A Look Back

I actually need to tell a little back story to continue showing God's graciousness and moving during our process of joining the Army.

My father-in-law has had mini strokes for years. He had one in the summer of 2006 but it really only affected his math skills. Otherwise he seemed to do fine. As you may or may not know back in December of 2006 my father-in-law had a stroke that made him unable to live by himself. Just days before the stroke he had been teaching at Troy Dothan and driving around town. Oh at the difference of a few days. He was very fortunate that the stroke did not cause more damage than it did. With the news that he would not be able to live by himself Laura and I made the decision to move him to live with us. We had to clean out his home and get it sold, we had to divide his belonging into five different categories: Dad's, Della's, Laura's, yard sale and eBay. Laura stayed in Alabama to get Dad's affairs in order and she worked tirelessly while Dad was in rehab. Victoria and I had returned to Virginia with a U-Haul trailer full of stuff for Dad, us and eBay.

At the very end of January we moved Dad and another trailer full of stuff from Alabama to Virginia. It was a difficult transition for the whole family, but we made it. Dad was walking around the house slowly with his walker and feeding himself. We were grateful for these little steps of progress. I remember riding down the road and feeling like God was telling me that he was taking us to the next level in our faith journey. I remember thinking that I was happy right where I was.

Within the first six weeks at our house Dad went to the hospital six times and he was admitted five. The last time he was admitted to the hospital the doctor's told us that we would not be able to take care of all his needs at home. They suggested he go to a nursing facility to get rehab and after rehab he might be able to come back and live with us. Not long after he got into the nursing facility we realized that he was not progressing as we had hoped he would.

Back at the end of summer 2006 we had taken on some of Dad's debts. We had two credit cards that had nothing on them and offered a better interest rate than the accounts that he had. While he was living with us he had enough money to pay his bills and to pay us back as well. Once he went into the nursing home, however, we were left with the remainder of that debt. We knew from the beginning that this outcome was a possibility, but we knew that we had done the right thing.

Since Dad could not afford the nursing facility with his retirement and Social Security he applied for Medicaid. God is so good, he was accepted for Medicaid. He only got $30 per month for any person expenses etc. We were so excited for dad even though he would not be able to repay the debt to us.

Just before Memorial Day Weekend Dad was sent to the hospital from the nursing facility. He had gotten dehydrated and he just needed some fluids. Once they got him hydrated they were ready to send him back to the nursing facility. They would not accept him! We could not believe it. They tried to put it off on us saying it was because we did not pay to hold the room for him. They ended up telling us that they would not have taken him back even if we had of held the room. Great what now? As if our plates were not full enough with the impending upheaval now this situation with Dad. So, even though Dad was well enough to leave the hospital, he couldn't. It took close to two weeks to find a place for him but he ended up in Richmond. At first we did not like him being that far away from us, but in the end it was a blessing in more than one way.

At the new facility they really worked with Dad to get him mobile. WOW! They had given up on him at the facility in Warsaw. Dad really liked the place and we were thankful that the situation had worked out the way that it did.

We were now headed toward the end of June and we were certain God wanted us in the Army so we began to look for a place back in Alabama for Dad. At the end of June we submitted an application to the same facility he had been at before coming to Virginia. Then we waited.