Harry Potter and Us

Ok - I haven't posted a lot in this blog about my late wife Patty. But after seeing this article, I couldn't do anything but post this! Patty is going bonkers with joy somewhere is all I can say. Patty was the BIGGEST fanatic! She would be so excited to go to this theme park. From 2000 onward we as a family were so Harry Potter-centric. I am sure we must have watched the movies hundreds of times each. Additionally, Patty read each of the books at least a dozen times. Shortly before she died I told Patty the outcome of the final Harry Potter book. She had wanted to read it herself but she never got the chance. Anyway - I am sure we will be going to this new theme park!

Thanks and peace to all! - J.

Where We Have Been....

Since I started this blog almost 10 months ago, this is the longest I have gone without writing a blog post. A debate has raged in my head over whether or not to even write this entry as to where we have been. The last several weeks have been a time of great personal pain and suffering for both Zack and me. Since our return from France in mid-August Zack has been suffering greatly from anxiety and fear. The situation reached such drastic proportions that at times Zack was entirely frozen by his anxiety. The root cause of all that ails Zack is ultimately the loss of Patty in July of 2008. As much as I and Zack's psychologist felt that he was "over" things in May of this year, it was definitely not the case. The anxiety, sorrow and grief over Patty's passing has continued to exist in his mind and soul. Due to the severity of this "outbreak" of anxiety, I have had to take some pretty serious steps to try and resolve the problem. Last week I even pulled Zack out of school for the week and had him attend a day program to help with his situation. Unfortunately this program didn't offer any really help and in fact made the situation worse. Thankfully, I have had the wonderful support of many people in terms of trying to work Zack through this situation. Without their help I am sure I would be going insane. At first as this whole trauma started again I felt very isolated and alone. But in the past several days there have been many people who have rallied around Zack to help and support him. For this I am forever grateful. Despite all that we have experienced and all that Zack has suffered through during these last 3 years, I am full of optimism and hope for his future. I believe in him. I believe that he will make it through anything that comes his way. He is strong and he has endured much more than you would expect any 11 year old to have endured. I will be back to my normal blogging habits in the near future. However for now I will be dedicating almost all of my free time to Zack and helping him through this current crisis. We planning on resuming our "adventures" as soon as is humanly possible. Til later! Thanks and peace to all! - J.