Rain, rain, go away, come back another day! All it did today was rain, rain, rain, and then even more rain! When I looked out our window this morning, it was coming down so hard that the road in front of the Mologne House was already starting to flood. If any of you saw Mike's photos on the blog when it rained while he was here, you will know what I saw early this morning. :( I love rain--but pushing a wheelchair in it is not so fun. At least I got a lot of exercise--and my lungs did too with all the huffing and puffing I did! Now I realize how out of shape I really am! :(
We had to go to formation this morning and saw a presentation about a family retreat for the soldiers and their families. It sounds wonderful, but we are hoping that we will be home either for good or on con-leave during the retreat.
Jake had an appointment with the primary care physician (PCP) right after the presentation She gave her stamp of approval for him to come home for good and for con-leave. :) One more hurdle overcome! This is the first time I met his PCP--she's a very nice doctor and you can tell that she really does care about these soldiers.
We had a break until after lunch when we had to return back to the hospital for a TBI meeting. Jake was extremely tired before the meeting started so got something to keep him awake--some fruit drink, an energy drink, and some gum. He stayed awake during the meeting but took a nice nap in the waiting room of PT, which room was next on his list of appointments. He transferred over to a comfy chair, got his book out to read (we were a half hour early for the appointment) and within minutes his head was drooping. I don't think he even got a paragraph read before he was asleep. He had a new PT therapist today--she was very nice and worked his legs really well. At least he came out of there with sweat, and a smile, on his face. :)
We took the shuttle bus down to Silver Springs today so that Jake could use the free Wifi in Borders to get his new IPhone activated. We couldn't get it activated at Walter Reed (WR) because the military hasn't approved an update needed for Itunes to be installed on the WR computers. Well, we spent about an hour in Borders and it just wouldn't work because the internet was so slow. :( So, a really nice security lady directed us across the street to try the Wifi at Starbucks. She and Jake had a really nice conversation because she was thinking of joining the military, but is unsure of which branch to join.
We went into Starbucks and within 15 minutes Jake was able to activate his phone. :) He was soooo happy! We decided while we were down there to go to dinner at Macaroni Grill (really, really good food!). As we strolled into the restaurant, we were greeted by four other soldiers (three of which were amputees) that we have never seen before. They asked Jake right away if he was a member of the "club". Jake and I were both confused at what they meant. They then asked if he was a member of the "roadside bomb club". Now we understood! Jake replied that he was and then they proceeded to introduce themselves to us. They were just ready to be seated and invited us to share their table and eat with them. We were appreciative of their invitation and I thought it would be nice for Jake to be with his comrades. They all were polite--some of the language that came out of one's mouth wasn't--but he did apologize. As we finished dinner and were starting to part ways, two of them stayed back and gave me hugs. It was nice to be "mom" to these soldiers for an hour or so. :) Jake went out to stall the shuttle bus while I paid our bill. Our waitress was taking forever, but I was able to make the bus by running as quickly as my short legs would let me. :)
Tomorrow, at least as of right now, will be an extremely easy day. No appointments! We are going to get some laundry done and then head over to Bethesda to visit Jake's buddy and his wife. With no rain in the forecast, it will be a brighter day--in more ways than just the weather.
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