Michael Doucet, Jenna Whitson's fiance', shares his excitement about the coming of their guests from Tennessee, who will be staying with them for three days before they continue on with their cruise.
I don't know who is more excited...me or Jenna!
We should be expecting our guests either today or tomorrow; they have been on board their ship as it chugs its way towards Alaska for several days now; and they should be reaching land either later today or tomorrow.
In the meantime, Jenna (she's my fiancee') and I have both been working our tails off, trying to get the apartment in order; and we have put out extra linen and soap for our guests to be. Our guests are from Tennessee (Music City, in fact; otherwise known as Nashville), and they are starting their cruise to Alaska. They will be in Alaska for two weeks. I first met Louisiana, the mother, when my Jenna was fighting for her life in the hospital after Jenna got hurt in that horrific car wreck last November; and she did a bang up job in caring for Jenna and getting her back on her feet. Jenna was severely injured (she suffered a broken leg, a broken hip, AND a broken arm, as well as a broken jaw--BOTH upper and lower--and a punctured lung), and she was in the hospital for five months! For a while, I thought that I was going to lose her (she coded a few times those first rough weeks, but her life was spared, thanks to the speedy action of the doctors and nurses who happened to be nearby when Jenna arrested), but she valiantly fought for her life, and she is still with us, thank the Lord! Jenna is now out of the hospital, but she isn't the same as she was before the accident, and it has been hard on both of us; but she IS still getting over her injuries. She now wears a brace on her leg and her arm is still functionally useless; and she is still undergoing therapy every day; and it has really been rough on her. Up until the wreck, Jenna has always been an active, independent young woman, but now she is facing disability, and it is hard on her emotionally.
Our guests are Louisiana, the nurse who took such good care of Jenna when she was laid up for months in the hospital, her husband, Bill, and two of their children, Johnathon and Ronee', both 11 years old. Bill and the two kids are all physically disabled: the little boy has a neuromuscular disorder and is in a wheelchair, and his sister has juvenile arthritis and walks with leg braces and forearm crutches. As for the husband, he is on crutches too, but he has degenerative arthritis and back problems. He also has asthma and high blood pressure and is on medication for both problems. The little girl also has asthma, but according to Louisiana, she is getting better. Jenna is worried about the two kids (she is afraid that they will get sick while they are with us), but I told her that she worries too much, and I am sure that Johnny and Ronee' will be fine. She is also worried that Johnny and Ronee' are bratty kids, but I am sure that they are well behaved. Louisiana says that they are good kids, and they know how to behave!
I have taken some time off my job until after Jenna is stronger; right now she is still pretty much homebound excepting to go to daily physical and occupational therapies or doctor's appointments, and right now, Jenna is THE most important thing in my life until she is well enough. She may never be as she was before she got hurt last November, but she IS on her way back, and it is so pleasant to see snatches of the old Jenna slowly returning! Now, with our guests from Tennessee due in any time now, it will give me a chance to stop worrying so much about Jenna and concentrate on other things! LOL And with our guests due in any time, my being off my job couldn't have happened at a better, or more convenient, time!
I am having a good time spending time with Jenna and taking care of her needs; and she enjoys my company; I have tried my best to be a dutiful husband to be, and Jenna is learning to adjust to her new life. She is still having a hard time with her hand and with her leg, but I told her that it takes time to get over injuries as bad as hers had been, and not to give up hope in the hopes that she will get the full usage of her arm and her leg again. She is also battling a poor appetite: the medications she is presently on has killed her appetite, and she has wasted away to practically skin and bones; and she does NOT look at ALL like the same Jenna I knew when she was younger, but I am sure that once her appetite returns, she will put on the needed weight, and she will look like the cute and pudgy Jenna I remember!
Whoops! The phone is ringing! Maybe it is our guests calling, to tell us that they are FINALLY in Alaska! Gotta' go get them; they are in Sitka, and we are in Anchorage, and it is a long drive between Sitka and Anchorage! I will write more later!
(((Karen))))
I to love this series...
P.S Sent off the corrections for the second book today, I can't believe it soon I will have two books out :D
God Bless
~Michelle~
At the heart of the eight compelling nonfiction stories and five-article appendix which make up Dreams of the Immortal City Savannah is this interesting question: What would your life mean if you were living someone else's dream of what it should be?
Expands beyond the safety of pages bound by predictability to explore and often confirm exciting creative possibilities. A shimmering collage of memoir, creative nonfiction, literary journalism, and dizzying flights into poetic observation, this is t
