Message from Graham

Dear Friends, relations, loved ones all,



This year has been one filled with challenges, both mental and physical. As you know, I have been struggling since mid-April with two serious pressure sores, which struggle has taken me from my apartment in Goleta to Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital, to Care Meridian, to St Johns Regional Hospital, to St Johns Pleasant Valley Hospital, to Shoreline Care Center. With the exception of Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital, all of the other facilities are in Oxnard or Camarillo, some 50 miles from my home. This removal from my usual haunts has presented me with feeling cut off and isolated, as it is not convenient for people to visit and thus distract me from endlessly repetitive television programming, the only entertainment available to me because of my bed confinement. Until recently, mail has had a hard time getting through to me, increasing the sense of isolation.



So much for the bad news. The (very) good news is that my pressure sores are nearly completely healed enabling me to get out of bed for an hour or so at a time. I have not done so as yet because my powered chair is still at Care Meridian. With any luck my chair will be transported to Shoreline this week. Various logistics of my getting out of bed and enjoying mobility in my chair need sorting, but there is no question that I feel enormous progress has been made in making my way back home. I especially look forward to taking up abstracting again for ABC Clio. I managed to do one assignment before the pressure sore saga began. It was invigorating. My contract with the Department of Rehabilitation has been extended to June of 2009, which extension will assist me in becoming a fully productive member of society.



Linda and Airasa visited in February. Unfortunately for them, but thankfully for me, they spent the majority of their visit coping with my caregiver problems. They are now celebrating Christmas with me, along with Ian and (drum rolls please) Owen Franklin Terence Burke! Not only is Owen (born September 26 th) a joy, but so too is seeing Airasa and Ian lavish him with love. Owen is bright, lively, happy, busy, even-tempered, and just generally comprehensively adorable. He is quite strong and clearly impatient to sit up, roll from his back to his tummy, and, I dare say, stand up and walk! Hard to believe he will be 3 months old in just a couple days. Tonight he will star as the baby Jesus in my church's Christmas Pageant. He did present a bit of a challenge in that he is too big to fit in the manger!



I know I have been showered with love and prayers in my wound ordeal, and I wish there was some way to show how deeply I appreciate your caring and concern. God willing, 2008 will bring us all peace and a much deeper understanding of how important we all are to one another, not simply in our personal networks of friends and family, but with everyone, everywhere.



May the Lord Bless you and keep you,

Graham