Day Eight - A Remarkable Day

Have you ever had one of those days when you feel like you are riding a roller coaster? First you go up, then you go down, then you turn and you might even go backward. That is what today was like for Darryl, Jerry and I. We were looking for housing for Amy, Mike and other members of the family to stay in while here in Florida. I never thought finding a 2 bedroom apartment could be so difficult. We started out the day with the good news from Amy on Dick's progress, what a high that was to start the day! We headed to Tampa to check out housing that we had spent most of the early morning hours calling about and checking locations on from the computer. We checked out a few and saw one possibility. It is almost impossible to find anyone to rent on a month to month basis in Tampa. We stopped in the middle of the afternoon for a while to visit Dick. His progress is so exciting to watch. (but I will let Amy tell you about that) We then went back out and hit the streets, literally. Jer drove down neighborhoods, street by street, surrounding the hospital and each time we would see a house or an apartment that had a sign in the window Darryl or I would hop out and get the phone number and we would sit in the car and make a call. We would tell our sad story and pray that someone would take pity and make something happen for us. Everyone offered concern, some even offered their prayers but only a few offered rent month to month. Afraid to sound picky and a bit like Goldie Locks, we found 2 room apartments that were very small, and some with too big of a price. But one of the last apartments we came across had a charm about it that was perfect. It was close to the hospital, not too far out of our price range. As we got out of the car I told Uncle Darryl, "Look at that bumper sticker on that car in front of us, it's a sign". It read 'Watch Out for Motorcycles'. We went in to look at the apartment and it was just what we needed, we said we would take it. Then the roller coaster took that dive that takes your breath away. The lady with the apartment said, "I have never rented month to month before, I will have to take a couple of days to think about it." OH MY GOD! I thought we don't have a couple of days. We will need to start looking all over again. Uncle Darryl spoke up and asked her if she could please let us know soon so we would have time to find something else. This was 6:00p tonight. We picked Amy up at the hospital and headed back to Orlando. Excited about the news of Dick's progress and depressed over the possible loss of the one great apartment. 7:33p. Phone rings. It's Karen with the apartment. She has decided to rent to us! What a terrific ride this day has been today! Don't you love roller coasters!

Hi everyone! This is Amy again. I spent all day with my dad today. It was a great day. As soon as I walked in the room I went up to him and he immediately started moving around and he seemed to pick up his hand for me to hold. I kissed him and told him I loved him so much and I was so proud of him. Without ever opening his eyes he mouthed LUV U! I couldn't believe it! This was the first time all week I was starting to feel a little positive. Even though I was feeling good I was still on edge. I want him to start doing all of these things but I am nervous at the same time. I don't want him to get to excited. He still hasn't opened his eyes all of the way. I got him to open one eye just a little today for about a second. It took everything inside of him but he managed to get it half way open. I did try to give him some space today to get some rest. It was really hard to stand there and not push to get him to respond to me. He really is a fighter! I see him working so hard to get better. I wont give up on him! Amy