Aloha, Aloha!

Friday, May 28

When we first arranged for family members to come visit and help out, we did so with the assumption that I was going to require a lot more help than I actually do. The first to come was Linda’s brother David from Hawaii, with whom I’ve been on many trips before, including climbing Mt. Rainier and skiing in British Columbia and Japan. He arrived on Thursday and during his stay was exceptionally generous with his time and willingness to help wherever he could.

Over the next five days, he helped me complete a number of projects that I’m not capable of doing on my own yet. He took me to my OT and PT appointments, helped me haul my old table saw up to the garage so I can sell it (now that I’ve ordered a SawStop), set my bicycle on the stand for indoor riding, fixed the 360-degree acrobatic swing in the backyard, and more. At one point, I’m afraid I may have taken advantage of him to complete a repair on the hovercraft. He spent nearly two hours in a hot tent in the back field, fixing the skirt. But it now works beautifully, and we both got a fun ride on the hovercraft.

We managed to throw some other fun things in, too. On Friday, we had dinner with our wonderful neighbors Keith and Beth; everyone enjoyed lots of Coogleritas. Then on Saturday, we went up to Ashburn and spent the day with Christine, Caitlin, Andrew, and their boys. That was special for me because it was the first time I’ve seen my grandsons since the accident.

I kept David busy, but at the same time, I was trying to keep up with him. So, by the time Tuesday rolled around and he left to head home to Hawaii, I needed the take the whole day to recharge. I can’t express how much I appreciate David’s time and willingness to be my lackey (ha).