More thank yous

It's been a big week-end for Jon. So many people at my church have been asking me for updates on his progress that in addition to thanking all the various health institutions he's been in I decided to sign up for a coffee hour and bring Jon. The girls made cookies and came along to help serve (and clean-up!). The congregation seemed delighted to put a face to the name they've had on their prayers and concern list for over a year. Jon made a good impression on many of them and later in the day when I was at a Requiem performance they came up to me and commented on his great attitude. After we had the church kitchen back in order we all went over to Bob Evans for dinner.

On Saturday some friends of both Jon and Greg invited them over for a cook-out. The weather was cool but nice and they had a good time. The van he's been looking at was on the way there and back at home after being thoroughly checked by the lady's mechanic. Jon was allowed to get into the van but the door opening isn't tall enough for him to squeeze through. The lady still has her husband's chair which is much lower and Jon's got it all planned out that he can just have someone put him into the smaller chair to get into the van and then put the bigger chair on a lift in the back and then when he gets where he's going he can ride the small chair out and get put back into his regular chair. Sounds simple enough to him....

While his big chair has been a life-saver for him it's also beginning to be a pain in the neck. While it's designed to do many things it's not capable of riding up to a table and fitting under it so we have to take his tray with him or as in the case of spur of the moment plans to eat out Sunday one of us has to go back to Brookview and get it. It would be nice if the tray could stay on the chair and still be driven but somehow it interferes with the control panel. We're working on a flag for the chair. All I could find was a silly triangular bike flag that doesn't seem big enough to catch your eye and needs some special kind of rigging to fit onto the chair and still be taken on and off. For the moment we're just stuffing it down between him and the side of the chair that fits keeps him seated securely.

Thursday, Jon made the long trek to Antwerp for more dental work. A temporary bridge was put in place and he's beginning to be more comfortable with smiling! They've done a good job of matching his other teeth in color and look good. We found out on Sunday that the driver was Jon's nephew Joe's girlfriend's grandfather (whew!) was the driver. He hadn't recognized the Castanien name and I thought he was vaguely familiar but had only met him once at Thanksgiving a year and a half ago along wiith most of the rest of Jenny's family. Jon goes back to the dentist in early May for the permanent bridge.

Hope all is going well with you and yours.