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Dear all,
Due to neither laziness nor lack of news, most of this week's updates will be the words of friends. Below you will find the writings of Amy Gebauer, friend from Germany, who visited us about a month ago and wrote a stunning description of the little boy Karl. You will also find a correction from my uncle about his impressions of Karl, and an important one at that! You will find a response to my request for prayers for the young woman with a brain tumor from her pastor. And you will find a recipe for scones, the very scones which Karl made some time ago during his therapy, requested by a reader whom I have never met, along with her reason for wanting the recipe.
This email is a long one, but the writings of my friends are worth the read.
Quickly, regarding Karl: He is doing wonders. Today he tried all day long to sit up by himself, and most amazingly, when he was leaning against a couch, feet on the ground, propped up by my mother (who arrived safely yesterday, hours after Diane's departure; what a blessing these two women have been!), Karl tried to stand up, and for a brief, brief moment, did, and I imagine some of you may have seen the sun shine a bit brighter just then. Karl's smile lit up the room. He wants to be running again so badly he can taste it.
He is also trying new words, and taking more initiative with them. Today, for example, we took a short spin by the Falls (as in Sioux), and little girl Else had fallen asleep. So we tried to gently wake her up, Mom and I did. Suddenly, Karl said, clear as a bell (though one which rings slowly), "Else!" Couldn't get him to do it again; it is as if he does most of his best verbal work when he's not thinking about it. Again and again I must say that Karl is in there. He understands everything, but just can't get it out as quickly as he would like, nor even as accurately as he would like. That said, according to his unfinished evaluations for the school district, he is at a "low average" for his age group, which is actually encouraging, not least of all because the age group runs from 3-5. Most three-year-olds run low anyway on this battery of tests simply by virtue of their ages. Too, he is at least realizing when he is saying what he doesn't want to, and he corrects us when we don't understand. His default words are "ball" and "more," and we have discovered that he spits these out when he can't articulate the ones he wants.
Soon after the accident, not long after my parents arrived, we sat down for a meal, and sang the "Johnny Appleseed" prayer. It goes like this: "Ohhhhhh, the Lord is good to me, and so I thank the Lord for giving me, the things I need: the sun and the rain and the appleseed. The Lord is good to me! Amen, amen, amen, amen, amen, AAAAAAAAMen!" I burst into tears, because Karl always got to sing the last amen solo. Well, people, he has been, for about a week now, right on time. And starting just a few days ago, Karl begins this very prayer with an off-key "OOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHH!"
The Lord is good to me.
On with the words of those who love Karl.
From Amy:
Dear all,
Anna asked me some time ago to write a message about my impressions of Karl while I was visiting them in Sioux Falls, now about three weeks ago. I am sure my observations will be somewhat out of date, but here they are for what they are worth.
I live in Regensburg and have been a friend of Anna and her family for some time; Karl and I are great friends and were regular playmates before the accident. After the accident I saw Karl often in intensive care here in Regensburg and several times at the clinic in Vogtareuth--experiencing the agony of his achingly slow awakening and first attempts to relax his muscles, move and control his mouth and tongue.
I was overwhelmed and overjoyed when I saw him again in Sioux Falls after a period of about five weeks. He could hold up his head and turn and focus on objects and people much more easily and quickly than before, almost instantaneously and with no prompting. While it was clear already in Vogtareuth that he could understand what was going on around him (his laughing when I related to his mother how he had "tricked" me by dropping stones I had given him to hold was a clear sign of that, and of his undiminished mischievous spirit), now he was showing much improved responses, forming some words clearly ("Yeah!" being the easiest and most favored) and getting out the initial sounds of others. His ability to make facial expressions had improved. He could complete rhymes, and without prompting asked to be given a leaf while we were out on a walk. I had given him a pretty one on a walk the day before and he wanted another. He also said his sister's name for the first time while I was there--she was climbing on him, making him laugh as usual, when he said her name, "Else!"
[Contined on next page.]
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