You are beautiful, you are safe, and I love you. Dear all, These are the words that Karl hears from me countless times a day, for he needs to hear them countless times a day. I lean into him, and we make eye contact, and I repeat it over and over, "You are beautiful. You are safe. And I love you." And then often he sighs. He is awake now almost the entire day (taking even fewer naps than before the accident!) and is very aware of his surroundings. Slowly he is making more facial expressions, and hiccups like a small baby. His development is akin to that of a baby's, actually, although more concentrated. I am fairly sure that he is giving me open-mouthed kisses, and in his sleep he startles like an infant. But he sure swallows chocolate pudding like the boy he is! I was so excited the other night by how well he was eating it that Dad, who was on to stay the night, told me to stop, because he didn't want Karl getting sick on his watch! The medical staff are getting more and more encouraged as they see his process--as I might have mentioned before, I look at Karl in the mornings and I say, "So how are you going to reward me today, little boy?" Because he does, every day, with small but meaningful signs of progress. They eye doctors were there yesterday, and I was able to demonstrate how Karl follows along when I read him a book. They were very excited, and I was very proud. I also tell Karl that he is "the coolest kid in all of Regensburg!" That does not exclude Else, by the way, who is the coolest baby in all of Regensburg. His legs, however, have gotten stiffer. Last week they were much more relaxed, and I do not know exactly what that development means. It also seems as if his right eye is a bit higher than his left, but the eye doctors didn't seem to think that needed immediate, if any, attention, because it might correct itself within a year. He is, I believe, trying to speak, but cannot yet. Else was better yesterday, but sicker today, and so we have to attend to my little girl as well, who hasn't been quite so sunshine-y as of late. We will get her on the mend too, you can be sure! Thank you, thank you, for all of the ideas about plane rides back to the States! We have followed many of them, and have a few real possibilities in the offing. We still don't know when we will be ready to go, although it looks as though we will be off to the rehab center near Munich sometime early next week. When there is more news, I will send it off immediately, you can be sure! And again, I apologize when I don't respond to each individual email. I am overwhelmed with your attention--I am not complaining mind you! Your notes give me strength! But I have on average about a half an hour each day on the computer, and so don't get all accomplished that I would like. Same goes with telephone, especially to family. I am at the hospital most of the day, and do not have access to a phone from which I can dial internationally. Please accept these emails as my attempt to stay in touch with important news about Karl. People have often commented on how strong I am. I appreciate the compliment, but wish to say this: This experience has taught me that we truly do have many choices in which to trust--medicine, fate, God, and so forth. But all have their according risks. I have simply intentionally chosen to trust that choice which is attached to a promise, a promise which has edified and comforted people for thousands of years. I am strong because that promise claims me, claims Karl, and claims Else too. That promise says that death will not--does not--have the last word, be it a six-foot-under sort of death, or the death of a little boy's normal play due to a head injury, or the deathly grief I feel about it all. One wonderful nurse said to me "The devil is mad because he will lose" I replied, "The devil is made because he has already lost." And that is what gives me strength. Life will win--has, already, and I see it in the progress Karl is making, the 5 containers of chocolate pudding that the staff ordered for Karl because they were so thrilled that he ate it so readily, in the American Consulate's (based in Munich) willingness to drive up to Regensburg two Saturdays ago to notarize a Power of Attorney form necessary in order for Ann Pederson to purchase my house for me in Sioux Falls two days ago, in the array of love and prayer I receive from all of you, and on and on. God is indeed good. And that, quite simply, is the strength that is not my own. Anna