Hi folks, Thanks to all of you who have written wondering how things are going ... I actually made a weekend trip to Virginia and got back to Austin today. My dad slept most of the time I was with him, but Saturday night I got him to read some"flash cards." He woke up but my brother said he was never as alert as he'd been before - he wanted a scissors to cut his hand mits, he asked for a sip of water and said "I'm dry, I'm dry," and he said he couldn't hear. I felt so terribly sorry for him. He still can't drink because they haven't been able to evaluate how well he swallows, but I swabbed his mouth a lot. I never really thought he knew who I was, so I wrote "I'm Holly" on a paper towel. He looked at it and, motioning with his mitted hand towards himself, he repeated "I'm Holly, I'm Holly, I'm Holly." I couldn't help but laugh. I said "No daddy, I'M Holly!" He didn't say anything but he reached out his hands and pulled me towards him and I very gently laid my head on his chest for a moment. He also read "blink," and he did his best to blink and then said "I blink, I blink." This is the first he has read, so I spread the news. Unfortunately, that night he was up and agitated until 5:00 in the morning and he slept all day Sunday. He may very well move to a rehab hospital this week. We of course want him to go to rehab but I don't want him there before he is ready. I think once he can have at least some water by mouth and get his neck brace off he will be much, much happier. I am so glad he is improving but I just feel so sorry for him, I can hardly stand it. At one point he kept asking for something " Can I have a fjeioqt rehites" What do you need? "Can I have a fjieoqptj fjeiowpr." I never understood him. He has no autonomy, he has to ask for everything he needs and most of it we can't give to him, or we can't understand. So it's hard. But he is healing. Holly