Monthly Archives: May 2013

the bird song

29 Wednesday May 2013

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There’s a bird that hangs out around our house. I’m not sure what kind of bird it is. But it is always singing. Sometimes its on one side of the woods, sometimes the other. You can hear it no matter where you are in the house. It sings all day. You would think that would get annoying, but this bird just sounds so joyful. So happy. It just has to proclaim. And proclaim it does. I like the bird. It’s nice to hear his cheery song all throughout the day. Last night there was a huge thunderstorm. It was loud and rain was pouring down. Several times I woke up to loud crashes of thunder and the house shaking on its foundation. And one time when I woke up I noticed that the bird was chirping. Nice and loud. Amidst the thunder and the rain, his song could be clearly heard. I rolled over and went back to sleep, but I remember thinking, wow even in the midst of this awful storm, that bird is still so happy.

How does that bird always sing? He hasn’t a care in the world. And even when storms are raging all around him, he still lifts his song. It just struck me. Made me think before I drifted back to sleep. Maybe I need a little more singing in my storm. Maybe I can learn a lesson from a crazy bird. There’s a quote someone said that goes something like this: “Instead of telling God how big the storm is, tell the storm how big your God is”. And maybe that’s just what I needed to remember today. God knows already how big my storm is. He knows my knee hurts and my ankle hurts and I can’t feel my foot and I can’t walk. He knows what I am going through and what I will be going through. And maybe I just need to think about that more often and think about the storm less.

Maybe I need to start singing.

The Marathon Ahead-DiMartino Family

22 Wednesday May 2013

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My Brother-In-Law just set up this site because so many people were asking how they could support us and make donations. Thank you all so much for the overwhelming support you have given so far. Our family, friends, church body, and communities have been such a huge blessing to us as we adjust to our new normals.

http://www.gofundme.com/dimartinofamily

Thank you!

nothing to say

21 Tuesday May 2013

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I know I haven’t posted in a while and I’ve really been thinking about it. I feel such pressure to write really good meaningful things that impact people, but lately I’ve got nothin. I write a lot, but haven’t really felt like I had much to say in my blog. I’ve just been settling in and having tons of visitors, catching up with so many people. It has been such a blessing to have visitors and good food and a beautiful flowery springy yard. Peter is coming home Friday I believe. So we rearranged furniture and cleaned everything up to be ready for his arrival. (by that I mean Kim cleaned and I sat on my bed) I got my cast off my leg and now have a huge leg brace. It is way more painful and the dressing on my wound needs to be changed twice a day now, but it means progress. It means healing. Even if it hurts more. I have physical therapy three times a week and acupuncture once a week (first time I’ve ever tried that was yesterday…kinda weird). But that’s about my life…PT, doctors appointments, and people visiting. Its keeping me busy! Here’s a few pictures of fun visitors I’ve had.

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Baby Wyatt was among my very first visitors

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Then miss Ruby and her mama

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Morgan came over and wanted me to paint her toes to match mine

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Becca and baby Miles came from Syracuse! He’s so darling!

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Liz came all the way from Kansas! What a great surprise. It made my heart so happy to see her.

IMG_4879Laura came from Kansas too! They took me out to Javas! What an amazing first outing!

 

day like today

14 Tuesday May 2013

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Today was a rough day. I got my stinky cast removed. Thank God! My leg looks disgusting. Not really. To me it does. It’s skinny and white and well…hairy. My wound is “not that bad” according to other people. I can’t handle stuff like that so to me it is so gross. They didn’t put another cast on as planned. They replaced it with a full leg brace. So I have to now change my dressing on the wound twice a day. Ahem…my MOM has to change my dressing twice a day. I really would do it, but I can’t reach most of it, so someone definitely has to help. Liz’s mom, who is a nurse, came over tonight to walk my mom through it and help ease my mind about how terrible it is to have to change your own dressing. The brace allows me to bend my knee more but not straighten my leg completely. So it feels much less stable than the cast and it hurts like heck to bend my knee since it has been immobilized for so long. (this really is a good move, I am just not feeling great about it yet)

I did sit on the couch and cry tonight. I can’t be upbeat all the time! There are moments  where crying is what I need to do and tonight was one of those times. But my sweet parents sat with me. Cried with me. And prayed for me. And I know God’s mercies are new every morning, so even though today was a rough day, here’s hoping tomorrow is a better one.

Update 5/6/13

06 Monday May 2013

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Everyone is asking for an update, so here’s a quick synopsis. Peter and I are in rehab. We get Physical Therapy and Occupational Therapy for 1 1/2 hours every day. (3 hours/day total) We also had speech therapy evaluations to see if we suffered any brain damage which neither of us did.

I am very mobile. I am independent in my room and get around with the walker. I can take my wheel chair to go visit Pete, and I am getting very confident with crutches. I have tons of nerve pain in my foot which is a good thing. I still have no feeling in my foot or ankle and have a full leg cast that is keeping my knee bent at a 70 degree angle.  Pete is harder to move around. He has skin grafts and burns and a large hole in his left foot. He has to keep his right leg straight out in front of him so he can get into a wheel chair with help and has to have a leg rest keeping his leg up. It’s not very comfortable for him though so he usually only gets into the wheel chair when he has to go to therapy.

Rebekah will be joining us here today! I’m not sure what time, but she is coming. We will all be on the same floor and our rooms are all close to each other. She has had a lot of complications and a lot of pain. I don’t really know all of her injuries, but bones in her hand are broken along with bones in her leg and foot. She hasn’t gotten out of bed much except to move to a recliner. She still has lots of pain so you can be praying for that. That they would get her meds balanced right and the she would start to heal and feel less pain.

Noah is at home in Texas with his grandpa. He is all recovered and had his stitches removed and before he left here was running around and mostly back to his normal self. He got tons of loot from the red sox and many others so he was enjoying being a celebrity in Boston. Pray for him as he will have emotional things to deal with and also he will be missing his mom!

Kim & Colton are back home in NC. They are doing well. Adjusting to being back to work/school. Colton’s parents came to visit so that was really encouraging for them.

Mom & Dad went back to NY for a few days and Dad is actually on his way here right now. He will be here until Wednesday when he will take me HOME! I am being discharged and can’t wait to get back to NY! I will be looking forward to lots of visitors. (And good food)

bittersweet melodies

03 Friday May 2013

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Tonight I did something I haven’t done in a long time. Maybe ever. I prayed with my brother. We held hands, closed our eyes, cried, and prayed. He was worried about our friend’s dad who isn’t doing well health wise, so we prayed for him. We prayed for peace and a painless night and for sleep. That seemed to apply to us also so I prayed the same things for us. Peace. Painless nights. Sleep. He squeezed my hand tighter and tighter. I cried harder and harder. When I said “amen” he hugged me. As much as you can hug when one of you is in a hospital bed and the other in a wheel chair. But we made it work. He hugged me and said he loved me. And then handed me the box of tissues.

This has been so hard. I don’t know why it happened to us. It’s hard to stay upbeat and positive all the time. But, tonight I prayed with my brother. And for tonight, that’s enough.

Shauna Niequist

02 Thursday May 2013

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So this is one of the most amazing things that has happened to me throughout all this crazy bombing/hospital/rehab/leg cast situation. Famous people have been visiting all the victims. Red Sox players, Celtics, Patriots, the President, Kevin Spacey, Bradley Cooper…Anyway, my sister emailed Shauna Niequist, who is one of my favorite authors and explained to her our situation, and she made this video for me and sent me a package full of cards and goodies from Chicago. (I haven’t gotten the package yet as this rehab place is over protective and won’t let us get any mail) But I am SO excited to see what is in it!

A few weeks ago I had the privilege to review Shauna’s new book Bread & Wine. You can see the review here. I love her writing. She is an inspiration to me and it is just the coolest thing that she sent me this video. The body of Christ is amazing. And I’m so glad she’s my “sister”.

Password for the video is Gina (capital G)