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As of my writing this post, Maki has been in New Zealand with his family there for about nine hours.  And yet he was only boarding his plane this time last night.  The hardest thing to get our heads around is that he arrives two days later, though its only a 13 hour flight. Of course Maki is a pro at flying, having forgotten how many flights he has under his belt. I know he’ll have a great summer with his loved ones…wait, I mean winter!

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After spending the night with our friends near the airport, Justine and I meandered back south. We stopped at a bookstore, looking for presents for Vernon and Joe.  We opted on this book for Vernon:

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He likes it when I read to him, and I know he loves history as well as other intellectual pursuits, but the “bite sized chunks” will make it easier for me.  Ask me anything in a few months, I may be a bona fide (bedside) historian! We just finished a book on the Celts and Barbarians, so at least one of us will have something random to bring to dinner party conversations.

For Joe, we bought this one:

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I don’t even know if he’s a big reader, but on receiving it, he assured us he would enjoy it and seemed pleased. Vernon asked if he would also read it out to him. I have to agree, it does look like the more entertaining of the two.

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I am so glad we brought him something because as it turned out, his 17 year old daughter, whom he’d been looking forward to seeing today, wasn’t able to make it.

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Among Justine’s other gifts, she brought this card she’d made in school. She had also brought home a list of questions about Daddy, which I have since misplaced. So we made up a new one this morning.

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Just in case you can’t read them on the photo, I’ll type them out a the end of this post.

When I started to read Vernon’s new book out loud, Justine asked if she could do anything for him.

“You can rub my feet,” he answered. And so she did.

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It was pretty cohesive today, although he kept asking us to take him home. That does seem to be the big theme lately. I suppose that could be seen as a good thing, that he is more aware that he doesn’t belong in the home, but it is hard to keep deflecting the subject. I hate to keep saying NO. The same goes for drinks, even a sip of water, which he is forever asking for but cannot have.

But with all the frustrations and our unknown future, I think back on last Father’s Day, when he was still in a deep coma and we didn’t know if he’d ever move again, let alone communicate.

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16 Questions About Daddy, as answered by Justine, age 5.

1. What is something Daddy always says to you? “Isn’t she sweet?”

2. What makes Daddy happy? He likes to go outside.

3. What makes Daddy sad? When he doesn’t go outside.

4. How does Daddy make you laugh? When he tries to get out of his chair.

5. How old is Daddy?  17…no, 30.

6. What is Daddy favorite thing to do? Go outside. He also likes to kiss me.

7. What does Daddy do when you’re not around?  He looks at pictures on the wall.

8. What is Daddy really good at?   He’s good at playing guitar.

9. What does Daddy do for his job?   I don’t know. He doesn’t have a job.

10. What is Daddy not very good at?  Walking.

11. What is Daddy’s favorite food?  Chocolate bars.

12. what makes you proud of Daddy?   He learned to talk really good, and one day, he was moving a lot in his bed.

13. What do you and Daddy do together?   We go outside together.

14. How are you and Daddy the same?   I have lots of work at school like he used to have lots of work on the computer.

15. How are you and Daddy different?  He has black hair and I have light brown hair.

16. How do you know Daddy loves you?  He says: “Isn’t that girl beautiful?” And he kisses me all the time.

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