Joan here...Not a good week!

Wow...August 23rd already! This week has been once again a difficult week. I almost hesitate to write anything. Rick had an evaluation this week. He has been feeling for awhile that he is not doing very well. Every time I watch him try and walk I just quietly cry to myself. I cannot believe this is happening still. I guess I will never accept it! It is getting harder and harder to write anything down.

His cane will not carry him much further anymore. He will be using a good "old" walker to give him balance. :( it is hard for the both of us to accept this. Both his arms are not doing well. We know now it is only a matter of time before they are like his legs.

We received an email lately from a group from Whitemouth who are dedicating their offering this year to the ALS Society of MB and want Rick to accept it on their behalf. That is so kind and generous of them.

We will be staying in Wpg still for awhile. The washroom is not completed yet. The kids are doing the best they can.

Rick is really struggling right now! We both can't believe this is happening!

Fund Raiser info......Elvis...September 19th on the Paddle Queen.....Includes Dinner, Dance and Elvis...all for only $48.00 each ticket. Please let us know if you would like some tickets. We can really say from experience that the ALS Society of MB have been sooooo supportive and helpful to us....we really encourage everyone to come out and have a great evening of fun!!!!!

Joan here...River boat cruise with Elivs! Fundraiser for ALS Society MB. September 19th.

Hey everyone!!!! Mark your calendar...Fun evening ahead!!!! Special fund raising event on the Paddle Queen Riverboat on September 19th. Dinner and dance. Elvis is alive and well!!! Nick Drobot "tribute artist" http://www.nickakaelvis.com/ will be entertaining us for the evening. As soon as the tickets are available I will post the info or you can email me for the information on the tickets. Price for the evening will be very reasonable! It should be a blast! Nick performed in Whitemouth last week and he was awesome!!! He ended the evening with a bunch of people..or should I say women!!! lol screaming encore! He is also performing at the Elvis Fest in Gimili next weekend.

Rick and I have been enjoying every moment of life! We again are so grateful and would like to mention all the retail outlets, Home Depot, Revy, Walmart for their customer care of providing scooters! This enables Rick and I to roam their outlets. Sometimes we have to wait for one as obviously their are others with the same need.

We are spending more and more time in Whitemouth. Slowly, we are adjusting in our minds to where our new place of residence will be. Because we are such city slickers...there is an adjustment. The town people that we have meet at various functions etc are extremely friendly and awesome!!!

Rick gets through the day and doesn't have much to give beyond that. He desperately wants to be of help to Jake and Val as they continue with getting our place ready. He doesn't have much strength in his arms and legs so he has chosen to mow the lawn on the riding tractor as his contribution of doing something. He loves it! The only thing is that yesterday, I needed his help in the middle of him mowing. He stopped on a bit of a slope. When he went to get back on the mower again he could not! I watched in horror as he walked around and around the mower trying to pull himself up on the seat of the mower. He finally did it! I just stood there and cried!!! After that I was no good for nothing for the rest of the evening. We both were at lost for words!!! We spent a lot of time with tears running down our cheeks!

Thanks again to all of you for your love, prayers, help, and care. Thanks Jake and Val for your dedication to making a special place for Rick and I.

As I write this, I cannot contain the emotion and tears as I remember what took place last night. Rick was sitting in his wheel chair. Jake, Val and I were talking to him. Jake said to Rick "I really don't know how much you weigh and I don't even know if I could pick you up". So with that, Jake went over to Rick and picked him up and held him in his arms. I was so moved by the love, care and concern from Jake for his dad. He wanted to know if he could handle Rick's weight down the line. Rick is a very slim man and becoming slimmer each day but Jake wanted to be assured that he could pick Rick up. We all know down the road soon Rick will need some real hands on.

We apologize to everyone if we are scarce most of the time.