A Happy, Overdue Update

Dad is home!

Yesterday, I got a picture of my dad, sitting on the couch at home, with their sweet pup next to him. But here’s the kicker - it wasn’t an old, reminiscing on the good times photo. It wasn’t one of those iPhone tricks where they show you an old photo at just the right time to make you sad or sentimental. It was a photo that had just been taken by my Mom, after she brought him home. Something that at times felt like such a far off idea, a day that we didn’t know when or how it would come. And yet - there he was, sitting up, on a couch, petting the dog.

Continuing our theme of Psalms giving us words for the moment, I go back to Psalm 126:

When the LORD restored the fortunes of Zion,

we were like those who dream.

Then our mouth was filled with laughter,

and our tongue with shouts of joy;

then they said among the nations,

“The LORD has done great things for them.”

The LORD has done great things for us;

we are glad.

It has been a long road for him (and for my mom) to get there.

I’m not the most reliable historian on all of the details, but the brief summary is that after making it through the surgery, which felt like something of a miracle in itself, he spent weeks recovering in the ICU. It was slow and difficult for everyone - particularly for him of course, and my mom, who was often making 3 trips a day down to see him. From there he moved to the “step down unit” for a short stay before being moved to the nearby Siskin Rehab Hospital. After a few weeks there, where he worked on regaining some mobility and cognition, he is now, finally, home.

A few weeks ago, on Super Bowl Sunday, JoBeth, Griffin and I got to go visit dad at Siskin. It was a far cry from the Super Bowl parties we had in college, when my parents living room would be filled with students enjoying the comfort of a home and snacks that didn’t come from the campus convenience store. But crowded around that TV in a dark little hospital room with my mom, my sister, my wife, my son, and my dad - well that sure felt like a celebration.

My family would love your continued prayers as he and my mom navigate this next season back home. Please pray for continued recovery, strength, energy, and protection from any lingering effects of so many days in the hospital.

He has a long way to go before he’s fully recovered. But time and again he’s proven himself to be tough and up to the challenge. The doctors said he defied expectations. But, well, they don’t know him like we do.