May 16, 2025

“Home is the nicest word there is.” – Laura Ingalls Wilder 

Mike is GOING HOME on Tuesday, May 20, four short days away!!! 🎊🎉

He continues to do well in therapy. At this point, it is all about the repetition, getting the brain to connect with his left side until it just keeps getting easier and easier for him to move his left side in a functional way without electric stimulation.

As the brain heals and new brain cells take the place of the damaged ones, mobility and vision will slowly be restored. It could be a matter of months or even years.

It demands hard work, focused determination and persistent effort. And it all needs to come from Mike.

It will require patience and time.

“The two most powerful warriors are patience and time.” – Leo Tolstoy

Mike is all about being a warrior.

Writer’s note: I have been in awe of him throughout this whole experience. He is the strongest man I’ve ever known. He endures pain on a daily basis and still manages to smile. He cannot get out of bed or use the restroom without assistance, yet, he somehow can joke about it and show gratitude to his caregivers.

This man who, just 35 days ago, was fully independent and living life on his own terms is now dependent on others.

I believe this will be a short chapter in his story. But it’s been a tough read, for sure. It’s like that book that you just can’t put down where every turn of the page brings a bit of anxiety, not knowing what words await us. At times, words so tense and uncomfortable that they left our fists clenched and our jaws tightened. Words so heavy it was as if they were lying on top of our chests making it hard to breathe.

But as we finally near the end of this horrible chapter, we see the story has not ended. In fact, we have many more pages still to read. And we can immediately feel comforted by that. These pages hold endless possibilities of what is to come.

And we realize the air feels good in our lungs and we can breathe a little easier.

It’s often said that the best stories are the ones with the unexpected plot twists that no one would have guessed.

I mean, who saw this coming? Crazy, right?

So turn the page, my friends, and fear not for I believe the BEST is yet to come. This setback will not define Mike and will not dictate how his story ends.

Oh…one more thing…Mike surprised me on Tuesday, May 13th, with a red Ring pop (a childhood jewelry of perfection) and asked if I would marry him. Of course, I said yes. We did talk of marriage before this happened but didn’t have a timeframe set out. He had said he wanted his proposal to be memorable. Well, he definitely succeeded with that!

This horrible event happened on a Friday, April 11. Next year, it falls on a Saturday. So we decided to get married on April 11, 2026 and change what that date represents ❤️

Please continue to pray for Mike. While going home is extremely healing and good for him emotionally and mentally, it brings with it a new set of challenges.

God is the ultimate hero of this story. We have felt and witnessed his presence. Mike and I believe God brought us together and that He put me in Mike’s life to help him get through this.

There but for the grace of God go I.