Traffic Cop Needed

By the time we rolled in to Boston, Tim had already had a pretty fun packed day. After his morning sessions, he had a visit from Grandma and Grandpa, and friends Emily, Ayannah, and Erin had stopped by as well. We met Regina and Stefan coming in the door, squeezing in a visit after an open house at Berklee and an acupuncture session in Quincy (that's an interesting day). Just after they left, Don and Deb from WS stopped by on the way to run in a triathlon tomorrow. Never a dull moment!

In between all that, Tim was really flexing his left leg, kicking it all over the place. He's feeling good and looking forward to seeing the Spartans kick some Hoosac butt.

Back upstairs, we looked through the mailbag and found a book and nice note from Eileen & Dylan, a card from Cousin Roberta, and another from his first boss, Ann. later we played another game of Scrabble (I don't know why I subject myself to this game) and went through some news from the Berkshires - soccer scores, Josh results, football preview and an article about our neighbor & friend Dick Ziter being named Grand Marshall of the Foliage Parade. We also showed Tim the Construct, Inc. newsletter that dedicated this years Walk to Prevent Homelessness to him. We were all pleased about that, as we have walked together as family for many years, and hope to do so again this year. We'll see.

Alright, it's off to bed for all of us - need a good night sleep for tomorrow's trip to the Berkshires and back.

About our Annual Walk...

Hi Tim, All of us at Construct have been following your progress at Spaulding and continue to wish you well, with high hopes you will get sprung from there soon, if not already, AND in time for our Walk. We are looking forward to your being with us, with your family or your church family again this year if that is something you would like to do. And we would love to honor you and the terrific fundraising you have done for us in the past, as well as the good work and very hard your are doing now at Spaulding. We announced that we are dedicating this year's walk in your honor. I think it is so very important to lift up our young people who have worked or walked or raised money and celebrate them...and you stand out as one of our young stars. Cara Davis

It's autumn in New England

Tim headed up to Peabody today with a few mates and some staff for a good old fashioned day of apple picking, which he really enjoyed. It was a beautiful day and good to get outside.

Other than that, nothing new to report on the rehab front. He's getting ready to head home for the Spartans game and a few other odds and ends on Sunday - Berkshire friends Matt and Tyler are prepping the Audi for Amy and me to bring him back and forth. Thanks guys. Because of the trip, Grandma and Grandpa are postponing their weekly visit until Saturday, when Tim will apparently be getting a few other visitors from the Berkshires. We know he appreciates that, and so do we.

The mailbag this week included a nice card from the O'Malley's and a CD of tunes that are currently popular in Europe, courtesy of his British cousin Gabby, via Portugal. He played that right away and enjoyed what he heard - that was a nice surprise.

So, that's the name of that tune. Over and out until tomorrow.

Wow - VERY cool!

Hi Tim! We had hoped that we'd have an opportunity to meet you in person by now, but alas our schedules haven't afforded us that chance yet. So sorry we missed you while you were in W.S.

Just wanted to let you know that we saw the YouTube video and it's the COOLEST thing! Your progress is just mind-blowing and so inspiring! Don't know if your folks have told you, but about 8 years ago I had a cerebral hemorrhage and was paralyzed on my left side (arm & leg). A matter of months later, as the blood in my brain resorbed, the movement started to come back and it was like the skies opened up and angels began to sing. I didn't have YouTube back then to share the progress with others. What a world we live in. So cool.

We hope that you'll manage another trip to W.S. sometime soon and that we'll finally have a chance to see you face to face. Until then, keep up the awe-inspiring progress!

Best,

Lisa (and Chris) Paul

Takin' it to The Hill

Today was Spinal Cord Injury Awareness Day, and there was an event at the Statehouse to recognize it. Tim and two other Spaulding patients headed up to Beacon Hill with some staff and one mother (guess which one) to observe and listen to the speakers. Tim said it was interesting. Two of the speakers were Dr. O'Connnor and a man named Travis Roy, who was paralyzed in his first game as a BU hockey player back in 1995. Tim was able to spend some time with him and enjoyed that. It was an interesting day.

http://www.travisroyfoundation.org/

Other than that, a little Easton bike here and a locomat there. Plans are coming together for his trip home to watch the Monument game on Sunday

.

Sister Act

People often ask me "How's Jancy doing?" It's a great question, and I always try to give a truthful answer, best I can tell. Because, as the father of a 16 year old girl, I'll never know exactly "how she's doing!"

Here's what I think about my other amazing kid. This was the summer when she turned 16, when she was going to learn to drive, when she was going to work hard to save money for a trip to Africa in 2008, when she was going to prepare for a junior year with no big brother hanging over her and many other things. Tim's accident could have changed all that, but it didn't.

She continued to work hard at the Inn as a breakfast, lunch and room service server and banked a nice chunk towards Ghana. She got in the car every Saturday with Amy and me and drove to Boston to be with Tim. Then she came home and went back to work - sometimes with me and sometimes on the train. Sometimes she was home alone, sometimes a friend would stay over. When Amy and I were home with her, we were swamped trying to keep up with work and home life, so couldn't always be there for her. She found her own rides, prepared a lot of meals and even did some laundry and ironing. She wrestled with the plan to go to Africa, wondering how Tim would feel about it (he told her to go). When vacation week came, Amy & I decided we just couldn't break away, and Jancy lost out on that family tradition and went with friends instead. Through it all, she has managed to become a pretty good driver, including a long stint on the Pike to Natick, although we haven't ventured into Boston yet.

*

Now she's in school, playing soccer, still working Saturdays, still driving out with us and coming back on Sundays, still planning for Africa. Jancy gave up a lot of what a young woman looks forward to, and she hasn't complained a bit, except when her time with Tim is cut short for one reason or another. She could have said "what about me?" but she hasn't. She's been there for Tim from the start and we're very grateful for that. I'm sure Tim is too. We think she's pretty amazing, indeed. But that's only her parents' opinion, and what do we know?!?

OH MY GOD!

Tim, just checked the youtube video and it's absolutely incredible, i'm so proud of you!

ps. my friend Candice thinks you're cute. haha.

keep up the awesome work! Hopefully I'll see you soon!
--Alex

Audi Inspiration - #6 and other stuff

Frost warnings in West Stockbridge tonight. "Dad, can we please turn on the heat?" Sigh. I love this weather, but it's another reminder that time is marching along. A long day today before returning home. Tim is still feeling a little under the weather, so he took it a little easy today, not much new to report. He's losing three floor mates this week as they head home. Jim and Joe are "older" guys (somewhere between Tim and me) and they're off to live in new homes in Syracuse and Salem. Shauna is going back to a renovated home with her family in New Hampshire. All had an influence on Tim in one way or another, and were a pleasure for all of us to know. They'll exchange contact information and stay in touch. And on it goes.

The USPS brought by a couple of nice cards from cousin Andrew P. Williams of Belmont, CA and West Stockbridge native Joanne Campbell of Lexington, both of which brought smiles to his face.

A couple of interesting things on the horizon. Wednesday the 19th is SCI Awareness Day at the State House and a bunch of Spaulding residents are heading up to Beacon Hill, where Dr. O'Connor will be among the speakers.

http://www.spinalcord.org/news.php?dep=1&page=33&list=1218

Apparently Tim has been approached by Spaulding staff to meet with some of the folks from the Locomat company to talk about his experience and perhaps be photographed. We'll have to see what that's all about.

And now, a word from our good friends at Audi:

It takes time to consider each and every detail. Even the ones you’ll never see or touch. But when the final result is nothing less than perfection, time and effort melt away.

** This is a direct quote taken from Tim's new book on the history and philosophy of Audi.

British Invasion

We got a little bit of a slow start today, after dancing Saturday night away under a tent in a Columbia County corn field. Congratulations Carey & Brian - what a great wedding and reception in a beautiful part of the world I'm sorry I don't have a better picture than this one from the day before). We arrived at Spaulding to find Cousin Allott pushing a large rubber ball (bigger than him) around the therapy gym. He had just arrived from Cape Cod on the second leg of a visit to the US from England, with his mother and father Carolann (Brian's sister) and Tony Patterson. From the looks of it, Allott thinks hospitals are fun! Aunt Carolann and Uncle Tony scored big by bringing Tim some Audi insignia stuff including a hat, tee and very cool watch. Uncle John came down, too and we had an altogether too short visit before the Pattersons headed off to the Berkshires with Jancy hitching a ride.











Earlier in the day, Spaulding hosted their 9th annual "Set Sail 2007" fundraising street fair with music, art and food among other things. We missed that, but everybody else - including Brigitte and Meredith from Emmanuel - enjoyed the day. Body and face painting seemed to be particularly popular. Appearances by some players from The Revolution added to the excitement.











After bidding farewell to the other visitors, we settled down for dinner out on the patio and spent some time getting caught up. We shared some Eagle articles including news from home - former track teammate Corrinne Hillman winning a race and the boys team doing the same, and news from the world of sports. The spinal cord injury suffered by NFL player Kevin Everett is raising awareness of the injury and is discussed on the 9th floor of Spaulding. Tim has talked to Dr. O'Connor about the injury and treatment, including the "hypothermia treatment" that Everett received. Apparently there is some debate around that procedure, but experts have credited the quick response of doctors to a good prognosis in this case. We know how effective that can be. After flipping through the Josh Billings insert (Spaulding student nurse Krystin Meade is running), the Construct, Inc. newsletter (Tim is think about coming home to roll it) and reading a nice card from Paul & Louise Faggioni of Hotel Street, we gathered in the 9th floor dining area to watch the Sox/Yankees and Pats/Chargers games and eat some Stonyfield Farm ice cream that Uncle John supplied. It's organic, so we polishied off what was left. Unfortunately, we'll all have to read the game scores in the morning!