December 14, 2017

These past couple/few weeks have been really busy and crazy for us. It started with the Sled Hockey tournament in Minneapolis. It was a great deal of fun and a wonderful experience for Jason and also for Linda and I. I think by going to this tourney Jason really got into the sled hockey and is looking for ways to improve and be an even bigger contributor to the team. They all love him and in many ways the rest of the team feels like having Jason with them is a special thing. None of the other teams have anyone like him.

We came home from the tournament in pretty good shape, but unfortunately Jason's chair was made unusable, as a result of the traveling. It is now in the shop, being repaired and like many things, when there is a specific part that needs to be replaced, it takes longer to get it repaired. He will be riding his other chair for the next few weeks, and maybe even into the new year. He prefers the other chair, over the one he is using now, but knows it is something that has to be done.

About a week after getting back from Minneapolis Jason's back account (checking account) was hit by an outside source, and a couple of withdrawals were made that he didn't recognize. He called the bank and even though it took a couple of days everything is back to almost normal. There is a period of time that has to transpire before he will feel like saying "normal". The strangest part about this is that because this happened, I took a closer look at our (Linda and my) checking account and the same thing was happening to us. We are with a different bank, and the accounts were opened in two different places, yet the same thing was happening. I contacted my bank and also got things going and accounts closed, and it is still going to be sometime before we're comfortable. In fact we're still dealing with the bank as it looks like hits are still coming in, and the bank can't tell me where they're coming from. As you can imagine, this makes it difficult to simply live a regular life. I do believe things are getting better, for both Jason and us, I just wish we didn't have to deal with it.

Now, along with all this other stuff going on, there was the Lilac Fire - 4100+ acres burned, and a couple of our neighbors lost their homes. Fortunately, we didn't get directly burned, but the fire came within a couple hundred feet of the property, and that was closer than we wanted. We were evacuated for five days and spent the last couple of days staying at a hotel in Murrieta, waiting for the all clear. We're grateful The Gary Sinise Foundation helped us with the hotel expenses, so overall expenses were less than they could have been. The real difficulty was finding a place that could accommodate Jason's needs. When we left the house we didn't have any idea as to how long we'd be gone, and on top of that, its Christmas holiday time and that really made things crazier than usual.

All of us are back in the house now, for a few days, and Jason has even been out on a date. Yes, I said date - - - with a female companion. She is a wonderful young woman who also has some medical background and is studying to be a nurse. Their date went well, and it also gave Linda and I a chance to get out for a little time on our own... so a double plus. That is all for now, and as things get better, as I suspect they will, I'll do my best to keep you all up-to-date. Thank you for all the continued support and prayers. Take care and stay positive.