Good morning,
I'm pleased to use the proverbial phase "No news, is good news".  Johnny's progress from day to day is no longer significant, but with each slight improvement comes a sigh of relief.  If he did not have the cast on his arm, you wouldn't know that anything happened. Ahh, to be young and resilient!  There's no doubt in my mind that his physical and mental strength overall had to do with a speedy recovery, and not to leave out, your prayers, 😇 .  He is out of the woods but we don't know when he will be "back to normal" as far as work.  A best guess is "months".  We all know how it feels when the universe stops you in your track and slows your whole world down.  Now he has another layer on top of that.

We celebrated Johnny's 27th birthday this past weekend.  We rented a house right on Mission Beach for four days.  We have woken up and fallen asleep with the Pacific Ocean at our backyard. That spells "heaven" to me.  It may have just been another birthday to Johnny, but you parents out there can probably identify why this birthday might stand out just a little bit more than the others.  It was a quiet celebration with a small number of friends on Saturday and just family on Sunday.  His sister Lauren and husband, Jake flew in from Atlanta  and my sister and her husband came back down from LA for some family time.   It's the well deserved "little vacation" after a trying period.

By the way, just a little tidbit on my son "Johnny".  We (family) call him "John" and when he's in trouble "John Matthew" LOL, just kidding.  His friends on his soccer/baseball teams started calling him Johnny (I think that's where it came from).  So as I've been writing this blog, I always had to pause and smile when I referred to him as Johnny, it just wasn't natural to me. My husband's name is John, so I often had to distinguish the two by calling him John Matthew. Just thought I'd share.  He's still "John" to us.

Another little story I'd like to share ... I started this blog so that I could update our family and John's friends on his state of health.  If anyone has gone through something like this, you know how much time this saves and how convenient it is for others to check-in when it's good for them. So when I had to name the blog, I thought that I should get a little creative with a touch of humor ... "Aviator-in-flight" ... "Aviator's bicycle takes flight" ... "Johnny's flying bicycle" ... hmmm? - Pete, his uncle, came up with "Johnny Headstrong" - you know - Lance Armstrong has his website and organization called "Livestrong"? Soooo... JOHNNY HEADSTRONG. Pete, the comedian that he is (professionally that is), came up with the clever name. I thought I should mention this and give Pete his due credit!  BTW, as far as I know, John has not read this blog (and by choice). Maybe some day he will. He's not one to like all this attention.

My husband and I are getting on that big bird in the sky this Friday morning. Johnny has been given the "green light" by his neurologist to drive - YES, AMAZING!  He is relieved to be able to take short trips to the store etc.  I'm not so worried about leaving, with this latest diagnosis from his doctor under his belt. His future appointments, occupational therapy and neurology appointments are sparse and virtual with a sprinkle of "in-person".

I've thoroughly enjoyed doting on John.  He hasn't lived at home for 10 years. It felt good to be "mom" for almost seven weeks.  We spent a lot of time together setting up he and Oliver's new place.  Lots of unpacking and errands to Home Depot, Homegoods and Ikea.  We will definitely have a lot of ... "remember when we....?"  moments,  and sometimes Johnny is going to say "Oh ya, I remember"  and sometimes he won't, and THAT'S OK. I Thank God that he is OK.

Thank you all for your continued prayers and positive energy for John and our family, it worked!  John hasn't received any orders to return to work.  It is still a time for his body and brain to heal.  I know that you have all reached out to him via text/phone calls/social media. I'm sure he appreciates it.  Thank you.

It's time for us to go - our turn to "fly the coop"! Be well everyone and stay safe,
Lindy