Van Fundraiser

I had a thought while I was scrolling through Facebook while having my morning cigarette. Several friends have been posting pictures of these amazing vacations that they’re either currently on or recently took with their families. It got me thinking about the memories that their kids will have to look back on when they get older. Then I started thinking about James and what his memories are going to be when he looks back on his life. All of the hospital stays? Staying home and watching TV all summer? That just doesn’t sit well with me. This kid deserves an epic vacation. I think we all do.

To be fair, we have taken James on several vacations over the years: Columbus, Indianapolis, Nashville, Pigeon Forge, and St. Louis. I believe that our Spring Break 2019 trip to Indy was the last time we took a vacation. It was right before his spinal fusion, and before Covid locked the world down.

Now that Covid seems to be behind us and the world is returning to life as normal, I’m itching to get away for a week or two. We could all use a change of scenery and a new adventure. I’m not sure if taking the van on a road trip is a wise thing to do right now, though. I don’t think we should be putting any more wear and tear on it than is necessary. Plus, we would probably need to use some of the money we’ve been saving for a new van to put towards the vacation.

I think our next vacation is going to have to wait until after we get a new van. 2025 will be the twenty-year anniversary of when Stacy and I took our honeymoon road trip across the country on Route 66. Maybe that could be James’ vacation of a lifetime. How epic would that be? We will hopefully have a new van by then, although we’ve still got a long way to go. If you’ve made a monetary donation or bought a shirt, thank you. Words cannot express how much we appreciate your support. Please continue to share the links for our fundraiser and shirts:

Monetary donations: https://helphopelive.org/campaign/21730/

Shirts: https://www.bonfire.com/rollin-for-james

Stacy loves her sweatshirt:

Father’s Day

Stacy created this picture for me for Father’s Day. I may be James’ first hero, but he quickly became one of my heroes. How many dads can say that about their son (or daughter)? This kid has been through so much in his short life, and we rarely hear him complain.

School

Just because James graduated from junior high doesn’t mean he gets to take the summer off from school. He is in summer school with the high school district for a few weeks. It’s not so much for the education as it is to get him out of the house to have new experiences and to be around other kids. They’ve gone swimming, had their own petting zoo, and put together a 4th of July Parade around the school.

Eye Update

It’s been a while since I’ve talked about his eyes, but I am happy to report that surgery has been taken off the table. He had a routine appointment with the eye doctor earlier this month and she was very pleased with how good his eyes look. The goggles, glasses, sunglasses, eye drops, and eye gel are working. We’ll just need to keep up with it to keep his eyes healthy.