Our relationship just became a little closer at 2:40 a.m. on 2/15/14

I spent the last several minutes helping Luther blow his nose.

The little things we take for granted.

His arms are dead weight hanging from his shoulders.  I can't begin to imagine.  It was the first time I saw his arms just fall, rock heavy back in to his lap.

If you've read earlier posts, you know he has this fling thing going on:  he flings his arms up to a particular target and he can generally maneuver them to work.  Sometimes he has to lean way forward and fling.  To comb his hair, brush his teeth, hug me.

I was still awake at 2:30 this morning.  He started coughing around that time...quiet and sporadic.  After several minutes, it didn't stop.  I think I wrote somewhere before that coughing takes up a ton of energy.  For you and me, that's ok.  For Luther, it's exhausting to cough and wipes him out for hours.

I got him a glass of water but he said he needed to blow his nose and I got him a kleenex.  He tried to bring - or fling - it up to his nose and it was like I threw a rock straight up in the air.  I watched his arms fling up and fall straight back down.  My heart sunk with his hands.

It's hard to blow someone else's nose.

I've fed him.  Brushed his teeth.  Put on his socks.  Pulled the covers up over him because he can't grasp the blankets.  Bought him a purse because he can't get his wallet or his keys out of his pocket.  And now I helped him blow his nose.