Without going into a tremendous amount of detail, you should know that Kristin has been experiencing a fairly significant setback. She incurred an injury from a physical therapy activity that has required her to miss about 2 months of classes (including mid-terms) so far, undergone two surgeries and required her to be bedridden for the duration. This was NOT caused by her P.T. Sheila, but rather a place she went to "offsite". As a result of the injury, she will miss the Adaptive Skiing grant program trip to Colorado and probably some of the ski season. This is especially hard as she enjoys snowskiing so much. Her most recent doctor's appointment was very positive and she is healing well. We're not quite out of the woods yet, but it is improving. As you might imagine, she doesn't heal as quickly as able-bodied people.
As if she doesn't have enough going on, this setback has taken it's toll on Mom and Dad more than Kristin. As usual, Kristin is coming through like a champ. A smile on her face and a continued spirit of "nothing can stop me" prevails. As we were leaving the hospital this week, it was positive news, but it still breaks our hearts to see her go through such pain and suffering. I look into Rhonda's eyes and see such sadness whenever Kristin is affected, which transfers its effect on me, too. But not Kristin...
"It's a beautiful day at the hospital, it's a beautiful day at Retreeeeat Hospital! Come on, Mom, sing with me! It's a beautiful day at the hos-pi-tallllllllllllllllllll!", as she wheeled ahead of us at top speed. "I love these floors; I can really fly!" Through our wet eyes, we couldn't help but observe and listen to an angel gliding down the hallway.
Amidst the sentence of going back home to bedrest and having been forced to withdraw scholastically and socially from her first semester at college, Kristin still manages to bring light to the dark tunnel of adversity.
Throughout all of this was her friend Britt. Faithful to the core and spending time with Kristin daily. Again, another blessing to us. And to make things even better, Jessica has come home a couple of times over the past month. Here we are, the four of us together as a unit; a family that's been whacked, pushed down, but only to realize that a loving God is faithful and provides us the strength to push through the tough stuff.
We are thankful for so many things. Our thankfulness is mostly passive until we come upon Thanksgiving. It is our opportunity to put aside all the worldly pressures and realize that we are not wholly responsible for what we have. Everyone was created to contribute something and in this case, when life gets you down, just think about Kristin's attitude. If she can do it, you can too.
We continue to be thankful to you, the faithful supporters of this site, our friends that continually ask about Kristin and the rest of our family. It still never ceases to amaze me how many of you still follow the updates on this site. Thank you and have a safe, warm holiday. Take the time to pay your gratitude forward.
148901
