Meet Julio

From the bits & pieces I got today, Brian seems to have had a pretty good day!

He was awake & upright for most of the day, which is a leap of progress from where he was even just yesterday in terms of working through the pain. Maybe, just maybe, he's seeking the Lord, who implores us to place upon Him so many of our burdens (Matthew 11:28-30)?

(It also reminds me of a daily devotional I read earlier this week that I get from RBC Ministries. This one, entitled The Bible's School of Prayer gives a few short Biblical examples of how God wants us to be honest with Him in prayer, even when we're angry, complaining, & asking why...now that's a loving God!)

Before today, my parents were having a hard time getting him to stay sitting up in the wheelchair as long as the therapists wanted him too. In fact, I forgot to recap a funny story from the other day:

I called one afternoon earlier this week to see if I could catch him. My mom answered & though he was in the room, she didn't hand him the phone because he was in so much pain & wanted to get back in bed. Being the sassy (Bossy?, Any other adjectives you guys, Brian, Leah, & Myra? Wait, don't answer that...) older sister I'm probably known among my three siblings to be, I said you might as well put him on, what else is he going to do? He definitely told me he was in a lot of pain. He even got so frustrated with how much he hurt, that he told me he had to go, handed my mom the phone, & wheeled himself out of the room to find someone who would help him get out of that chair. My mom had to let me go so she could follow him!

(But he is a very good brother & remembered to call me back the next day.)

My dad's approach to getting Brian to stay in the chair has been a little different but quite effective as well. He used to play this role with us a lot when we were really little, I've seen him do it with his neighbor's small children & with his grandson now too. He'll feign dumb to get a rise out of small kids & decided to try that route with Brian when he was hanging out with him in the chair. When Brian started asking to go back to the room to lie down, my dad continued to "get lost" on where Brian's room was, getting Brian deeper & further into the bowels of the building till Brian got so fed up, he wheeled himself in the right direction. Whatever works, right?

Apparently, the physical pain is the biggest hurdle he's facing right now...dealing with not just a spine injury but all the other broken bones & such from the accident. For those of you who've been in a hospital situation where you are asked to rate the pain...this will help put it in context...Brian seems to stay at a constant "8," which the medical folks say sounds right for someone with his injuries. Their goal is to get him feeling more like a "2" before he's released. I just can't imagine being on that high on the pain scale all the time.

I've been able to talk with him on his room phone a couple times now this week & the fog seems to just lift that much more each day as well, such a blessing! He continues to have greatly supportive visitors, both in Charlotte & from all over, coming to see him. Some visitors last night & today are answered prayers that I know are planting some great seeds to help Brian make sense of all of this (1 Corinthians 3:5-7). Eliana, in addition to bringing some of these seed-sowers, also brought him some Chipotle Grill last night, which he apparently ate quite well...& he even still ate some breakfast this morning. So, we know he's trying hard to work through all of this!

Julio, Julio? What does that have to do with anything. Not much really.

I heard he & my dad got (matching, uh oh?) haircuts at the hospital today though apparently Brian is growing a "Mexican-esque moustache thing" that he's not quite ready to let go of just yet. Eliana says she's calling him Julio till it goes. So, maybe, just maybe we've still got some more fog to lift, after all.

I know Myra, Brian T, Owen, & I can't wait to spend the weekend with Julio or Brian...Nos vemos manana, Jul!