Today marks eight years (I can hardly believe it) since our sweet Jonathon collapsed from a ruptured brain aneurysm and stroke while chaperoning a youth group retreat, and we were given little hope for his survival or recovery. After being airlifted to Grady where he had emergency surgery to clip the aneurysm and then spent four weeks in ICU, we began a journey that none of us could have ever imagined. (The original site created for updates is : www.prayersforjon.com). Through the love, support, and unceasing prayer of our friends, family, and countless strangers, he not only survived, but has made a recovery that is nothing short of a miracle! We are so truly blessed by him and by the lessons we've all learned on this journey; we thank God for His mercy and grace in allowing him to remain here with us.
In reflecting on this day, I am reminded of how very far he's come and how very blessed we have all been by this experience, although I will readily admit that it's not an experience I would have ever asked for. As I've often said, "It's not the road we would have chosen, but it's the one we're on." Learning to trust that God is who He says He is and that He can do what He says He can do has been one of the greatest challenges and yet greatest rewards we could have ever imagined.
As I go through some of the photos we took during those days, I also remember asking God to never let me forget what it felt like to rely solely on Him--to be completely powerless, to totally surrender. Of course, as the days turned into weeks and the weeks into months and ultimately years, we have forgotten. We've allowed ourselves to get caught up in the day-to-day chaos that seems to define our lives and regrettably, we've forgotten. We've accepted this new "normal" as if things had always been this way. In looking through these photos, it doesn't take long to remember, though, that things have definitely not always been this way.
Christmas 2004 - Who knew what was in store in just a few short months?
March 23, 2005 - 11 days after his initial surgery We took this because we knew he would want to know about those early days.
May 2005 - Therapy at the Shepherd Center. He would spend a total of nine weeks as an inpatient and over a year in outpatient therapies.He took his first tentative steps in March of 2006 after almost a year in a wheelchair.
June 18, 2005 - His and Jeff's 21st birthday 8 days after coming home
I could post many, many more pictures, but the point is that when I take the time...when I MAKE the time...to pause and reflect on the blessings we've received since those frightening days in 2005, I am taken back to that time and am prompted once again to thank God for His amazing mercy in allowing us to keep our son here on earth with us and to ask Him once again to let me never forget! I believe with all my heart that the Lord has a very special purpose for Jonathon, and as I often tell him, "God's just not finished with you yet!" We will mark this date for the rest of our lives and will continue to pray that we NEVER EVER forget the blessings.
When I posted Christmas (Part 1), I was clearly in a rush and knew that I wasn't doing the occasion justice. Well, here I am just over two months later, and I'm finally making time to blog more about our very special time together. The picture that I posted earlier wasn't actually taken at Christmas; it was made on December 2 which was the only time when Blair and Ron could be with us, so we had our Clark/Elliott/Pope get-together then! With a family the size of ours, you've just gotta make it work when you can! This year, we did something a bit different in that we put everyone's name in a hat at Thanksgiving and drew names. The names included everyone shown in the picture which alleviated the need to exchange gifts with so many people--the rule was you simply gave a gift to the person whose name you drew. To make it more fun, I created an event in Facebook and called it "Clark/Elliott/Pope Secret Santa" and asked everyone to post suggestions (or links) for gift ideas for the person who drew their name. We did our best to keep the names drawn a secret and then made a game out of guessing who drew your name when it came time to exchange gifts. It turned out to be a lot of fun and kept our expenditures well under control--if you didn't draw someone's name, you didn't give them a gift! Pretty simple actually. I'd be interested, though, to hear from those of you who have large families to see how you address the issue. (Of course, our little Carson was showered with gifts from everyone! Pretty nice when you're the only grandchild/nephew/great-nephew in the family!)
Christmas Day 2012
Our little Bulldog
Get ready, Mark Richt!
When Christmas Day actually arrived, it was pretty low-key in that we had already had our gift exchange--although we waited until that day to give Carson his gifts. We didn't have Blair and Ron with us (it was his family's turn to "get" them on Christmas), but the rest of us got together to eat far too much and make more memories together. The memories, after all, are what last.
So from my post title, how does Christmas fit with Paris and London? Well, I couldn't write about it at the time, but one of the gifts that we received was a trip to Paris! It wasn't actually a Christmas gift, but since it all came about right before Christmas, it felt like one! The reason I couldn't write about it is because it was a surprise for Blair's 30th birthday from Ron. Around Thanksgiving, he emailed me to ask if we would let him fly us to Paris so that we could surprise her on her special day (February 10). He was so sweet and said that since they would already be in Paris, he couldn't give her a trip and that he couldn't think of anything better than to give her us for her birthday; how sweet is that? He toured18 cities in the UK and Europe during January, and they rented an apartment in Paris for the months of February and March so that he could work on his next album, so they would already be there. Needless to say, we were shocked but at the same time very excited! I mean, DC and I have never ventured far from home (i.e. going to NYC was a big adventure for us when Blair moved there!), so traveling "across the pond" was a huge step for us! We didn't ponder the proposal long, but waited until Christmas to share it with the rest of the family. Of course, since it was a surprise, we couldn't share it with Blair at all! THAT was tough as was not being able to post anything at all about our plans!
Anyway, on February 7 we hopped a plane to hop the pond and found ourselves standing outside her door on February 8! It was awesome! Ron had arranged to have a car meet us (really cool for two bumpkins to see someone holding a "Mary and David Clark" sign when we finally got through Border Patrol and got our bags), and the driver took us straight to the apartment in the totally amazing artist district of Paris called Montmartre. Seeing her face when she opened the door was worth more than I could ever express. I wanted so much to be able to snap a photograph to share with everyone, but when you're shouting "Surprise!" and getting a much-needed hug, it's just not feasible! Trust me, though, that she was indeed speechless for a moment, seeing us standing there. The joy was indescribable for us, and to add to the wonder, we got to see this every morning and evening for the next week just by looking out the living room window:
Evening View
Morning View
Can you even begin to imagine what that was like for us? AMAZING is the best word I know to describe it! I can only hope that it was at least half as amazing for her! We packed so much into our trip: the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, the Sacre Coeur, Notre Dame, the Arc de Triomphe--all things you'd definitely want to see on a trip to Paris, but we were also able to make an overnight trip to London to see Big Ben, Parliament, Westminster Abbey, the old Tower Castle, the Tower Bridge (London Bridge), Hyde Park, Kensington Palace, and the Changing of the Guard ceremony at Buckingham Palace--not to mention the incredible food we ate! We ate fish and chips for lunch, shepherd's pie for dinner, and stopped in a pub for cider in London. In Paris, we ate an amazing totally French meal (including foie gras!) for Blair's special birthday dinner at a restaurant called Paul Chene (where some of their friends from London surprised her, too!). We also dined on Italian, Japanese, and Ethiopian while in Paris, and, of course, the totally delicious bread! The best part is that I didn't gain an ounce during our stay! Of course that can be attributed to the fact that we stayed in the hilliest (is that a word?) a.k.a. "The Butte" part of Paris and to these:
Five floors of this spiral staircase
walked a minimum of twice a day most days
We will never be able to adequately thank Ron for making this possible. This year brings so many happy events (their wedding in October is a big one!); we are so grateful that we could kick it off with our favorite daughter! Happy Birthday, sweet one; you are loved more than you can ever imagine!
Somewhat random order, but here are some of my favorite pictures from our trip:
Watching her birthday video -
wishes from friends and family
Before dinner at Paul Chene
London Bridge
Changing the Guard
Westminster Abbey
Little Blair and Big Ben
Parliament
The Seine
Sunken Gardens at Kensington Palace
We are there--the Eiffel Tower!
DC and Blair at Jardin des Tuileries in front of Louvre
Montmartre Street near apartment
View of Paris from Sacre Coeur
Sacre Coeur
Arc de Triomphe
Ron and Blair at Notre Dame
If you're interested, here's the video we made for the birthday girl
(and I have no idea why the image is set on the monkey!) :
On March 12, 2005, our son Jonathon (then 20 years old), collapsed while chaperoning a church youth retreat and was airlifted to Grady Hospital in Atlanta for emergency surgery to repair a ruptured brain aneurysm. He had expressed prior to leaving for the retreat that he hoped it would draw him closer to the Lord. This is not only his story of courage, determination, and faith throughout his struggles to recovery, but also "our" story--the family and friends who have traveled the road with him--and how through his journey we have all been drawn closer to God. He is so good! He is who He says He is!
I began blogging in 2005 as a way to share information about Jonathon's progress and recovery from a ruptured brain aneurysm and to thank God for his infinite grace and mercy. He is so GOOD! Now I write to share Jonathon's continued progress as well as of my own journey through this life. I am the mother of four adults (3 boys, 1 girl) and the mother-in-love to the beautiful wives of each of my sons and the handsome husband of my daughter. I also have five beautiful grandblessings and an adult daughter and her sweet husband (and their precious daughter) I have "adopted" through mutual experiences and love.
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