Day 589 | April 22, 2023

Good evening, friends. Today is April 22 in our new and amazing life!

It has been almost a month since my last journal entry; we have had a hectic spring!

Let’s start with Easter, we had a very blessed time, and this was a very special Easter for us because last year Charlie was at Sheltering Arms Institute, where she performed her epic escape, and security came to get her; I highly recommend that you read back on last year’s Easter post for a good laugh.

This year, Charlie worked hard preparing the cutest Easter baskets for the boys, alongside their Easter outfits, Charlie loves decorating, and our house looked beautiful; it is hard to capture into words the feeling of seeing Charlie at our home, cooking alongside me, when just 12 months ago, she was not able to do much, while in rehab, it is unbelievable how much she has progressed in the last year, it is a mixture of gratitude with excitement and wonder that I felt during our Easter weekend, it was a very special Mass that we attended, we have so much to be grateful for.

After a joyous Easter weekend, we couldn’t prepare to the next few weeks ahead, as we start a busy schedule with the boys, on April 4th, our beloved cat Bluey, went missing 😞, that day, I was out for meetings, and between Charlie’s aide and our nanny getting the boys loaded into the van, the garage door was left open and Bluey escaped, when I got home around 3pm , I didn’t see the cat, so we started looking everywhere in the house, no sign of him, we began to get worried, since he is an indoor cat, declawed, we knew he couldn’t really defend himself in the outdoors, we quickly made our neighbors aware, and by the next day, lots of our friends and neighbors were looking for Bluey, we searched for him early in the morning and late at night, he had just vanished, we couldn’t find him anywhere, we had contacted the SPCA, our vet, and every possible online lost pet group, two weeks went by, and we were close to have accepted that Bluey was gone, we were so grateful for the time we had with him, he was indeed part of our family, he helped us heal, we loved him so much and we will miss him dearly, but when we lest expect, on the 13th day of his disappearance, Charlie received a Facebook message request, she looked , and clicked to accept and there it was, a picture of our Bluey!

We rushed to contact the person, and after a few phone calls, I got the address of the person that had him; he was found trapped inside a roof in a parking garage! He was located near McGuffey Park, downtown Charlottesville which is almost 3 miles from our home; when I picked him up, he looked a little skinny and was limping, but he was eating and drinking; next day, I took him to the vet, and after few tests and exams, they determined that he suffered a heat necrosis injury on his right posterior upper leg, a big and deep burn wound, he also had few burns on his paws and few cuts on his body, when we learned that, we were beyond shocked, how could that be possible, our sweet Bluey is now a cat burn survivor! How is this possible? His meds are like some of Charlie’s, like Gabapentin and antibiotics.

He has been back home with us now for a little over a week, and he is recovering very well; he is more loving than ever, we are so grateful and happy to have him back, and I am still trying to understand what lesson is life showing us with the disappearance of our cat. His getting burned and surviving for two weeks without care; makes me wonder.

Charlie is continuing to push herself in therapy, she continues to get stronger, and she is doing so much more at home; it is just amazing to be witness to her progress; her big news is that on the second week of May, she will be having her first-hand surgery, her hand surgeon at UVA will fuse her left thumb, in a fixed position that will hopefully allow her to perform a pinch and pick up things more firmly, sadly right now, that thump is overextended and is continuing to do so, causing incredible pain and making impossible for Charlie to pinch things, so it is a necessary surgery, we kindly ask you for prayers.

We have returned to have aides from an agency; it is too early to evaluate; we are keeping our fingers crossed in hopes that we have consistent and reliable service; only time will tell.

Tomorrow, we will be attending our first Annual Burn Survivor lunch at VCU Burn Unit, this is an annual event hosted by the Burn Unit, and we are very honored to be invited to attend; Charlie is excited to meet new friends and fellow burn survivors, she has becoming more involved in the Burn Community, and is starting to have an impact in some of the survivor's life.

Next week, Charlie will be the keynote speaker at a Red Cross event in Richmond, and she is beyond grateful for the invitation; I can’t wait to hear her talk; every time I have seen her do a talk, I am just awe of her gift of storytelling, there is not a dry eye in a room by the time she finishes her story.

I am keeping busy and slowly rebuilding my businesses and book; I almost lost her and continue to be on the top of Amazon's list; thank you so much for your support!

I am enjoying my weekly blog post at Casa X Publishers; I enjoy sharing with you the research I do on my issues or topics that interest me; I am happy and grateful that we continue to be blessed every single day by God.

Thank you for your continued support and prayers; I want you to know how important each of you has been in Charlie’s recovery.

May God bless you, and have a good night.

André