I have found Aaron, and he is well. I thought you'd all want to know, since he's been kind of un-findable the last few days. I talked to him on Wednesday. In case you're keeping track, that was the 18th, which means it's been two months since the attack. Hard to believe. Aaron said Wednesday was kind of a hard day because he feels like he should be farther along in the rehabilitation process than he is two months later. In the grand scheme of things, it's not going to matter how long it takes him to get walking again, but the weeks since Aaron had his skin grafts have been trying because it's involved a lot of waiting and not a lot of action. But progress is being made. Aaron said his skin graft is healing up under the supervision of his wound care specialist, who is fast becoming our favorite person. The gash on his foot is 99 percent healed, and only a small part of the tissue is still inflamed. Praise God for that.
In the meantime, Aaron is working out, trying to build his strenth up, and trying to gain some weight. At last count, Aaron weight 140 pounds. He weighed about 180 when he left, so he's lost a lot of weight, and now weighs less than me. This makes me feel just great. Our of revenge, I've threatened to sit on him and force feed him if he doesn't start bulking up soon, since I could apparently pin him to the floor for the first time in about ten years.
In the rest of their time, Aaron and Kelly are spending a lot of time with the men from Aaron's platoon who were hurt at Haditha Dam. They are seriously injured, but they haven't lost any limbs and they should be coming along nicely soon. It's good for Aaron to spend some time with them, since they are probably some of the only people who really understand what losing the men who died means to all of them. Please continue to keep these men in your prayers. I am going to post their names soon, but in the meantime, be as faithful to them and their families as you have been to us. They are family, too.
There is a break for Aaron and Kelly on the horizon. In early June, they are going home to attend the wedding of Kelly's dear friend, Megan. (Congratulations, Megan!) Then they are going to spend some time with family. When I talked to Aaron, he said he's starting to think this trip is going to be really good for them, because of being able to see people from home but also because they really need a break from the endless barrage of appointments with doctors and time in hospitals. Our family has been blessed to not spend a lot of time in hospitals over the years, but we've learned from this experience that hospitals, no matter how good they are at what they do, are inherently hard places to be. Please pray that Aaron and Kelly will have a good couple of weeks and then be able to really relax in the time they spend away from D.C.
In other news, Aaron and Kelly have recently dined at the home of the Marine Commandant along with other combat veterans, met an injured Marine who, weirdly enough, lives on the EXACT SAME ROAD where our family home is in Mississippi (what a small world!), and made friends with some very kind people from the church they've been attending in D.C. They are going to have dinner with a young married couple from the Sunday School class they've been attending soon. Somehow it's really comforting to hear about them doing something that's so very normal for the stage of life they're at. It makes me believe that one day, life will seem normal again. That's a happy thought.
As a matter of housekeeping, Kelly said she recently went back to collect their mail from the Naval Lodge and received all the packages people sent them there. Many thanks to all of you for your kindness and generosity to them via the U.S. Postal Service. We especially want to thank the students of Covenant Christian School in Yazoo City, Mississippi, where all us Rice kids attended elementary school at one time or another. The students held some kind of fundraiser for Aaron and Kelly recently and sent them the money, and that was so kind of them. Aaron and Kelly really appreciate it, y'all. Give your teachers big hugs for us ... odds are, they taught us once, and we love them.
More to come ... I have a lot of things to post from the last few weeks, but I knew you all wanted to know about Aaron and Kelly first. Feel free to send them love through the comments section, and please, please keep praying for all of us. The first few weeks of this whole process seemed like a frantic sprint, but now it's starting to feel more like a marathon, and everyone, especially Aaron and Kelly, are going to need endurance to get through the long road ahead. We're glad we have such good friends to run with.
Thanks.