Home Sweet Home!!!!!

Sunday, January 15, 2012   WE ARE HOME!!!!!   After months of being away - Gainesville, Atlanta, Tampa - Gary was discharged from the VA hospital in Tampa....on Friday the 13th and sent home. Given my run of luck we didn't relax and feel really safe at home until THAT DATE was over. BUT we are here safe and sound and beginning to settle in. I can't explain Gary's joy at being in his own home. He is thrilled. We are making some modifications to the house as quickly as possible so that Gary can efficiently move around and accomplish Activities of Daily Life - ADL for short.   The list of Angels is GIGANTIC in this blob! We are so blessed to be surrounded by such wonderful people.   Our good friend Jay came over to help and will be laying a new bedroom floor for Gary on the first floor. While he was here Jay kept finding "little" thing to do to help us out, what a champ! Nate, Hali's significant other has been helping while we were away and had some of his "guys/friends" build a ramp, level out thresholds and enlarge doorways for the wheelchair. What a great job they did...we are ever so grateful to them all!     Anyway, I owe a HUMONGOUS thank you to Josh for putting on a fundraiser for Gary and me last Saturday evening. The dance was a terrific success. Words cannot express how wonderful it was to see so many friends willing to give of themselves to help us. Again it is hard to put into words how deeply we are touched. I was grateful to EVERYONE who showed up or sent donations, but a special thanks goes to: Josh for doing so much great work, getting the word out...and doing his usual blend of funky, interesting and talented publicity!! Sabrina who hasn't had a day off in months for taking the time to drive most of the way cross the state and share her love for and knowledge of dance with us. She is a very giving and special friend! Thanks to the GREAT DJs for donating their time - Earl and Bruce who both drove in from Jacksonville. I love dancing with both men! Their music was terrific!  Usually I don't get to dance much with Earl - because he is always busy with the music, but when I do he is so much fun...and Bruce and I have always have a great time! We have danced together for years and it feels like a new experience each time.Thank you both. I am also grateful to Chad for sharing his sound system and the great dances. And I forgot to mention that Chad came to our house TWICE! to install wireless internet - what a good friend. We are thankful that Sweetheart Swing organizers Sandy Chase and Phil Dorroll donated a free pass to that event, how thoughtful! we are grateful to the generous pros who donated private lessons to the raffle; Stephen White, Demery Strickland, Patti Jobst, Danielle Blouin and Sabrina Paxmann!! WOW!  And last but certainly not least Thank you to all the people who came and supported us. The event raised over $3000 for us, what a gift! We are still not totally sure what we will do - Gary has his eye on 2 different types of vehicles - a road chair (sort of like a manual ATV - if you can picture that) to cruise around the yard...or an exercise bike that cranks with hand pedals. Both options are possible and Gary is excited about both...so thank you to everyone who participated on our behalf. What a gift your friendship has been.   Anyway, as our life begins to return to a more normal pace we hope that we will be able to see all of our friends. Thank you all so much for hanging in there with us.   Judi and Gary