Phew!! It's been a busy few days for Mark and us. Friday, Rich and I drove to Washington to be with my family for my twin nephews' graduation from Georgetown University. It was a good break for me to do something entirely different and visit with my brother Robert and his wife Vi-Ella, her family, and my cousin Anthony who drove down from New York. Rich and I had not seen Anthony in years, although we keep in touch regularly. The boys really enjoyed having everyone there and it was great to see my sister-in-law's brothers who came from California and Hawaii. The weather cooperated and even though it rained early in the day, the Business School graduation was moved indoors, so we were able to enjoy the ceremony and be cool and dry!
Mark was originally going to go with us, but when his leave was approved we had to change the dates around and we were not able to have him be part of his buddy's first salute and his cousins' graduation.
Mark had an exciting day on Friday. His physical therapist took him to the YMCA and their rock climbing wall. He anxiously waited all week to finally get back to the thing he loves most (next to Jess, of course) and he had a ball. We were all waiting in Washington to hear about this adventure and when he called he was just estatic! When we asked him how he did, he said not too bad for not having done any climbing in the last eighteen months. I asked him if he factored in all he's been through in those eighteen months, and he said "No. In that case I did fantastic!"
It was very important for Mark and us that Rich and I go to Arlington to visit the two pilots who were killed in the crash. On Sunday morning we made our way there and paid our respects to CW2 Davidangelo Alvarez and CPT Christian Skoglund. It was not something we could do without extreme emotion. These young men were very, very special to Mark and we feel such a close connection to them, even though we never met. It was a very moving experience.
On a lighter note, we hope you enjoy the photos below of our nephews, our family, and Mark making his way up the climbing wall.
3 comments:
Yay Mark! That's so exciting!
Miss you!
Well done to you Mark ,it's better than fantastic !!! x
i'm glad that mark is doing so well. it has been quite a journey for your family. thanks for visiting arlington. the skoglunds and nordbergs went last october when we were in washington for the army 10 miler. i will continue to pray for mark's complete recovery.
margaret
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