six years and one month later....

This blog was meant to happen about a month ago, but on the day I wanted it to go up I was flying to the Big Apple. I feel like that is a name of the past. I didn't see or hear it called that once while I was there. Anyways, I was reminded today that I was going to write this. I've talked about it in another blog momentarily, but its such an amazing story it deserves it's own post.

It was March 17th, 2005. It was a nasty cold day, sort of like the day we had today. I got home from school and my friend had come down from Minneapolis to spend a few hours together. I did not have a cell phone at the time. A weird phone number called my friend's phone and asked for me. Whoever it was told me I needed to call my mom right away. I don't even remember if it was male or female. Right after I hung up my mom called his phone anyways. She had gotten the number somehow. She told me that my grandpa had fallen off of his ladder and they were en route to the emergency room. I wasn't too concerned because he had fallen off a roof the previous fall and was just fine. We went home to watch the movie we just rented. My mom, my brother's fiance(at the time) and her mom all made it to our house at the same time a few hours later. My mom was flying out to North Dakota that night. His injury was apparently so bad that they told the family to come say their good-byes.
My grandpa Marvin was fixing his auger just in the yard. The grain bin inspector(I think?) had been there and told him to not start fixing it yet. He would be back to help. Of course, the stubborn German my grandpa is climbed up his 18 feet ladder and went to work. The inspector came back like he said he would and found my grandpa on the ground unconscious in his own blood. This was the first miracle of many. It was about 10:30 am. My grandma would not have started looking for him for almost 3 more hours when he didn't come in for lunch.
The inspector ran in to my grandma and told her to call 911 and to get blankets. The ambulance finally arrived and took him to the nearest town 30 minutes away. When they arrived, the team there quickly determined that his condition was far worse than they were prepared for. They quickly decided that he needed to be sent to Minot. They wanted to airlift him, as he would not be able to withstand the drive in his condition, but were concerned about the wind. Anything over 55 mph winds they will not use the helicopter as it can be too dangerous. The winds sat at 50mph. Coincidence? I think not. They were able to airlift him to Minot.
He arrived in Minot and this is when the immediate family was summoned. They quickly surmised he had a 20% chance of making it through the surgery they were about to perform. He had landed on his head, on the only large rock in the yard. He had severe swelling on his brain, a broken thumb, some broken ribs and obviously quite bruised up.
The following weeks were a blur for our entire family. My mom was out there for weeks at a time and would only come home on the occasional weekend to make sure we were doing alright and switch out clothes basically. I was trying to finish my senior year of high school and my brother was getting married. We all were there as much as we could. We even drove all night a few times just to be able to spend more time with him as we did not know when/if he would pull through.
One of the hardest times I had was when I went out there for almost a week. He had been slowly improving then relapsed with pneumonia. I spent so much time in his room that week. I really really wanted to be no where else. I talked to him and let him listen to the basketball games as I told him what was going on. I read to him. As I went to say goodbye to him, he grabbed my hand and wouldn't let go of it. I burst into tears. I honestly thought it was the last time I would ever see him.
He improved. Very quickly. They moved him to a rehab center so that he could relearn everyday tasks. He had had a traumatic brain injury. Brain injury patients usually never fully recover. They lead much different lives. Simple tasks such as putting on shoes can be a problem for them. He got out of the hospital 3 days before my brothers wedding. Exactly 3 months after the accident, he was able to walk(with a cane and my uncle) up to the podium and pray at my brother's wedding.
His neurosurgeon, Dr. Stillerman was such an amazing doctor. We don't believe he is a Christian, but even he calls my grandpa the Miracle Man. Dr. Stillerman knew it had very little to do with him. Medicine gave my grandpa such a slim shot at life, but it didn't matter. God was the one in control.
My grandma prayed continuously for him to live, even if it was a simple life. My grandpa now lives a simple life. He can no longer farm, but still finds joy in tinkering with his tools in his shop and fixing things. He makes sure all the barn cats are fed and taken care of. My grandparents entered the 21st Century with satellite television and he now enjoys watching "his shows" everyday.
I feel so blessed to be the heritage of these two amazing people. They are such great examples of God's love and His Perfect Plan. I thank God for them every day and I wish to someday be examples of their faith.
My newest favorite memory of him was coming to meet his first great-grandson. They were at home and the little family wasn't here yet. My grandpa was awfully quiet and all of a sudden he looked up and said 'I want to meet that great-grandchild of mine, where is he?" It made me laugh and just thank the Lord that he is around still to see his first greatgrandchild...and hopefully many more!