I cannot believe that another year has passed by since my accident. This year has definitely presented highs and lows. Overall, I am continually reminded about how fortunate and blessed I am to have such an amazing family, friends and village that supports me.

In March we were able to take a trip to Puerto Rico, which makes it the longest flight I have been on since my accident. I was worried about pressure sores and being able to catheterize, but we were able to make a plan and able to get through it without any issues. Now hopefully we will be able to go on a longer flight next time :-)

In May, I ended up having a urinary tract infection that would not go away and essentially had it for the entire month. Fortunately after the 2nd stint of antibiotics, I was able to get rid of it. However, towards end of the month I also got a cold that ended up turning into pneumonia that lasted 3 weeks. With my level of spinal cord injury, I do not have a productive cough, so I was very fortunate to have my cough assist, which essentially helps me clear my lungs. Without this device, my amazing wife who did not get very much sleep during this period and my family I most likely would have ended up in the hospital.

We had to deal with 2 vehicle issues over the year. We got a flat tire on the interstate and after some time was able to get a spare tire put on. I discovered that having a modified van takes a little bit extra effort to change that. We also dealt with a little more serious of an issue within the last month that the back end modification of the van completely broke. Everyone was safe when this happened as we were driving. With this happening on a Sunday, unfortunately I experienced the lack of accessible taxis that we have on the weekends as none of the 17 companies that I called were able to come get me. Fortunately a friend of was able to come after a couple hours.

In regards to work, I have been able to increase my hours up to 12 hours per week. This one hour increase, may not seem like a lot, but I’m very excited to be able to do this. I continue to be very blessed and thankful for my team at Target for giving me the flexibility of where and when I work.

My workouts continue to allow me to make gains, but as I have shared in the past, these gains are very minor, however continue to be thankful that it is going in the right direction.

Around the house, I have tried to find ways of connecting with Riley now that she is crawling around. One of my biggest fears currently is that I will accidentally roll over one of her limbs as she is getting quicker and I cannot always see where she is at. Overall though, she is such a joy to continue to watch her grow and interact with Alexa. Once again this year, I was able to coach Alexa’s softball team with my Dad (without whom I would not have been able to do that, so thank you) which I thoroughly enjoyed. Melissa continues to thrive at work and have the flexibility of working from home part of the time which makes a big difference with being able to help me.

As always, I greatly appreciate everyone’s continued support, prayers and assistance. There is no way that I would be where I am today without everyone’s help. Thank you from all of us, The Ingram’s.