Quite the Accomplishment

On Friday, May 10, 2013, the alarm clock went off very early for Alex and me.

Alex needed to get to school for an awards assembly. He had been told he would be receiving two awards, and the assembly started at 8:00 a.m. That meant we had to begin his morning routine extremely early in order to make it on time.

Alex’s morning routine takes at least three hours.

That means it takes at least three hours just to get him ready to get up into his wheelchair. We have done it in two and a half hours before, but only when everything went exactly right and we rushed. Three hours is the average. Some mornings take even longer.

A big part of the routine involves respiratory care, including using his shaker vest to help mobilize secretions in his lungs.

And, of course, I was also getting Grace and Ryan up and ready to go too — like a “normal” morning in many homes across America.

So on Friday, the alarm went off at 3:55 a.m.

I got Alex ready, and off we went.

On the way there, Alex mentioned how far he had come.

Just a few years earlier, he had been bedbound. He had to lie completely flat, and doctors thought he was declining and might not survive. That was not immediately after the trauma of the accident. That was after his massive back surgery.

So going to school to receive two academic achievement awards was incredible.

It was an accomplishment in and of itself.

But honestly, simply being able to go to school at all was something very few people could fully understand.

For Alex, getting there was already a victory.