Dunham Family and My Stroke Story!

I took three months off of vision therapy, and I returned this morning. Before my break, my eye doctor and I agreed that I should take a break. After all,  I have been doing all sorts of therapy since my strokes 2 1/2 years ago. I just said, "I'm just so tired." Our fourth-grader started back to school on Wednesday.  This morning I took him to school, and he complained jokingly saying, "I just don't want to go to school!" I told him that we both had the summer off and now we are returning to school.  Amazing but I'm still doing therapy. I'm still "doing school." I believe I have done over 400 sessions of therapy so far.  From kindergarten through college, I excelled in school. But my therapy is the toughest challenge I've ever had.  This morning returning to therapy, I did well. But now I have a massive headache which is expected. I assume when I pick him up after school, he will say, "I am so tired ...

On November 10, 2011, I wrote a blog post about sons and fathers. My son was six years old when I did that blog post. Now he's nine. On November 10, 2011, I wrote about our son: "He  admonished me to get a different job such as a mechanic because they know how to do cool things, make lots of money, and don't have to travel." Today, 2 3/4 years later, I am missing our son's first day of fourth grade at Sacred Heart school in Boise. I'm in Coeur d'Alene for meetings.  I am missing him already. It seems so normal. I hark back to when my son said I "should get a different job." And here I am again. Is it worth it for me to strive so much to "get back" when I miss my son and my wife? This morning, at that Idaho Governors Cup, Gov. Butch Otter sat down with me alone and asked how I was doing. His concern is so genuine.  Six years ago at the Governors Cup in Coeur d'Alene, I left early to see my son's first soccer p...

My brothers have been a big influence in my life. My brothers are different in some ways but similar in so many ways. I am the youngest of the four brothers, and I learned a lot from them. When I was in the 8 th grade preparing to preregister for 9th grade at O’Leary Junior High, one of my brothers suggested that I should take typing in the 9 th grade not the 10th grade which was normal. He took typing in the 10th grade. He said the typing teacher at Twin Falls High School had some issues with him. It involved a sandwich and electric typewriters. It seems that my brother did not really like typing, the teacher, and perhaps school in general. The fact that the typing teacher had been teaching since the early 40’s predating electric typewriters was not the issue. It seems that my brother took a bite out of her sandwich when she was not looking and he also sabotaged one of the electric typewriters. I took his advice and took typing in the 9 th grade. I knew my brot...

The other day, my wife and I were talking about my stroke recovery. It has been remarkable even though I am not patient.  I want “me” to be back to like I was. That will never happen, but I do agree that I consistently make progress. My wife commented that when I had my strokes, I cried all of the time.  I was startled. I do remember crying often for a few days. However, when my wife said that I was emotional for months after the strokes, I did not remember that.   I started to think about my emotions during those awful days and months. I now realized that I was very emotional. I now remember crying and sobbing a lot.  One Saturday afternoon when I was in St. Alphonsus Hospital on the rehab floor, I remember sobbing quietly to myself. The nurse asked if she could do anything for me, and I said through my tears, “I really want to be alone.” She closed the door softly, and I cried thinking my life was over.   Even now, two years and nine mon...

50 years ago this weekend when I was 3 years old, my family moved from Montana to Twin Falls, Idaho.   Our dad opened the new Buttrey Food Store where he was the manager.  As the baseball player Sam Ewing said,  “When you finally go back to your old hometown, you find it wasn't the old home you missed but your childhood”