David

This is Susan's brother David. Now before I go on with his story I would like to make a few comments'
Tom and Irene- I think we will be going to San Diego sometime next Aprilish. The whole intention of this trip is to visit the San Diego Zoo and a parrot place(can't remember the name) to again, see one of my all time favorite parrots, the Black Palm Cockatoo. And secondly, of course to meet blends, lol. Katie(KFM), maybe we can kill three birds and you can join us.
Also have you guys seen the new Jet Blue airline promotionals. From Houston to New York, 1 way trip, the price of a barrel of oil(yesterday it was 73 bucks). We were planning on Vegas in Dec. but we might be going to New York in Oct. or Nov.
This is a pic of David, Susan's brother when he stayed with us for a few days 2 Thanksgivings ago. In 1984 when David was 18 he was thrown from his friends car and suffered a severe closed head injury.Both the boys had been drinking and were in Galveston when the driver lost control of the car and rolled it. David from that point on had the mental capacity of a young teenager. He could do most things, but couldn't drive and had a lot of drug and alcohol issues. He would make money mowing yards and would ride his bike for miles to get him where he wanted to go. He was able to live in a friends rental house on their property and he was fairly independant. Susan and her mom had to handle his finances though. 4 years ago this December David went missing for a few days. This wasn't uncommon so we weren't too concerned until we got a call from the hospital. David was at Herman Hospital in a coma. He had been hit(presumably by a drunk driver) at night on his bike and left for dead on the shoulder of the road. It just so happened that a police officer heard a car run over his bike, which was still in the road from already being hit, went over to check it out and found David unconscious in the grass. He was identified through fingerprints and we were contacted several days later.After several surgeries and a host of other mishaps due to the second head injury, David now has the mental capacity of a 2 to 4 year old.Because of this he can no longer live on his own and has to be supervised 24/7. The only place he could be handled were the nursing homes and the Alzheimer homes. We tried other places but it didn't work out. He either scared the patients with his loud outbursts, or he was able to get out of the places he was in and his own safety became an issue. The Alzheimer facility is a great place if one is a lot older and suffering from that hideous disease. It is not a place for a 38 year old man. Susan has never stopped trying and for several years has diligently checked out every facility that could work with David. She finally got him accepted into the Rainbow House. It has about 12 residents housed in a former tennis club house in a subdivision in San Antonio.Their ages range from 25 to 60. They all have had some sort of brain injury, be it from accidents, strokes or disease. This place doesn't just stick you in a corner , shove food in your face and place you in front of a T.V. til bed time. They have daily activities and in two weeks, they will shut Sea World water park down and the residents have the park exclusively for them to water ski(the park made wheel chairs to fit the skis) swim and have a great day. They have several outtings a year like this. I think David's mental capacity will improve because of the stimulation he will be getting. I hope he will happy there. I'm just happy to see Susan so happy that David now has a some sort of life. This has really been tough for her, because 6 months before David has his first accident, she lost her other brother John, who was only 21 years old in an accident at work. I feel this is the least she would have done for David, and would stop at nothing short until she exhausted every avenue. I feel honored to share my life with this woman! I feel honored that I can call her my wife!
Good luck David!