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!!!