Sunday, July 12 - the two year anniversary of Tim's accident. I've pretty much stopped blogging because the world for us is pretty normal - Tim has worked hard to make it that way - and we are mostly dealing with the things that parents of a twenty year old deal with (like last night, when he went out with friends at midnite and didn't come home until 10 this morning). Through incredibly hard work and a strong will, Tim has made the most of his medical care and community support to create a full and interesting life for himself. And, his journey is not yet over.
Toward the end of the semester, he applied for and won a research internship at MIT, working with atomistic modeling of proteins. I can't explain much more than that. :-) However, Dr. Markus Buehler was the recent recipient of a Presidential Early Career award http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2009/president-0710.html Here's a picture of him with some of his teammates - grad students and post-docs from all over the world. Dr. Buelher is the young guy with a blue shirt in the middle.
Technically, still a quadreplegic, Tim very rarely uses a wheelchair now - he gets around with the support of arm crutches and a plastic brace on his lower right leg. He continues to excercise to develop strength, but therapy has been reduced to weekly sessions that focus on flexibility. Medications are still a part of his life.
He's had a great 7 months since my last post. Enrolled full time at Bunker Hill Community College, taking math, science and computer courses, Tim made the Deans List. Tim didn't come home any more often than a college student would, and we kind of got used to that. However, with Jancy and cousin Ingrid graduating and summer kicking in, we have seen him pretty regularly lately.
Toward the end of the semester, he applied for and won a research internship at MIT, working with atomistic modeling of proteins. I can't explain much more than that. :-) However, Dr. Markus Buehler was the recent recipient of a Presidential Early Career award http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2009/president-0710.html Here's a picture of him with some of his teammates - grad students and post-docs from all over the world. Dr. Buelher is the young guy with a blue shirt in the middle. September 1 or so will see another significant change. No longer needing to be near Spaulding, Tim will be moving into an apartment. Two more full time semesters at BHCC and then plans to transfer to one of Boston's great universities. We'll see.
You might want to go back to some of the early postings on the blog. It has been an incredible journey, and we couldn't have done it without the support of family, friends and people we didn't even know. As always, we remain eternally grateful.
In the future, keep up with news of Tim through my facebook page:
2 comments:
Tim. You are an amazing guy!! We always see you smiling which goes to show you really do know what is most important in this lifetime!!! Congrats on the internship -- I'm sure you are destined to contribute great things to our world!!
Rick Brenda Chris & Nck
Tim -- To refresh your memory -- I was Jean Leuchtenberger's good friend -- we were often the last in line in the Walk for the Homeless. Your folks have kept all of us up on your wonderfully steady move forward -- tenacious and also with fun (glad you stay out till 10 in the morning -- will keep Amy and Brian on their mettle). Here are my best wishes for your continued success) Fondly Nancy Nirenberg (and that easy to spell compared to Leuchtenberger)
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