Day 3 and 4...

Day 3...was a lazy day in the morning. Our friends had to do some things in the morning and I of course was up at 0730 and Ben was still sleeping! I took advantage of the quite morning and just had some time to myself! I had to wake Ben up to take his meds and told him he could go back to sleep if he wanted. He did...until almost 0945! I cannot remember the last time he slept in that late besides being in his coma! I think the flight, 3 hour time change, heat and all the craziness finally hit him! Breakfast was next and then just chilling a bit until after lunch.

After lunch we took of for post again to where we attended a Regimental brief and Distinguished and Honorary Members of the 75th Ranger Regiment. The brief was to update people and Rangers as to what was going on within the Regiment, training programs, improvements and such. The Rangers are the only ones who have been overseas every day since this war has started and they will continue to do so. I think it totalled well over 3000 days. We have lost 55 Rangers and many have been injured. Although many have been lost and injured they continue to fight and do their job. They will never surrendur and will continue to do what they are trained to do. One man who was injured, he lost his leg, asked if he could stay overseas and continue his recovery and therapy there. He didn't want to leave his brothers. He also had to humor to ask the nurses to loosen his boot straps on the leg that was missing because they were too tight! :) These men are courageous and will do anything to stay and fight!
Next was the Distinguished and Honorary Ceremony. This was for people within and outside of the Regiment who have gone over and above for the Ranger Regiment. They are nominated for what they have done to support and work with the regiment. It was cool to watch all of this!

{between both ceremonies}

I asked Ben if he wanted to go past our old house in AL and he said yes! It was only going to be a few min from our friends house so we were off. As we got closer Ben was able to tell me how to get there and got it all right! I showed him where the accident happened (close to our neighborhood enterance} and the only thing he had to say about that was, "oh boo!" I asked him if he remembered any of the accident and he said no. We drove past our old house, which looked the same, and then stopped by one of our neighbors house. He was home and so we got to chat with him for a bit and he got to see Ben. I always gave him updates when I was home for the hospital on the weekends but he never got to see Ben. He said him and his wife were just talking about us the day before! It was good to see him!
We headed back to our friends house so Ben could stretch out a bit and then came another "first" for Ben since the accident! Our friends brother had a boat and he wanted to take Ben out in it! Of course Ben said yes! I was wondering how Ben would do getting into the boat because it was wobbly and such. Well, I didn't have to worry because Ben walked down the whole dock with his walker (I was behind him), grabbed the tower pole on the boat and stepped right in. We barely had a hand on him! We took off on the Chattahoochee River (Lake Oliver) and you couldn't wipe the smile off Ben's face! You could tell he was finally in his element! Wait, it gets better! Phil asked him if he wanted to drive and of course Ben said yes! We got him into the drivers seat and he was ready! He did most of the steering and Phil the throttle so that Ben wouldn't get out of hand with the speed! Haha this boy likes to go fast! Again, you could just see Ben's eyes light up, get relaxed and just drive!
He was told by Phil at one point to turn real sharp to scare our friend Misty! It worked and was hilarious! We asked Ben later what she did and he said, "she screamed like this, ahhhhhhhh!"


{Ben's ready}


{we're happy}


{he was making fun of me}


{phil and ben}


{misty and I}







Day 4...brought more fun! It was up and at em in the morning because we had to be on post to meet with the regimental Colonel and the other injured soldiers that attended! We had to be there at 1030 and after a bit of a mishap we did get there on time! Colonet Kurilla and Command Sergeant Major Merritt sat down with all these guys and told them how proud he was of them all! Their fight to get better and back to their brothers was very encouraging to him! His words were good and edifying. They went on to thank the families as well and all who support these wounded warriors!







After the morning events we went back to our friends to let Ben rest. After resting and eating some Chick-fil-a (one reason I could have stayin in GA forever) we headed back on post to Freedom Hall. Here they were having a big ole BBQ for everyone and the combatives finals. It was as if they don't get enough action overseas they have to come back state side and beat on each other! It was fun to watch boys just having some fun! Ben loved it and was yelling just like the rest of them! There were hundreds of Rangers in there and when there was a good move pulled in the ring you could tell there were alot of men present! Powerful to say the least! Ben also got to see alot more of his buddies here and I got to see some of my friends too! It was fun!











The last two photos were the highlight of our evening. We ran into Colonel Clark and his wife right as we were walking out to our car! Ben was really wanting to see him and it couldn't have been at a better time! He has always looked up to Col. Clark and admired who he is as a man and a leader in the Army. We all at one point took some spin classes on post too and he was supposed to re-enlist Ben right after the accident. When Col Clark saw Ben he immediatley got on his knee and started talking to him. They had a great moment together and at one point Ben saluted him and said, "Rangers Lead the Way!" I missed the shot but it will forever be engrained in my memories! Even today as I write this blog and Ben saw the photos of him he said, "I really like Colonel Clark!" It is men like Col Clark that I too admire, for taking the time to talk to my man, encourage him and let them know that they care about who he is and all he is doing!

We headed back to the Webbs after this for some much needed rest! Ben was pooped after a long but good day! He went to bed and we all stayed up for a bit and hung out! All in all a wonderful day!

Sayings from Ben (yesterday)...there was no handicapt parking at Madigan (army hospital) so I parked in the expectant mom spot. i didn't tell ben where we had parked but when he sat in his chair he pointed to the sign and said, "one day you can officially park here, i will make it happen!"