Friday, November 3, 2006

Today Jesse sent an email to several of his friends. I emailed him to ask if I could post part of it on here. Other than that, I haven't heard anything since Monday about how he's doing. He wrote that he's grateful for all the people that have visited him and talked with him, and he's looking forward to seeing everyone again when he comes back to California.

I found a short poem by John Piper about the grace of God:

Not grace to bar what is not bliss,
Nor flight from all distress, but this:
The grace that orders our trouble and pain,
And then, in the darkness, is there to sustain.

Thank God for the grace he has shown to Jesse. God is so good!

Finally, I have pictures from last weekend. Here goes:


Jesse with cousin Melanie and her daughter Sydney


Jesse with cousins


Jesse with roommate Roy


Jesse with cousin Cameron

I will not die but live, and will proclaim what the LORD has done (from Psalm 118, NIV).

Car pictures

Here they are. Kevin (Jesse's cousin-in-law), who is a firefighter, says the car probably looked a lot worse on the scene of the accident; it looks like the rescue workers expanded the car with a hydraulic device and cut up the left side with the jaws of life to get Jesse out.

Tuesday, October 24, 2006

The major news today is that Jesse's laptop computer and guitar have been recovered, and they are both in perfect condition. Some kind soul at the lot took the computer and guitar out of the car and put them in a safe place in the office. Unfortunately, they didn't let Ralph know about them when he drove out to retrieve Jesse's stuff about 10 days ago.

In related news, Jesse remembered and typed in his password at the computer's login screen!

Jesse is still continuing to recover. He seems to have a stage in the morning where he is a little confused and his memory is a bit foggy, but he has been mostly fine the rest of the day after his dad talks him through why he's there at the hospital and why he has braces on an arm and a leg.

To those of you who have visited or sent notes of kindness - thank you! Jesse and his family really appreciate it.

Thanks most of all for your prayers. Jesse is completely in God's hands, and we're praising God for Jesse's continuing recovery in answer to prayer. Please continue to pray:

• That God will glorify himself fully through the rest of Jesse's life
• For Jesse's recovery from all his injuries (brain injury, shattered elbow, broken femur, torn knee ligament, broken heel, and a laceration on his eyelid), as well as the rehab process
• For strength and faith for his family, and that all of their needs would be provided for

And as I promised yesterday, here are more pictures. I haven't been able to get a picture of the car yet, but I'll post it as soon as I do.



Jesse and his family (left to right: Jesse, Hannah, Debbie, and Steve), July 3, 2006


Jesse and his family again


With his dad and sister


Jesse and cousins (Jesse is in the yellow)


Thoughtful moment


Jesse in a coma, probably one or two days after the accident. Here you can see the ventilator that kept him breathing, a neck brace, and a ventricular probe, which monitors pressure inside the skull and helps relieve it if necessary.


So do not be afraid, for I am with you. Do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand (from Isaiah 41).

Monday, October 23, 2006

Good news again. Every time I see Jesse he is doing better and better. Today was awesome... he was just like the old Jesse I knew before. His memory is all there, except for what happened a few days before the accident. He is aware of himself and his situation. He doesn't get as tired as before after talking and thinking for a while. His vision still comes and goes. But on the whole, Jesse has healed more than I ever expected within 2 weeks.

Praise God for pouring out his grace on Jesse and on Jesse's family and friends. Praise him for answering our prayers and continuing to restore Jesse so rapidly. His presence is there with Jesse in his hospital room. Thanks be to God!

Today Jesse officially has all his staples out. His dad was washing Jesse's hair and he found some staples in the back of his head -- apparently placed there by the ER staff when Jesse first came in; those were removed yesterday, I think. He also recently had all the staples removed from his arm and leg surgery wounds. He's got some really cool scars to show off later.

Jesse will be out of the hospital in a week: next Monday he's going to be flown up to Idaho in a medically equipped twin-turboprop plane. He'll live with his family there and enroll in a rehab program in Boise.

Finally, it's picture time! I apologize for not posting pictures before now. I'll post more tomorrow. I'm hoping to get a picture of the car also. I saw a printout of it today -- the whole left side is totally shredded. Anyway, here goes. These were all taken this last weekend -- about two weeks after the accident.


Jesse and the Dawson Ladies


Thumb-wrestling Uncle Guy


Scary Aunt Lauri


Jesse's girlfriend Bre gave him a book of memories. Very sweet.


Jesse macs down


Jesse and Steve — father and son.

...but he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness."
(from 2 Corinthians 12)

Coming To Reality

I debated for a few minutes whether or not to post this picture of Jesse and I. I sincerely apologise if it shocks anyone. But please hear me out before you stop reading this post.

I'm a gifted writer (I am being humble, Mom!) and with that gift comes an overactive imagination.

When I first heard about Jesse's accident, images from CSI, Rescue 911, Discovery Health shows, and numerous movies flashed into my mind. But what haunted me most in my mind's eye was an image of Jesse looking like not Jesse.

I'm not especially close to Jesse, but he's my cousin and I love him. I love his gentle manner, his easy laugh, the polite look he gives you that so clearly says "You're crazy." From Sunday until Friday, I was so afraid that when I went to see him he'd be someone else. Someone one I wouldn't know not only in body, but in spirit.

Well, I went to visit him on Saturday and I can tell you this: he is on his way to being America's Next Top Model. With only 1/4th of his head is shaved (from where he had a probe in his skull to relieve brain pressure), a shaved chest (for the heart monitor thingys), both feet in casts, an itsy-bitsy, teenie-weenie hospital gown, and a scruffy beard growing in, this kid's setting new standards for sexy. I even told him he looked sexy with the scruffy beard and 1/4th shaved head and he just gave me the classic "You're crazy" look and smiled.

Oh yes, he's still Jesse. First thing the kid says to me (after my mom ascertained that he knows who I am) was, "Hey, how are you?" I couldn't help but laugh. Jesse, dearest Jesse, was asking how I was doing.

Here's a sample of one of our conversations:

Me: So, are they being nice to you here?
Jesse: Yeah. I went home yesterday, but then they brought me back and they told me I had to stay here.
Me: Oh. Well are they at least letting you watch tv?
Jesse: Oh yeah, they let me watch whenever I want. I just tell them and they put on whatever I want to watch.
Me: What have you watched?
Jesse: Mostly sports.

It was hard to hear him say he'd gone home, because I knew he hadn't. But as the day went on, it got easier. And then, as my brother Cameron and I were telling Jesse that we were leaving to drive home, Jesse said something so sweet to us. He said, "Thanks for coming to see me. And call when you're leaving."

We assured him we would.