Saturday 2/11

Bear Bryant....Ummm I mean Jack Rhodes hopes everyone has a wonderful weekend!!!!

Dad had some beautiful flowers dropped off last Sunday without a card. We were curious as to who they were from cause they were sooo pretty. We finally found out last night. Thanks go out to Ernest Flippo and the Methodist Church. He is on the committee that delivers flowers left in the church to shut ins, nursing home residents, etc. He said he saw these and knew where they needed to go and had Dads name added to the list. Definitely brightened his day, and his room, getting these! =) We have cards hanging in his room and he wanted me to read them to him yesterday. (He can read but they are taped on the wall, so he can't get to them to well) He enjoyed hearing them all and he still remembers all of your nicknames! (Squatty body.... Ms Ann we both got a good laugh!) There are so many sweet people out there that love my daddy and we are thankful for each one of you! Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend.... Stay warm!!!!!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Thursday 2/9

Everything is about the same around here.  Dad has good days and bad days.  He is having some stomach/feeding issues, but we are hopeful they will get it all figured out soon.  He has lost 10 lbs since he has been in Heber.  He has great upper body strength and they are working with him on moving himself from the bed to his chair.    He makes his way up and down the halls some.  When I went to see him Saturday morning, he was sitting up front at the nurses station keeping them in line!! =)  Mom went Saturday night and he was sitting in the lobby soaking everything in! (There were 2 cops up there due to a resident disturbance or something like that and he was watching all the action!)

I'm sorry I don't update this blog as much as I should.  Sometimes I start to write and then stop cause I'm afraid all I will do is be negative.  We still have our up and down days.  It's gotten really hard for us....especially Mom.  We were hoping things would be different by now and it's hard not to become angry that things aren't going the way we want them to.   I found some video's on my phone of Dad playing with Gracie over a year ago.  It's good to hear his voice, but then it makes it hard at the same time.   Dad is in good spirits the majority of the time and that does our hearts good.  He enjoys seeing all the familiar faces of people that stop by and hearing of people that ask about him.  I told him the other day he sure is a well liked man, and was telling him a few of the things people had said to me over the past few days.  He looked at me and said, "Bullsh*t!"  I laughed sooo hard. (then told him I didn't like those kind of words and he said well Bull then! lol) 

I can't say Thank you enough, for all of the prayers.  It means soo much to all of us.  I will try to do better with keeping everyone updated. 

Sunday 1/22

Not much to report. Dad still has problems with talking and we can't understand him the majority of the time. However, when we are able to understand him, he cracks some jokes! Yesterday Mom, Josh, Gracie and I were with him and Josh got up to do something and he told him he liked his pants. Let me inform you that these were a pair of Josh's work pants that had stains on them! Lol! He had us all laughing!!!! Gracie was humming a tune while we were there and Dad started moving his hands and head dancing around! She kept showing him videos on my phone that she had made for her "Pop". He took his "Bear Bryant" hat off and looked at G, then pointed to himself and said, "I'm Pop!"
They are still working on standing, sitting and swallowing. We are hopeful he will be doing all of these soon!!! I told him his goal is to be doing all of the following by May, cause he has a new baby girl coming in June and I'm gonna put him to work!!!!!!! =)
We found out last Wednesday we will be adding another girl to our family in June!!!! Josh will officially be outnumbered in the Morgan household!!!!
Today marks 9 months since Dad had his bleed. I can't believe it's been that long. I think we were all hopeful we would have him back by now, but we are thankful for his continued baby steps.
Thank you all for continuing to check in on us!!!!



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Saturday 1/7

Dad is about the same.  He has periods where he is pretty alert, then there are periods were he isn't and is very confused.  This makes it so hard on us.  I took Gracie to see him Thursday night.  She is still a little unsure, but we sat in the chair and visited with him for about 15 minutes.  He stared at her the entire time! =)   I asked him who she was and he said, "My sweet Gracie!"   She put her "lips" on while we were there and he got the biggest kick out of it!  When we got ready to leave he blew her a kiss and we said our "I love yous".  As we were walking in the hallway, he said, "Be careful."  I couldn't hold back tears hearing him say that.... what he'd always say as we'd leave to go anywhere.
Last night Mom went to watch the game with him.  I got a message on my facebook from a girl who's father is on the same hall as dad and she said, " I wish you could have just heard your Dad screaming touchdown!!"  I was half asleep, (cause this preggo momma was WORN out) but it brought the biggest smile to my face!   She said she and the nurses started laughing cause they knew it had to be him and they went to his room and he and mom were both cheering!!!  I hate to say he didn't last much longer after that.  Mom said he fell asleep. =(  She was upset, cause she knows how much he loves football, especially the Razorbacks.  Can I say it for the 58443745894382943th time.... we are ready to have him back!!!  It has been a looooong 8 1/2 months.
 
We know there are many of you that are not from Heber who read this blog to stay up to date with Dad and his progress.  I thought I would post the statement that we ran in the Heber Springs paper Friday.  This has definitely been very bittersweet for us.
 

A message from Jack, Dicey, Brett, Anna Kathryn (Morgan), and Caroline Rhodes:

We must not let this New Year begin without trying to express to you what is in our hearts. Many, if not all of you, know of Jack’s serious medical condition as a result of his brain bleed in April of 2011. It became
extremely unlikely that a return to the agency would be possible. As a result, we made the very difficult decision to sell the agency to Arkansas Valley Insurance. The man who owns Arkansas Valley is a good, ethical insurance man and we feel comfortable with the way his agency will care for the Jack Rhodes Insurance customers. Additionally, the same office staff will stay on and continue to give you the good service you have come to expect. We would not have considered selling the agency had we not had this confidence. Taking good care of your insurance needs has been the top priority of Jack Rhodes Insurance.

The past eight months have been totally consumed with supporting Jack and we have not been able to stay in close contact with as many of you as we would have liked. We must tell you what a joy it has been for us to
be in Heber Springs all these many years. It is our home. We love Heber and we love you. You have been so good to us in these difficult times. We regret we have not been able to respond like we would have liked. Now that Jack is back in Heber Springs, life may slow down for us and we will be able to express many of these thoughts to you personally. 

Thank you for your many acts of kindness. The cards, letters, phone calls, prayers and other expressions of caring have been overwhelming to us.

Merry Christmas!

We received the best Christmas gift, ever!!!! Dad got to come home for a few hours Christmas morning. The nursing home staff brought him in their van and they overshot the house, and he told them they had passed his house, to turn around! Lol We had a wonderful visit and he enjoyed his time here!! Here are a few pictures.... Caroline has more on her camera.








He opened his gifts and asked for coffee several times. Broke our hearts we couldn't give him any. He kept saying this looked just like his house! =) He kept his eyes on Gracie the majority of the time.


She pushed her baby around for Pop to see!
She warmed up and showed him some of her dancing skills. I'm not sure where this child has gotten her moves, but she gets down! Lol
As he was leaving, he told us he wanted to do this again. We agreed and told him this was the first of many trips home. Hopefully we will have him home for good soon.
I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Christmas card

There are so many of you I'd love to send a Christmas card to and I figured this might be the easiest way!!!!! The Rhodes and Morgan families wish you all warmest thoughts and best wishes for a wonderful Holiday and a Happy New Year. We are thankful for each and everyone of you and all of your prayers. Merry Christmas!!!!!!!




- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Tues 12/21

This has been a rough, emotional past few days for us. Like I've said before, we go though periods like this. Mom said the other day.... It's sad and overwhelming right now. There are sooo many people that love and care for my Dad and knowing this really helps us get through these tough times. We just take it day by day.... Well really hour by hour.
Dad still has good alert periods and not so alert periods during the day. He does best in the mornings. Caroline has been spending a lot of time with him these past few days and they have had some good convos. She brought a Delta magazine to read to him and she started and he told her he had already read that one! Lol!!!! She was reading him a story and mispronounced a word and he quickly corrected her!! He is doing well with his therapies and continues to work for them. He is enjoying all his visitors and the sweet cards! I really can't say how much it means to us how many of y'all have stayed loyal to my Daddy. Mom, Caroline and I went to dinner tonight and stopped to tell Dad goodnight on the way home. He was very confused and said he wanted to go home. Mom is still up there with him now. So hard for all of us....... :/


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone