Day 261 | MAY 29, 2022
Good evening, Friends, today is day 261 of our new and amazing life!
Sunday was normally the day I missed Charlie the most, and today was her first Sunday back at home!
I had great plans of attending mass and just maybe our favorite of all meals brunch after mass?
Well, I guess I am still a little stuck in the past, because in our new life as of yet, this has not happened yet.
This morning was a rough one, baby Julien didn’t sleep very well and woke up at 2:30am, 4:15a and ump by 6:30am, he was teething and boy he and I had a rough night.
I was able to get downstairs by 8am, just in time to prepare Charlie’s morning meds, I prepared breakfast for the boys and ate breakfast with them. Charlie was still getting her morning routine started.
Around 10:20am, we decided to take London and Julien to play outside, right in front of our house, so I went out and set up Charlie in a shaded area, brought her fan , then I got the boys covered with sunscreen, and was time for them to play and have fun, luckily for me, one of our incredible neighbors offered to keep an eye on the boys as I had to run for my weekly Sam’s, Costco runs.
It was a reality check on how much preparation is required for Charlie to just step outside in front of our house, and how I must be present for almost everything, to take care of the boys and Charlie, yes, she has an aid, but I am still her husband and she is my priority alongside with the boys.
Charlie is such a trooper, she started in her chair today from 10am until 10:30pm, no break! Let me remind you that she has open wounds on her buttocks, from graphs that didn’t take, so it is incredibly painful for her to sit down, and yet she does just in order to participate with our family.
I will be honest, we are having a challenging time to adjust, there is so much frustration and there is so much to be done, and the boys’ behavior is a new set of challenges. We are now seeing how much this tragedy has affected our children.
Yes, we are looking into counseling and therapy, there is no doubt we all will be in therapy for years to come, and that is ok, we would be naive to think that we would come out of this without any scars, Charlie has all the physical and visual scars, but the rest of the family and Charlie, are also carrying the invisible psychological scars.
I am begging God for his guidance and patience, because I am facing my biggest test, of being a father, husband, son, advocate and caregiver to my wife and family, and let me tell you what, it is not easy!
When it gets really hard, I force myself to think, look how much help we are receiving and look at the miracle you have been given, and that keeps me going, because I know most people don’t have this much help when tragedy touches them, I am also pulling strength from our love.
Yes, we knew it was going to be hard, but it is 10x Harder than I imagined, but I choose to face this challenge head on, because I know that it is so worth it, Charlie deserves me to do my best, and our boys also deserve my all.
Today the boys took their shower in mom's bathroom and they had so much fun!
After the boys went to bed, Charlie and I decided that we needed some TV time for ourselves. Just to get our minds distracted for 1 hour, we landed on a Netflix movie called The Identity, a very good mystery/ thriller. It was a good distraction for us, we enjoyed it.
Charlie was exhausted and so was I. After I gave her nighttime meds, I wrote my journal and I am heading up to bed, because tomorrow we start another blessed day at our house!
I am so grateful for Charlie’s life!
I am also grateful for all your prayers, support and generosity. Please continue to pray for our family, we need it now as much as we needed in the beginning.
Have a good night and May God Bless You!
André
