HollyAlonzo – Never Giving Up Hope

We are headed to L.a now

I have pre-op appointments with all of the surgens.
The tiem before the surgery is packed

Edward is going to take over from here he will update everybody on my surgery and my recovery.\

Take care and god bless!

When a service animal is around, no one is really supposed to play much or heavily bond with them other than the handler.

It really depends on the animal. If your animal can handle the difference between work and play, then all is fine.

Andre can. He ignores anything and everybody except Edward as soon as that harness goes on. In fact, I call him a snob at times when he’ll flat out ignore me or others.

But, that’s a good thing, to the handler. It insures their safety. The handler knows that his animal will not get distracted and make a huge mistake that could endanger them.

Because Andre can handle work and play with other people in the household, we have never limited Isaiah’s play with Andre. Those two are great buddies.

The chase each other all over the house. Poor dog doesn’t have as much energy as Isaiah does and sometimes wants to hide and rest. This makes Isaiah sad, and we just explain to him that Andre is tired. He doesn’t want to play anymore.

Edward was acting like a monster and had a mask or something over his face. Isaiah loves to be chased. When I could still hear him, I remember him saying “momma? get.” He wanted you to get him.

Well when Edward did this, Andre freaked out. He wouldn’t let Edward anywhere near Isaiah until Edward showed his face and told Andre it was just him.

Andre is a German Shepard. GSD’s are known to be protective, but I never thought of Andre that way. But he has obviously formed a bond with Isaiah and will protect him the best he can, even though that’s not his job.

Now, the dogs are trained to be nice and friendly, but instinct will take over.
Andre is the biggest teddy bear around, but if you walk up and hit Edward, he
s going to have something to say about it. That’s his Dad, and no one messes with his Daddy or Isaiah.

Isaiah came up and told me “Andre’s my friend”. So cute. He’ll sit in the floor and hold ”big old’ Andre in his lap. I wish I had pictures to share, but I don’t. Neither myself or Edward can see at all to take a picture, and when someone else takes a picture….we have to try to get them to remember to send us the picture to put on our computers. This may or may not happen, and if it does it could be a long time from when the picture was taken.

So, we don’t usually worry about pictures. Other people take pictures of Isaiah and the eventually get added to a photo albumen, but it is for other people to view, not us.

There is no problem with Andre and Isaiah having such a t tight bond, because it doesn’t effect his work. Also Isaiah knows that when Andre is working, not to bother him at all or in any way. When Edward retires him from working, probably in five or so years, Isaiah will have one amazing pet.

I need the Auditory Brainstem Implant. Some people have supported me and donated toward this cause.

But I still need $20,000 to raise before I can have this surgery.

The ABI is something I need. Some hearing, no matter how little, will let me hear my son.

I am working with the owner of an organization called DeafBlind Hope, and we are going to set up a fund for me for people to donate too. All donations will be tax deductible, and that could make the difference in fundraising.

When the fund gets set up at DeafBlind Hope, I will let everyone know how they can help.

We have moved to Arkansas, and it’s so much more laid back here. I still do not have internet, so right now, I am using a wireless connection I found, but it is not always available.

Tomorrow night, I’m off to Texas for a couple of weeks, and Isaiah is going to have so much fun playing with his cousins!

Back to the ABI, this is something I need. It will be my only link to the world. I’m not sure if people understand what deaf and blind means. I’ve even had a few deaf people say they manage just fine without sign language. I ask them to take away the vision, and then see how fine they would be doing? Without vision you can’t lip-read, read someone’s writinig on a notebook, or do many more things. Deaf and blind is a scary world. To put it in simple terms to help you understand. If I do not get the ABI, I will see nothing, and I will hear nothing. The only way for me to know anyone is around me would be through touch. I would not be able to read lips, see a note someone wrote me, travel in unfamiliar areas, know that someone new walked into a room, or even hear my lil precious boy say, “mom?” or my husband say “I love you.” I will only know these things, what people are saying to me, through tactual sign language or braille, which not many people know.

For those that don’t think supporting this ABI is all that important, just stop and think. If this were happening to you, would you want people to help you? If you are blind, how would you feel if you were losing your hearing? If you were deaf, how would you feel if you were losing your vision?

Thank you for considering my need. I just want to continue to hear my son’s voice when he needs me and stay as independent as possible.

I hear tons of music in my head since I can’t hear any of the new stuff or songs I’ve never heard before.

Today I was sitting here thinking. A song came to my memory. Edward is an excellent guitar player , and a good singer as well.

A couple of years ago he played a song at a family reunion for me. It was so sweet and now I’m remembering that day and that song. I’m happy that I was blessed enough to hear him play this song for me, and blessed that I can still remember what it sounds like.

Tell Holly I Love Her

If I were alone in the desert
Without a drink of water around
On my knees and hands in that white scorching sand
With the hot Sahara sun beating down.

If I could be granted my wishes
If anything I want would come true
I know it might sound funny
But here’s what I want you to do.

chorus
Tell Holly I love her
Tell Holly I need her
Tell her everything would be okay if I could just see her
Tell Holly I love her
Tell Holly I need her
And if I leave this old world tell her she’s the only girl for me.

If I were adrift on the ocean
A vessel with no sails or steam
Floating aimlessly on an endless sea,
Hopelessly lost it would seem
If all of the fish in the water
Could echo my last dying plea
Well I know you might not understand it
but Here’s what I want it to be.

repeat chorus

And if I leave this old world tell her she’s the only girl for me.

I hear tons of music in my head since I can’t hear any of the new stuff or songs I’ve never heard before.

Today I was sitting here thinking. A song came to my memory. Edward is an excellent guitar player , and a good singer as well.

A couple of years ago he played a song at a family reunion for me. It was so sweet and now I’m remembering that day and that song. I’m happy that I was blessed enough to hear him play this song for me, and blessed that I can still remember what it sounds like.

Tell Holly I Love Her

If I were alone in the desert
Without a drink of water around
On my knees and hands in that white scorching sand
With the hot Sahara sun beating down.

If I could be granted my wishes
If anything I want would come true
I know it might sound funny
But here’s what I want you to do.

chorus
Tell Holly I love her
Tell Holly I need her
Tell her everything would be okay if I could just see her
Tell Holly I love her
Tell Holly I need her
And if I leave this old world tell her she’s the only girl for me.

If I were adrift on the ocean
A vessel with no sails or steam
Floating aimlessly on an endless sea,
Hopelessly lost it would seem
If all of the fish in the water
Could echo my last dying plea
Well I know you might not understand it
but Here’s what I want it to be.

repeat chorus

And if I leave this old world tell her she’s the only girl for m Read more…

Edward and I will be moving in a few weeks to go back to Arkansas. This is not something Edward wants to do, but he’s going to do it any way.

Yesterday we had a little get together or picnic sort of as a going away party. Most of Edward’s close friends from his job were there. Everyone hates to see him leave.

One of his very close friends surprised me. I asked him if he could write print. He told me he could so I explain how to do print on palm. Then he signed his name. I was like, “wow….you can fingerspell?” He only did a few things when I couldn’t understand what someone was trying to say and I didn’t know where Edward was. But, I had no idea that Mike could fingerspell.

I do not want to sound ungrateful for anything . Having the gathering for us was very nice. But, once again, I was in my own little world. Edward was busy talking to his friends, doing stuff, getting things for everyone. He was not beside me to tell me what people were saying, or even who was there.

I am completely clueless about who was there, what people were doing, what was being said, etc. All I know is what me and Isaiah were doing, and Edward occasionally.

Gatherings are not really much fun for a deaf-blind person unless they have someone telling them everything that is going on. If you stop and think about it, would you have fun at a party or gathering if you had no idea who was there, what was going on, what was being said, or even if people were around you or had walked off? This is my world. I have to be told these things, and if no one tells me, then how am I supposed to know?