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Cheers
Give a Cheer
Give a Cheer
When Joe was 16 he got his first driver's license. He was so excited and had talked and dreamed about his first car which he stated quite emphatically would be a Honda Del Sol. He wanted a Honda Del Sol, talked, ate, and breathed Hond Del Sol and never failed to point out every Honda Del Sol he saw. I knew that there would be a Honda Del Sol parked in our driveway as soon as he could come up with the money.
However, fate played a very cruel joke on him. The day after he got his driver's license, before he even tried out his solo driving skills, he became very ill and was hospitalized with what was determined to be viral encephilitis. After his release from the hospital several weeks later (during which time his permanent license was delivered in the mail), he was told he could not drive - the viral encephilitis had caused his brain to swell, destroying several cells which were causing him to have seizures.
He was still optimistic and hopefully and repeatedly told me, "When I can drive, I'm going to get a Honda Del Sol." Unfortunately, even with 13 pills a day (Depacoate, Lamictal and Tegatrol), the seizures were not controlled and the doctors said it wasn't safe to give him any more medication than what he was currently taking.
For the next 10 years he remained optimistic and always said, "When I can drive, that's what I'm getting."
Then one day that broke my heart a Honda Del Sol went by and he said, "Hey look mom, there goes a Honda Del Sol. If I could have ever driven, that is what I would have gotten." I just wanted to cry.
For the next 10 years, that was what he said and that was so difficult for me to hear. I always said, "Honey its not over. Have faith - I'm not giving up and you can't either."
Then in 2013 we met with a neurologist in Tampa and as soon as we walked in and talked to us for about 10 minutes and said, "We can operate on him and get rid of the seizures. We have to do a lot of testing to confirm, but from all appearances I would say it is left temporal and is operable. What are you doing this afternoon? I would like to put Joe in the hospital and start testing."
After the surgery he had several follow-up checkups and at the 3 months surgery I told Joe, "Go ahead and ask the doctor the big question on your mind." Joe smiled and said, "When can I drive?"
The doctor said, "3 more months. Every test is showing no seizure activity in your brain. We removed a piece the size of a peanut M&M and it appears we got it all".
That night Bill was on Craig's list. He called Joe to his desk and said, "There is a Honda Del Sol on Craig's list. Do you want to go look at it tomorrow?"
Joe said yes but you could see he was working hard to contain his excitement. He told Bill he had some money put aside but not enough. Bill told him not to worry about it - he would finish it out and they would work out the details.
They came home with the car and the owner - papers were signed at my kitchen table but Joe couldn't drive it or even try to drive it for 3 more months. Bill had done the test drive.
When it came time to pay Joe told Bill, "I will go get the money I have out of my safe if you really don't mind spotting me for the rest - I will pay you back." Bill told him, "Joe, I bought my kids their first cars - your mother bought your brother his first car. This is your first car and it is a gift from your mother and me."
I nearly fell over - I didn't expect him to do that!
Whenever I couldn't find Joe for the next 3 months, he would always be in his car just dusting the dash, polishing things or washing it. He installed a nice radio (not one of those real loud ones) which had blue tooth and got his phone set up so he could talk hands free. He was counting the days for the next 3 months.
I heard some guys say to him, "Joe your parents are gone a lot and the car is just sitting there and you have the keys. Why don't you drive it a little bit?" He told them, "I've waited 20 years for this. I'm not going to move this car one inch and screw up everything I've waited for. I've waited 20 years to get behind the wheel of a Del Sol, I'll wait 3 more months."
He doesn't know I heard that but it made me so proud.
On the 6 months anniversary Bill and Joe went to the flea market and Bill called me and said to come outside, they wanted me to get pictures of what they bought for my scrapbook. When I went outside they did have a surprise for me! Bill had been teaching Joe to drive again and they pulled into the driveway with Joe driving my car! That is what they wanted me to get pictures of!
The picture of Joe in the gold car is him driving my CRV home from the flea market with Bill - his first time behind the wheel since the day he got his driver's license when he was 16. The one in the black car was taken the first day he drove his Del Sol.
As an update, he's in college now and drives 35 miles and we wanted him to have a newer car for road travel so he driving a mini-Cooper but he still has his Honda Del Sol for around town here. He just had the Del Sol professionally painted by a guy who paints classic cars and race cars (our next door neighbor who gave him a discount), and it looks better than showroom now - it looks like a show car!
I did not journal on this one because I made a complete seizure surgery scrapbook for him with everything about the seizure surgery and his hospital stays. I posted those in 2013 so we have journaling about his journey to become seizure-free.
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Thanks for spreading positivity!
January 30, 2016
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