Four Korvings and a little bit of magic

Yesterday Father and Sister in Law came to Poole to visit Jake and stay at Korving Towers. For SIL it had been 2.5 weeks and for FIL it had been 4 weeks since last seeing Jake. A lot has happened in that time.

Honestly? I have found the last 4 weeks difficult for a variety of reasons. Jake and I moved to Poole knowing that it didn't matter that we only knew family in the area, we would make a bunch of new friends and in the meantime we had each other...which hasn't really worked out. I knew that lots of people would want to see Jake once he was transferred to Poole and therefore I would have lots of visitors...and then the hospital imposed norovirus induced visiting restrictions. Also during this time Jake has been making slow but extraordinary progress, but I had no-one to validate this for me and, because of my tendency to be overly optimistic, I got the sense that my reports were being received by all quarters with some caution (which is fair enough; I understand the need to protect oneself from setting expectations too high).

So all in all, I have felt a little bit isolated.

I have also been worried about the impact on Jake of only having me to visit him. From what we have been able to glean, he doesn't seem to remember the move to Poole and so to go from having lots of visitors in London to just me must have left him feeling a bit isolated too. On top of that, although I realise that my naturally sparkling personality, together with my amazing comedic talent will have entertained Jake to a degree, it must be a bit boring just seeing my inanely grinning mug for 3-4 hours every day!

A visit from the Woods last week definitely helped (especially the bit in the pub), but they only got to see Jake for 20 minutes and I think it was difficult for them and Jake to adjust in such a short time.

Yesterday's visit has therefore been fantastic for everyone, I was so ridiculously excited about how FIL and SIL would find Jake (whilst also praying that he didn't sleep all through their visit) and the beaming, full dimple smile he gave them when they arrived felt like being given bottled sunshine in a darkened room. It was also amazing to see their reaction as we four Korvings sat together in the day room; a sort of mix of bewilderment, relief, shock and delight as he engaged, communicated and moved his limbs. Magic.

I am very much aware that it has also been difficult for them to leave; each day I experience the dreadful moment of goodbye when Jake looks at me with those large, soulful blue eyes and I have to tear myself away. I am lucky; I get to go back the next day, so it must have been truly difficult for them to leave him last night after more than 3 hours of precious time together, and even harder to get back in the car to head back up the M3 this morning.

I hope though that this trip has shown them that it is not so very far away, that there is much reason to hope and that they, along with anyone else who loves our Jake, have an open invitation to return to Korving Towers at any time. You are not just welcome; we need you!