Well it's about time!

It's been ages since I posted and I will try to keep this updated!

Sean, our deafblind son, turned 30 last November. He still swims several times a week with his care giver, and generally, Sean's a very happy fellow. Earlier this year, we were concerned as Sean's blood test showed some liver problems but his latest tests are all OK, thankfully.

We have gone through some ups and downs in regards to funding for him, and we are now waiting to hear the final word from the state government about whether it was right for Sean's funding to be cut last July. It's been rough because after Sean had 10 years of stable support, with schedules that he was used to, the cuts changed his schedule dramatically. We were afraid that he could revert to some dangerous behaviors that he had when he was introverted. The appeal process is slow, mainly because there really wasn't an appeal process. We took it to the Medicaid court because it was the only place we figured we could appeal the cuts. Thanks to friends and family, we have been able to help support Sean's schedule and keep things on as even a keel as possible while the appeal is going forward. So THANK YOU TO ALL OUR FAMILY AND FRIENDS WHO HAVE HELPED SO MUCH OVER THIS TOUGH TIME!!!!

In a perfect world, private charities would come to the call. The Medicaid system is supposed to support him. If he weren't living with us, I cannot bear to think what would happen to him. A state institution is out of the question. The thought of Sean being in some place with staff changing all the time, abuse going on, and no one who understands him and cares about him - well I can't even think about that! Sean, being deafblind and mute from birth, is not what I would call someone abusing the system. It irks me no end that Medicaid is broke due in no small part to rampant fraud and abuse in the system.

So Sean lives with us, Mick works his tail off to provide for us, and we are very grateful to be able to live out in the country with our animals. The latest animal to join the Wenlock ranks, by the way, is "Rooster Cogburn", the rescued barn kitty with true grit! He lost his eye to the same predator (raccoon we think) that killed all his siblings over in a friend's hay pile.. This little black and white, long-haired kitten had other plans than to become raccoon ragout. Now he is 9 weeks old, has made friends with our cats and dogs, and is busily chewing our toes and hands off with his new, needle-like teeth. He's happy to be here!

Rooster plays with Sean's hands and feet too, and Sean, in his inimitable style, is very careful to push Rooster away, but gently. Rooster of course comes right back most of the time and Sean just keeps pushing him away without any emotion or upset about his toes being chewed on. They have come to some sort of quiet understanding: Rooster plays with Sean's toes when he wants and Sean lets him do it for oh, 5 or 10 seconds before he pushes Rooster away. So far I have failed to get decent video of this interaction. But I did get a shot this afternoon of them when Sean decided to lie down for a while.