‘Tis the season for angels

Dec. 21, 2009

As Christmas nears ever closer I’m reminded of all of the angels who accompany the birth of Jesus Christ. The angel who visited Mary, the one who spoke to Joseph, those that proclaim to all of Christ’s birth as well as all those who take a pine branch up theirs skirts to sit atop many trees (we have a star on top of ours.) We too are surrounded by angels who we have been blessed to have had in our lives and who continue to bless us every day.

Unfortunately, this year since I’m still looking for a job, we’re not able to send out the types of gifts that we’d like to show all of you what you mean to us, and how our lives are better because we know you. Through my trials and tribulations many of you have been therapists to me as well as Nathan.

I’ll start with Abbi our longest running therapist. She’s never asked to be a part of many of Nathan’s videos, but also never objected (even when pregnant) or asked us not to share them. She has had to come up with many “alternative” ways to do many of the exercises with Nathan as my body just can’t bend like that.

Along with her are Marianne and Cara our OTs. Marianne’s caseload changed which is what made the switch to Cara. Both have helped us make great improvements over the year and every session we try to show off some new skill.

Another area of progress is in feeding, with our OT Karyn. We’re on a break from feeding clinic now, but many are still amazed that we’re still eating 100% orally. Rounding out our Children’s Hospital therapists is Kerrie, our Speech Therapist. We’ve tried many new things and many different styles, and we feel we have a plan in place to make some great things happen in the new year.

Nisonger ECE brings us our next set of heavenly helpers: Teacher Beth, Teacher Elaine, and therapists Becky, Monica, and Tracy. Beth has had to deal with our ever changing schedule, (arriving every Wednesday 15 minutes late) and comes up with new ways for Nathan to interact with his classmates and really feel close to being like the other kids. It’s not uncommon for Becky to still be e-mailing us at all hours of the night thinking up new activities to try, new materials to make things out of, or new vendors with new equipment. Because of her we’ll be able to keep practicing bike-riding over the break.

One new area of treatment in 2009 was the use of equine-assisted therapy. Christy the leader of White Pines and her volunteer staff have been critical to the development of Nathan's trunk strength, balance and learning how to relate to animals, especially since our cat never seems patient enough for that task.

Even our pediatrician, Dr. Carlos, makes sure that we have the appointment right before lunch so not if, but when it runs long, she stays and listens off the clock to make sure we have as many answers as she can help us with.

Special thanks also go out to Holly, our special helper for gymnastics, as well as her daughter Hayley, who we always enjoy and have worked up many a sweat, all for the joy of a little boy.

Nathan would protest if we didn’t include all of his favorite college students: Kylie, Kara, Jessi and Jess. Every time the doorbell rings and it’s not one of them, we have one little unhappy guy. To Alyssa and Jessica our swimming friends, we look forward to another session starting up in a few short weeks.

It’s hardly a coincidence that ladies fill a very vital role in Nathan’s life, but no angel is more important than Annette. She works day-in and day-out, working to find new options, new solutions, new funding sources to keep food on our table and Nathan ever-progressing. She does all of the insurance work, all of the state and county paperwork, all of the appointment making and still comes home and makes the cookies to give out this time of year. I lost count of the number of sleepless nights she’s had just feeling like we’re not doing enough, even when everyone else can’t imagine us doing everything we do. Personally, I still blame Nathan. If he didn’t work so hard to learn new things, or make it his life goal just to help mom and dad smile, we wouldn’t have the drive to push on day after day.

I know that many times this year I’ve been that pine branch to many of these angels, yet none have ever complained. I can’t speak enough of the thanks in our hearts and thankfulness we share to all of the above and everyone else who has helped this year to be our most productive one yet. Remember this week to give thanks to God for not only the gift of His son, but also the angels He sends to all of us to make our lives better, one day at a time.

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