Hey Everyone out there ~

I know its been a while since I last checked in.  LIFE  has been crazy and very busy lately. I have started the long path towards walking again. I have been visiting my prosthetic doctor very regularly and getting adjustments done almost every week.

I am so grateful that someone would bless me with the opportunity to get started with this pair of  legs and begin to use them. The prosthetics are great in many ways and I know that I will learn to use them very well, and I will walk again and  probably even more. Maybe because I made such amazingly quick progress with my recovery and healing in spite of all the challenges, so I think I just expected to be able to jump up on my new legs and just use them. But walking again is something that takes a lot of hard work and major practice every day! Even though it feels slow to me, the doctors say I am making lots of progress and am even ahead of where  should be with my use of prosthetics. I know that I will get great at using them and I am committed to pushing myself as far as I can humanly go.

Walking is very hard but it feels so rewarding to be able to stand again and look at myself in the mirror standing up. This has been very emotional for me much more than anything else thus far. Today it has been a year from my accident, which was last May 11, 2009. I think the more time goes on, the more I get to know the permanent limitations that come with my lifelong disability. It’s a miracle that I have these prosthetic legs, and I’m really so happy in many ways, but also, now that I actually have them, I am realizing once-and-for-all that it will never be the same as having my real legs back, and that is a very saddening thing. This is very hard ’cause because I really want to be able to do everything and be the same as I used to. It’s a truly hard thing to realize that I will never ever get to put my feet in the sand at the beach again, or be able to roller blade or bounce around from rock to rock up a big green hill, or dance – ’cause I had rhythm!  My whole life, I have been very active – even when I was standing still! And now I really miss that part of myself.

In other news, things are going very well. My school semester is almost over so I’m very busy with school work and preparations for finals.

Making the Most of the Day

Last weekend, my lovely mother treated me to a morning of sea kayaking from Sausalito to Belevedere on the San Francisco Bay. It was the first time I had done anything of that nature since my accident, and it felt very empowering to be able to just get out there and do something so physical and fun. For a few hours, I felt like my old self and that nothing had changed.

Serious Arm Power

I am very excited about this summer! Summer is my favorite time of year, and last year I spent it laying in a hospital bed in radical pain, so I am very excited to get some time in the sun with my friends this year.

I want to thank everyone out there who has supported me and helped me get this far in such an amazingly short amount of time. I love all of you and thank you for everything that you have helped me achieve with your amazing level of support. I truly couldn’t have gotten this far without you. I am so grateful for every day that I have on this planet. Even with my permanent limitations starting to really sink in, I am very happy and so thankful for so many things, especially to be the recipient of so much love.

It’s time to sign out –

One more BIG thing… This summer I will be visiting the East Coast, and I would love the opportunity to see as many of you out there as possible. It’s been a difficult and busy time since the accident, and I haven’t been able to actually connect with all of you. So, if you are up for getting together in June or July, let me know.

Keep on keepin’ on and enjoy every day of your life-

Gabe