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