea and took off. I had to go to Deer Park to see Betty's sister, Pat, to get a couch and chair and then to see Steve and Traci Scannell to get a bed. Then we topped it all off with MANY other things. Since it would not all fit in my truck, her car was filled, too. We covered the stuff in my truck with a tarp, but no matter how well it was tied on, the wind will find it. We were about 1/3 of the way there and since we had not seen rain, it had to come off. We did catch a little bit of rain on the way, but not enough to matter. While we were there, we did a lot of different things that we could, but there was not electricity on yet. It will be turned on today. While I am sitting in the living room, I see somebody walk by the front window. She came on it the front door and spoke to us. It took my a second to realize this, but it was my cousin Shelly. I had forgotten that she lives in Austin but that wonderful wife of mine did not. She made a few calls without me knowing to set all of this up. I had not seen Shelly since Grandmother's funeral and that was in January, 2005. Over three years! Man it sure was good to see her. She looks so good, too. I guess my wife realized how much I enjoyed seeing all of the Bradley family and the reunion, or maybe she just knows how I am about family. Shelly was saying how we need to get the Gray family together again. Shelly made several comments on how great it was to see me up doing as well as I am. She also asked questions about my mind and memory. I guess this is a female thing. She knew this was one of the things that some people suffer from after my kind of accident. She did not ask about where I hurt and this was great with me. I will only talk about what someone wants to know. I did not realize she knew much about my accident, but she stayed on top of things through this BLOG the Megan and Betty kept current.
I guess it still amazes me to know how many people kept up with me this way. Some I gets notes in this BLOG to let me know they follow it and some don't respond this way, but may send an e-mail to me. I noticed a week ago, two people responded and told me I was still on their minds. Harry and Gayle were special friends with my parents for many years and then they moved to Oregon or Washington or one of those COLD places in the north west area. The other one came from my Mom's cousin, Ann. Ann made one comment from the last one about me being a Grandpa. She knew exactly who I was talking about. She called him Uncle Cleo for years. I had never heard him use his middle name. I knew it, but never heard it. Ann knew the person he was and honored me by saying how great a person he was. He set the bar high for me, but I want to be the kind of Grandpa he was for us. That would be one of those special things that God allows us to be when we become a Grandpa. Yes, Megan, this is a VERY plain, old fashioned name, but has a lot of special meaning to me.
If you are one of the people that still read this, I love you. I know this is like an on-line update, but it allows me to talk about things and you can read or not and move on with life. Yes, I am still here to bug you if I get the chance.
My one year anniversary is only 6 days away. 7/7/07 could have been a bad day for everyone that knows and loves me, but God decided with my many prayers pulling for me, that I needed to be here. If you were one of those people that prayed for me or if I was in your prayers group, thanks for doing this for me and for my family. It will always have special meaning to me! I will probably post again on my anniversary day or somewhere near it.
Pray for someone who needs it because it works! I know most people believe this, but I love to send this message out. God was always a big part in my life, but His meaning means so much more to me, now.
Thanks for helping keep me around. With love,
Mark 7/1/08

Sunday, June 29th and still moving forward

Well, we are back from our family reunion. It was a great event that Betty and I both enjoyed. It was great to see all of my Bradley kin folks. Most people there knew what had happened to me, but many of the finer things were not always known. I straightened out most of their "factual" stuff with what really happened. Most of them THOUGHT I fell through a sky light. This is what was told to Betty at first, but Shane went back to this place and looked at it. The sky light was CLOSE to where I fell, but it was not broken but the roof right above it had a big hole in it where it opened up with weight on it. The roof was not in good shape!
Many people of this family were very supportive of all of us here. Many of these cousins and my Aunt came to see me at the hospital. I do not remember seeing them, but they were there FOR ME. Janet said her and Karen sat is the room for a couple of hours and counted the freckles on my arms just to create conversation to me. They knew I could not respond or open my eyes, but they did this so I could HEAR their voices. Several others told me they came by, too. Most of this I did not remember, but their support for ME AND MY FAMILY was great. Several others have been reading this BLOG and loved being able to follow my progress this way. Many told me they checked it EVERY day. This group of people also said so many prayers for me. God listened and helped me come back. The hospital told me I would be in a wheel chair for 1 year and a walker for two more years. My one year anniversary of the accident in almost here, but I am without the chair and the walker. This is another instance of God pulling me up. One cousin that I was hoping to see could not make it this year. Jo, if you see this, I still need a hug! Lori told me that you wanted to come so you could see and talk to me, but sometimes things work out that way and we have to keep our head up and move forward. The notes you send me have always meant so much to me. I never really had a sister, but as close as we were as we grew up, you and Lori always helped me out by keeping me "out of trouble". You two were like sisters to me then and I will always remember this! Yes, this family only gets together like this once a year, but the love is always there! So many of them were pulling for me. These thoughts helped pull me back to life. It was not just family people praying for me, but they were a large part of my recovery. Many people made me happy when they told me how good I was moving around, even though they know what still hurts on me. Larry said he would check my BLOG every day and was very appreciative of having these updates on my progress. Kay and Johnny told me that Megan was so good at writing what was going on. I have heard this before and it means so much to hear it again. She has always had a way of expressing things in words and puts these thoughts together so well.
Another note that I shared at the reunion was a surprise to all that were there and congratulations come on this news too. I gave them all my new nickname that I now have. I am going to be called Grandpa soon. Megan is going to have a baby in February. All of this time, I thought there was a good reason Gods helped me out like He did, but I thought it was to see Tiffaney graduate college and Megan to get married. These were both great events I was thankful to be here for, but this new piece of news made me SO HAPPY.
Life is good and life is great! My Grandpa set a FINE example for me to follow. He was always the sweetest person with the most patience of any one I have ever seen. My Mom was excited about me using her Father's name, too. I was hoping for this reaction, but was not real sure.
Thank you God for pulling me through all of this and allowing me to be here for all of these important events. I have pains every day, but I wake up breathing on my own. This makes EVERY DAY a great day. My right elbow seems to be getting worse so a trip to the doctor seems to be due. I can not take this pain for too long. It usually will hurt for a week or two, but goes away before I do anything, but this has been present for a couple of weeks and seems to be worse than before.
I am so sorry this is so long, but I had a great week-end and loved seeing all of these people. Until I write another update, I love you all so much. If you were not mentioned above, it is not do to lack of love to you. I just did not want to write a book here. Thanks to all of you for your support towards me.
Mark 6/29/08 at 4:15AM and I AM GOING TO BED NOW!!!

Sunday, 6/22/08 and I am still breathing

Another week has come and gone. This is OK because I am still here and still breathing on my own. We went to a wedding yesterday of one of Megan's friends that I have known for so many years. It was good to be able to see a lot of people that I have not seen in a while. Several people there asked me how I was and how my condition is improving. It feels good to me to know that there are so many people in the world that care about others. My accident was not a secret so many people know a little about what what happened and how close I came to being gone. It still scares me when I think about how close I really was. Thanks to so many people praying for me, God helped me to still be here.
Today is my brother's 50th birthday. I called him this morning and talked to him a little bit before his cell phone kicked off on a signal. I also got the opportunity to call his daughter, Jennifer, today, too. She and her wonderful husband, Tommy, seem to be doing well. Tommy is trying to get into medical school and seems pretty high on his hope to get in. This is a difficult thing to get in to, but with the attitude he has on this subject, he will be good. I know a lot of people try to get into this, but people with his drive and determination are our best answer.
We have been trying to do some repairs around the house lately. It really amazes me how hard these things are to me. I used to be able to do these things so easily, but now my body can't take this much stress any more. I am hoping this will come back with time, but certain actions and movements still hurt. My right shoulder seems to get most of this pain. I do not have the reach I used to have, but my determination to succeed will keep me moving forward. Certain things are not going to work right. I can not work off of a ladder anymore. Heights used to not bother me, but now, as soon as I get off the ground, I get nervous. I think this is God's way to make sure I don't re-create my problems. I will hire someone to do the things I can't do and move on with life. Another one of God's wishes! Be safe and be myself.
Betty wants to know what I want to do to mark my one year "anniversary". I guess she thought I wanted something to do special to mark this time in my life. You loose several months of your life, pains that won't go away, things you can't do anymore and my kiss with near-death and she wants to celebrate it? I mean, that this was an important day in my life, but I don't remember most of it. The way Shane tells the story still gets to me. When he got to me, he thought I was ALREADY dead. I was not breathing or moving at all. Then, I started coughing so he knew he needed to get an ambulance. I guess the coughing was from my broken ribs puncturing my lung. I don't know because I was not alert enough to tell you. I thank God EVERY DAY that he was with me and knew what to do. Do I need to CELEBRATE this date? All I want to do is to thank God from the bottom of my heart for sticking with me through all of this.
It's funny, Shane also told me that he called me "Mr. Safety" all day because I was worried about gloves and glasses to protect us. If I could have found a cloud close enough, I would have been tied off to it, too. Safety has always been an important part of my life and don't know how I could have ever figured out this old roof would not hold my weight. I can only thank God for making this fall such an important part of my life. I was always a big FAN of His, but it is so much stronger today because of this incident. I ran into a guy at work this past week and he was so glad to see me walking and doing so well. I explained where my pains are and what makes them worse, but he told me I was so lucky to even be able to walk. I realize this quite regularly and am thankful I am still here. Only God and many friends and family members praying for me got me through all of this.
If you are one of the people that still reads this, I wish to thank you for your time and your concerns about me. I think most people have quit reading this in the last few months and some will check on it every once in a while to make sure I am still writing. I keep saying I need to stop, but then I hear people are still looking. My inputs have gotten down to about once a week now, but that is because I don't take the time to explain the places that still hurt just like they did last week.
It is all part of life and 7/7 is just ahead. Should I "celebrate" the fact that God decided to leave my on this planet? For the bottom of my heart, my love to each and every one of you that still reads this. We have a family reunion next weekend near Fort Worth, so I will not be writing again until AT LEAST next Sunday. All of my family wants a hug from when they see me. This makes it a GREAT day! I am so glad they were all behind me on this.
Mark 6/22/08

Saturday, June 14th and still alive and moving

Well, another week has gone by and I am still here. All is good for me so far. I took a couple of day off of work this week to get some stuff done around here, but it is not an easy task for me, yet. I can tell you one thing, I sleep well at night after days like these. I took the shutters down and tried to re-paint them. I picked out a nice shade of green or so I thought. When I painted the first one, it was a LIME green. They were a dark forest green and I thought some a LITTLE lighter would be good, but I have yet to figure out WHY they have this color. It was not even close to the shade on the paper sheet and I could not imagine anyone every using this color. Boy, what a mistake I made picking this shade out. Betty said she wanted them black instead. I painted the first coat of them but they still need a second coat. I also have been working on the posts along the front porch. I replace about 2 feet on the bottom of each a while back, but never finished them before my accident. It is a lot tougher on me now to get these right, but I am working on it. One of Tiff's friend's husband came over and did some work on Friday. He spent some time filling holes with caulk and a lot of time removing old caulk and replacing it with new. I knew better than to get to some of this using the ladder. I am not real comfortable with that yet. I know if I lose my balance and fall, my broken tail bone would let me know. If it was real bad, my pelvic area would be a bad thing to re-break. Off the ladder is the best thing for me right now.
We had a memorial service today for Betty's brother, Russell. Her Mom and one sister flew in for this and the were two brothers and one sister there. Bill had two of his kids there and Pat had two of her sons there. All four of my kids were there. Megan and Matt left from there to go to Dallas to see his family for Father's Day. Breanna came into town for being there and made it special to me since this is Father's Day. I would say, with all the family, there was probably about 20 people there. Some had some good things to say about Russell. It is great to hear these stories from the past and we will all remember him as a sweet, loving person. I had only met him two or three times, but he was always so nice to be around. Now his is with his father and with God. If it is your time to go, what better place to be there with God. RUSSELL, OUR LOVE WILL ALWAYS BE WITH YOU.
I feel like someone has beaten me with a bat after these last few days have gone by. I used to be a lot better at this stuff, but now it all hurts. But, at least I don't have to live with these LIME green shutters.
To all the Father's out there, have a great day tomorrow. I told the girls and Matt that I already have my Father's Day gift because I am here and walking with only a very slight limp. How could I be happier? Not possible!
Love to all of you. Your friend for life.
Mark 6/14/08

Saturday, June 7 and still moving forward

Another week has gone by and I am still here. I had two replies to my last entry and it makes me feel good to know people that I love are still checking on me. One was from Sallie and Scott Keaton. They have always been checking and responding. The second one was from my niece in Florida. She wishes, like I do, the distance between us was not so large. The price of gas makes this trip so hard and airline tickets are outrageous because of fuel prices, too. She wants to come see us and I would love to have here and her family here. This is one of those people that has always been special to me. I think she was about 12 when I first met her. Her and her sister were always so well behaved and polite. I told Betty that when we had kids, this is how I wanted them to be. Seeing kids behave like this was a good thing for me to see and learn from since I was so young at that time.
I ran into a guy at work last week that I have not seen in a while. He was real concerned about how I am feeling and was glad to see my improvements. He followed my progress through this BLOG and was glad that it helped people like him keep up with my progress. He was concerned that I might not ever make it back or ever be able to walk again. He wanted to hear what actually happened in my accident. I don't mind telling the story but try not to talk about it unless someone asks. Not everyone can handle these details and it still gets me to think about it too much. Many people know some of the details, but the facts about it really brings their thoughts together. It always makes me feel good when people are concerned enough to talk to me about it. This guy heard I fell through a sky light, but I did not. The sky light was close to where I fell through at, but the building we were on had a weak spot in the roof. I don't get on roofs any more and heights still bother me, too.
I am still here because God wanted me to be here. I thank him for that all the time. I appreciate everyone's concerns and prayers for me. I don't know how many prayer groups I was in, but the count is not the important thing. The concerns for my health and future is the important part. If I was part of your group prayer, Thank You from the bottom of my heart!
The Bradley reunion is only a three weeks away. I am looking forward to this event. The concerns and prayers from this group was great. There are many of my "family" members that followed my progress in this BLOG, too. I hear from many of them from time to time and I know the prayers were there, too. I look forward to seeing all of them again.
Love to you all.
Mark 6/7/08

Another week has come and gone... May 29

Here we go again. Another week has flown by and I am still here breathing on my own. This makes life great! Boy, we sure had a bad rain storm last night. Several people told me that we got 2 inches of rain. We needed that around here.
Betty's brother passed away on Wednesday. He fought it as much as he could, but they knew this was coming. It does not make things better, but it is life as we know it can be. His wife is donating his eyes to someone that needs them which is a great thing to do. I know it was not an easy decision, but it will be good for someone to see again.
My poison ivy is getting better, but it hangs on like it knows how to do. It wakes me up during the night when it itches. I try to apply more medicine to it to help, but it is not pleasant. Me and poison ivy don't get along together real well, but, it like many other things, is something you live with. This is a good thing for me to have life to put up with it.
My pain seems to be getting better as time moves on. It does not hurt as much to climb stairs as it once did, but ladders and I still have an issue. I can get up them with pain, but don't balance as well as I used to. That is OK, too, because I am here to deal with it. Lifting something heavy still is pretty painful and getting something off the ground is still a hard process to work around. That, too, is something I am glad to be able to deal with. My memory is still suffering from all of this, too. I don't remember things like I used to. Names are my worst problems, but numbers are not as easy to remember as they used to be. Oh well, I told a group of guys at work today that if I look at them like I don't know them, don't be afraid to tell me who you are. This is tough on me still. At work, I have to write everything down that needs to be done or it won't get done. I work off this list all day. Sometimes, my 10 hours day is much longer because I work slower on things than I used to. I hear from many people every day that I am one lucky person to still be here. This I do realize! I can just hope my mind will come back to where it used to be, but that is just a little of hope from me. Only time will tell for sure.
Sitting still hurts to do. Anyone with a broken tailbone understands this better than anyone else would. This is something that will be there for a long, long time, if not forever. I have a foam pad at work that I sit on and it helps a lot, but any other time I sit some where else, it hurts if I stay too long. My right should still hurts daily, too.
Would any one out there like a case of poison ivy? I will share it with you if you want some of this painful agony. Some people don't react with this as bad and I can only tell you how lucky you are.
Today, God is with me as He usually is. He helps my mind realize just how LUCKY I am to still be here. If you are one of those people that still reads this, I love you. If you only see it once in a while, I can live with that, too. This is an important part of my recovery to know people still care. Please tell God how important Russell was to Betty and to his family and He will lead him down the right path towards happiness.
Love to all of you. Mark 5/29/08

Wednesday, May 21 and still moving

Another week has gone by and I am still here. Yes, I am writing an update on life and still here to enjoy it. Certain things are a lot harder than they used to be, but will a little time and patience, all moves forward. I went to Mom and Dad's last week end and was trying to help them clear out some vines that are growing out of control. It is a lot harder to do these things, but I can still be some help. Mom was so worried that I was doing this because she is afraid I will get hurt doing it. I have to think about what I am doing and takes steps to be prepared for the task I am taking. I was pulling a lot of these out of the area and she was afraid I was going to fall. I keep one foot back in case something gives more than expected. I know better than to let myself fall or cause other problems. This is how God helps me stay alive! There is no way I want to go back through this again. I could not put myself or my family and friends through this again. I realize how hard it was on everyone else. Yes, I have the pains from all of this, but you guys had the real problem to deal with. As a matter of fact, I ended up with poison ivy from pulling all of these vines down. It is all over both arms and I remember now how allergic I am to it. I can stand not scratching it when I am awake, but had a real problem during the night. I tried Ivy Dry at first, but it did not seem to help. Now I stay covered in Calamine Lotion. As the blisters bust, the lotion soaks it up and allows it to dry without spreading. It does not look good, but it will go away with some time.
Betty had to make a trip to Arizona because her oldest brother is about to die. They are giving him about 10% chance to live. All of his internal organs are shut down. He was taking some medicine he ordered from Mexico and it caused his liver to fail. His is in a coma so she went with her brother, Bill, to see him before he is gone. She was thinking a trip now or one for the funeral and she wants to tell him she will pray for him. I realize what his wife is feeling right now. I am glad she decided to go while he is still breathing instead of waiting. She feels bad about the whole situation and realizes how close SHE was to this.
A took a week of vacation this week since Betty was on her long change, but this incident changed how things were going. I told her that she needed to go be with her brother because SO MANY people were there for her when I was there. This kind of effort means so much to the person having to deal with the issue. We all need a shoulder to cry on once in a while!!!
Make the most out of life while you can and enjoy every day because God wants you to. Dearest Russell, we are saying prayers for you and your family. God will steer you down the right path for your future. He loves you now and will love you when you get to heaven. Good luck my dearest brother-in-law. Takes God's hand when he reaches out for you. He will take care of you from here on out if that is what he decides is best for you.
Mark 5/21/08

Thursday, May 15 and still going ahead

Another week has come and gone. I am still here and still posting my progress. I am doing OK and still have pain everyday. That is part of life and I can move ahead with that. I am going to see a doctor next week and have my right elbow checked. It has really started hurting more each day. I have a spot on it that is real sensitive to contact. I guess we will have to see what the doctor thinks about it. I guess I hit it pretty hard when I fell and the pain will not go away. I am hoping he can tell something about it. I am hoping it will not need surgery, but only he can tell me. I noticed that it seems to be larger in size than the other one. I really don't want to have it operated on if this is possible, but the pain is a real problem. I still have pain with my shoulders hurting when I reach for something and tend to forget this long enough to reach for something and feel the pain. My broken tailbone hurts a lot of times, but this I will have to live with. I have been told that this will be with me for a long, long time and may never go away. Hard chairs really hurt to sit in. I am not sure which hurts me more, my broken tailbone or my semi-fixed pelvic.
I had a comment to my last entry from some friends of ours here in town. Sallie told me that her, Scott and Noah are still reading and appreciate the fact that I am still adding to this BLOG. These kind of comments mean so much that people are still concerned with how I am doing and following my progress this way. I know many people read up on me here, so I will keep writing so everyone knows. I hear it so many times about my positive attitude on my pains and had someone tell me the other day that they noticed that I limp a lot less than I did a month ago. Another one of those comments that lift me up.
We went to Matt's soccer tryouts on Tuesday night and ran into a friend I have not seen in a while. His daughter used to play soccer with Breanna. I am not sure how long it has been, but he knew nothing about my accident. I told him my story as best I could and he said he was sorry from what I went through, but was so happy I am able to walk. Getting up and down the bleachers at the field still hurt me, but I go through it slowly and overcome the pain. Betty and I talked to a another Dad that has a girl that was friends with Megan. He knew what happened to me and was surprised I was moving at all. He is one of those great people in this world that is always so kind to people. If you did not know it, you would never guess he is a lawyer. He has such a great outlook on life and deals with things so well. He is one of those people that is good to be around. He coaches the soccer team above Matt's age group and said that if Matt does not make the team, he will try to bring him up. This would be great because Matt plays goalie best. Matt's coach's son also plays goalie so Matt never gets to play it with this team. So many parents have told us that he is a much better goalie than the other kid and wonder why we don't complain about it. What would this do other than make the coach upset at him? I say it would be a waste of effort on our part. We will deal with whatever decision is made.
Life is great and all we can hope for is good news from the doctor. Whatever he needs to do to make me better is something I will deal with. I am hoping I do not have to miss any work over this, but will deal with this decision and hope God knows what is best.
Love to all of you and thanks for putting up with my "complain" session. Send some love to God as he loves you, too.
Mark 5/15/08

Sunday, May 11 and all is great

Well, another week has come and gone. Today is Mother's Day and I would like to wish all of the Mothers out there a great day. What does it take to be a great Mom? Love and attention are great starts, but there is more to it than that. Not only do you as a parent have to be a corrector, but being someone that you kids are comfortable with and are good at talking too. I had great parents that were always there for me, but more than that, my Wonderful wife is, too. This is a key to having great kids in this world that are not only good to be around, but one that is willing to help others, too. That has to be one of the key things my parents taught me. If you have a teenager or pre-teen, this may seem like a difficult chore, but consistent and there always mean so much. All kids make errors in life, but you have to help them see the errors, but also teach them how to repair the problem and to never do this again. This is a very important part of growing up. To this day, I have always been comfortable talking to my parents about almost anything. I know that I had problems as a kid, but my parents did their best to help me learn from it and how to become a better person. I thank them for making me the person I am today!
My therapy is going well. I still hurt after each session, but feel like I am improving. Just remember, don't put something heavy on the floor or ground and expect my help to get it. My right shoulder still hurts daily, which makes no sense to me because I broke my left one. I guess the impact on my right shoulder is from my fall when I landed on it, but did not break it. My pelvic area still hurts daily but seems to be improving, too. My right elbow hurts when I put some weight on it wrong. They did not find any major problems with it, but I can feel where the sore part is. It is not on the tip of the elbow area, just slightly above it towards my shoulder by about 1/4" from the point of it. I can feel a spot where there is a small gap there. I don't understand this, but have learned to live with it. I try to remember not to put pressure there, but sometimes I forget.
Another positive note is that I got a reply to my last blog note and it was from an old friend that I haven't heard from in a while. Jennifer and I worked together several years back. She is one of those sweet people that you enjoy having around you. I enjoyed having the pleasure to know her and her husband, Rob. Now Jennifer has kids and is living in Tennessee. She is one of those people that told me to keep this writing up because she keeps up with my progress this way. Hearing things like this always lifts me up. I know my story is not a pleasant one, but because of God, I am still here and still improving.
I wish to send my love to all of you. Thanks for reading up on my progress and responding if needed.
Mark 5/11/08

Tuesday, May 6th and still moving along

Well, another week has gone by and I am still improving. It has been a little more than a week since I wrote anything here. I thought that I should stop writing, but I get notes from people telling me they still follow my progress here. So, thanks to you, I will keep writing my progress. I had two comments to my last entry. One was from Harry and Gail. They are good friends of my parents that we have known for a long time and I did not realize they knew what happened. I was good to hear from them and made my day to see there note. The second one was from my cousin Shannon and all of her family. It seems like their life is progressing along, too. This was another one of those notes that was special to me.
I have noticed that stairs are getting easier for me. I can make them now without having to depend on pulling myself up the hand rail. I can make it up without using the rail. Please don't get behind me because I am still a little slow, but I make it and feel good about this. Ladders still hurt a lot to go up. I have to climb these at work once in a while, but as long as it is only a short distance, I can make it. I am tired when I pull myself up, but coming down is much easier. If it is too far, I don't even try it. I know that no one wants to see me create any problems.
Rehabilitation is going well. I seem to push myself a little harder each time and can tell it later on, but I am no where near where I was before all this happened. That is OK because God decided I still need to be here. I have people ask me why I am always in a good mood after all of this happened and all I can say is that this is something God made of me. I tell people that it depends on how close you were to the light when you saw it. I think I was real close and the stories I hear really make me realize this. I am still scared of this event when I think about it. I enjoy telling people what I know of all this, but too much gets me. I realize I will probably have these pains for the rest of my life and I can live with it.
Life is moving along for us and I wake up every day breathing on my own. This makes it a good day!
Love to all of you. More of my progress report next time. This is short and sweet, but this is how I am. No, I'm not short and not always sweet, but still BREATHING!!
Mark 5/6/08

Saturday, April 26 and still here...

Another week has flown by and I am still alive and moving well. Rehabilitation is going OK, but I hurt after each session. I think this means I am improving, but it is sometimes hard to tell. My right shoulder hurts more than it has lately and I don't find any of my work out exercises that cause pain when I am doing it. It hurts now to reach out to something with my right arm and I don't know why. This must mean something, but I am not sure why.
I went to see my old cub scout troop graduate to the boy scouts on Tuesday. My friend Keith is running the troop now and he seems to handle this well. There were some people there that were glad I was able to make it and talked about the scare they all had when I was down. They said many prayers for me. Those combined with all of my other friends and family members prayers that were pulling for me. I was not real sure they even knew about my accident, but Keith and Sheryl made sure everybody knew where I was and how I was doing. I got several hugs from some of these parents and the support they showed made me feel good. I helped these kids for over a year and got to watch these kids grow up some. It made me feel good to see them make this transition in scouts.
On Saturday, we went to see one of Megan's friends get married. Jamie's Dad talked to me about his concerns for me after my accident, too. We saw many people there that we had not seen in quite a while and this was good, too. Some people looked familiar, but some I could not remember their names. Betty helps me here all the time. She knows how my mind works and doesn't work. I am not sure how she knows, but she does. My memory, especially with names, is not like it used to be. I am hoping with time, that it will come back better. Only time will tell for sure.
I noticed over this last week, that I don't limp as much as I once did. As a matter of fact, I only limp when my body gets tired. If I do too much, my pelvic area lets me know. I would like to think rehabilitation is helping here. I still have pain when I climb up ladders and down them still hurts, too. I know my ability to do stairs is improving, too. I can go up stairs to my bed room with little or no pain and I don't have to use the hand rail. I am slow going up and down, but this is good to me. If I could just figure out how to make my broken tail bone quit hurting, I would be much better off. It still is hard for me to reach something on the ground and if it weighs much, there it stays. I know better most of the time not to try to lift anything heavy. The pain is not worth it!
So as you can tell, I am still getting better, but still have a ways to go to be "me" again. God is helping me here and will work with me to get better. I am so thankful to Him for this assistance. He is still trying to help me improve my temper, though. I don't realize it, by Betty tells me. If I try to get to something and can't, I still get angry. Sometimes I see this and sometimes I don't. If I am looking for something, my mind does not help here and I will loose my temper trying to find it.
If you are one of the people that still read this, I want to say thank you for still caring. I keep thinking that I should quit writing here, but people tell me once in a while that they still read these. Some are friends and some are family. This is my way of telling you where I am and how I am improving and to point out some of my faults as I see them or get told about them.
Thanks for being there for me in love and prayers. It means the world to me and this will always be a part of me.
Love you all so much,
Mark

Monday, April 21 and still moving forward

Another week has gone by and I am still here, breathing on my own. I still have a limp and sore on movement but I am still moving along. I had a guy from work wanted to buy one of my motorcycles this weekend. It was hard for me to get some work on it, but I was able to put it back together. Kick starting it was hard and very painful. I could not even lift enough to help load it. Thank goodness there is a ditch for the truck to back into. It is the little things in life that make you appreciate being here still. I got tried out working in the garage cleaning up some this weekend, too. It is amazing how quickly I tire out. Sometimes I wonder if I will ever be good enough to do some of this stuff. What is strange about this is that my wife knows how I am doing. She realizes by my actions that I can not do most things I used to could do and will come help so often.
The house needed to be washed this weekend and Brea do it for me. She knew I could not and should not do it. Most of it was up high and I knew I couldn't do it. She did a great job on it, but she got tired while doing it. It made a lot of difference in the way things look. It is so great to have people that look out for me like this.
I still have problems at work, too. I ride a bicycle at work a lot but have much pain getting on it. My pelvic area does not like raising my leg up high enough to get over the seat. It hurts to get on it but I can ride as long as I don't try to go too fast. Even using a truck at work hurts to get in and out of. At least my truck has a step board on it so I can get in easier. Some people look at me sort of strangely when it hurts to get in and out. It is hard to explain the pain involved.
I am going to rehabilitation three days a week and I feel like it helps, but am in pain after each session. Some of these exercises hurt when I do them but I have to keep trying them to get better. I will walk up to a machine and have to lower the weight from where it is for others, but I can live with this.
This is how life and God are treating me. Some say I should be angry, but I am glad to be here taking in my far share of air!
Love to you all,
Mark 4/21/08

Saturday, April 12 and still here...

Another week has gone by and I am here again. My doctor was a little concerned on my progress being made. He was upset that I quit going to therapy because of time. He told me that I will not fully improve if I don't go and let them work me further. It is hard for me to get there before they close without leaving work early. I will explain to my boss how important this is to my doctor and for my health. I have to go do this to continue to improve. I have to make this an important part of my week and spend time there to get better. I always knew that it helped, but I did not see it as a problem not getting to go. He asked me if I wanted to be like I am for the rest of my life. This was an easy question to answer. He knows I will probably never be back where I was, but I can get rid of some of my problems by working on them in therapy. This is what I need, another person in my life that cares about me and how I am doing. My boss will just have to understand how important this is to my future. That is one of those things I have to be thankful for. A boss who cares about how I am and won't have a problem with this little bit of time missed by leaving a little early.
I saw one of my neighbors out building a batting cage for his son and could help a little bit, but I could not do much for him. I could tighten the nuts but could not raise the bars for him. It is so aggravating to me to not be able to do the things that I used to could do, but that is how I am now. Less helpful and more bothered with this. I know I am trying to get used to it, but it is a tough "pill" to swallow. My parents knew this. They had someone come in and build their front porch, even though Dad and I built the back one before my accident. He knew that WE could not do it since I am not a lot of help on things like that. He did tell me what he was doing so I would not get upset about it. I hate little things like that, but I just have to accept them and move on with my life.
It is like work. There are so many things that I can't do yet, but the guys I work with know this and handle it with out much concern. Their main goal is that I am there tomorrow. I know this and have come to the realization. Part of me wants to be fully back, but God is helping me work on these things a little at a time. I am so glad He decided that I still need to be here on this earth. I know this was his choice and I can only Thank Him over and over for this chance.
I wish to thank all of you for reading this and following how I am progressing. I am here because SO MANY of you prayed for me. I don't even know how many prayer groups I was in, but it was evidently enough to keep me here. I still get scared when I read the BLOG for the early days. I did not know any of this at the time it was happening, but I still bothers me, now.
Thanks to all of you for the kind thoughts and prayers that were sent for me. You are part of the reason I am still here and able to write my notes as I go.
Love you all so much. More information sometime soon.
Mark 4/12/08