2009 Summer Honeymoon

Our honeymoon (a break from the program) was spent with family and friends and included many outings and adventures during the summer of 2009.

We began our honeymoon on June 12, 2009. We spent our first day at the Cleveland Zoo with The Hudak’s (Kevin's Grandma & Grandpa, Uncle Ron & Aunt Sarah, and her family). It was a perfect, perfect day. The weather was beautiful and it was our first outing with all the Hudak’s together.



One week later we began our vacation to Myrtle Beach. But first I picked up my Dad to travel with us on our way to Charlotte, North Carolina to visit Kevin's Great Great Aunt Sylvia, who is 92 years old. She lives with her son Robert and his family. This was a wonderful visit. Aunt Sylvia was very surprised to see her nephew (my Dad) and she was very happy to finally meet Kevin, her new “boyfriend” added to her list of beau’s.



We spent a week in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina with all The Golembiewski’s (Kevin's Pap, Grandee, Uncle Steve, Aunt Dawn, Ryan, Emma, Sara, Aunt Marcia, Uncle Brad, Daniel and Carrie). All eight adults and six kids were together in the six bedroom condo. Unfortunately, Jon fell down the steps of the condo the first day we were there and hurt his shoulder. Fortunately Kevin was walking on his own at this point. Although it did take some hustling to get him past the car and down to the beach, but once we were down there he loved sitting in the sand and having the waves wash up on him…which meant a very sandy bum to wash off. I was very proud watching Kevin walk on the beach but with a whole big ocean there he didn’t spend too much time walking on it. And of course he had to spend time in the swimming pool. It was so enjoyable being with all our family and having Kevin spend time with all his Aunts, Uncles and cousins.





My favorite story from Myrtle Beach is the "watermelon story". Kevin has a very restricted diet due to his food allergies and the nutrition standards set at The Institutes. Watermelon has a high glycemic index which raises blood sugar. So this is considered a food that we are to avoid. In the past, Kevin has had a few watermelon pieces in a fruit salad, but never too much. Well one night we went out to dinner at a seafood buffet. We of course brought Kevin's own food but after he finished and we were all still eating Jon gave Kevin a slice of watermelon. We figured we were on vacation and he could deviate from his diet a little. But then a cousin brought him some watermelon and then an uncle brought him some watermelon. In the end I think he ate three slices of watermelon. After we were done eating we ended up in a kids play area that the restaurant had which had funny mirrors. Kevin absolutely loved this! He went back and forth between the two mirrors walking away and coming back it was really funny. But then it got funnier...we got back to our condo and Kevin went to bed that night. When we went to bed he woke up and continued to stay awake the entire night. His legs were constantly moving (I was sharing the bed with him) and he eventually got out of the bed and went back and forth between Jon & I trying to get us up and to the door. Kevin eventually opened the bedroom door on his own (because he was so determined) and began walking the upstairs hall. Kevin walked back and forth all night. My sister, Marcia heard us and got up with us...we were cracking up it was so funny to see Kevin "sugared up". In fact he didn't go to sleep until his nap the next afternoon. We were afraid to give Kevin watermelon the rest of the summer.



After we left Myrtle Beach we stopped in Hudson, North Carolina, this time to visit Jon's Mom's side of the family at the Carroll Family Reunion. Kevin's Grandma & Grandpa, Uncle Ron & Aunt Sarah were there along with all Kevin's Southern Great Aunts, Uncles, and Cousins. But Kevin mostly enjoyed sitting on Uncle Eddie’s lap and watching the ceiling fans. In the hotel that we stayed in Kevin had a lot of fun walking up and down the hallways and pushing the elevator button.

Shortly after we returned home I began to tear down wallpaper in our two guest bedrooms. We basically “gutted” the two bedrooms and Kevin's bathroom. In addition to painting those rooms we also painted Kevin's bedroom with some help from Jon's parents. We tore up all the carpeting that remained upstairs and put down hardwood flooring. Jon and his Dad put up all new doors and trim. It was a very big project that took all summer long to complete. But it feels so good to have that ole’ wallpaper and carpet out of the house and have bedroom doors that actually close.

The night that I had begun stripping wallpaper, I will never forget, it is the night that Kevin discovered light switches and door knobs. After we put Kevin to bed that night we heard him walking around upstairs and realized that he was not just walking in his bedroom but all over the upstairs. When I came up the steps every light was on and every door was open. Kevin kept flicking the light switches off and on continuously. It must have looked like SOS signals from outside the house. It was getting late (after 9 pm) and Jon had to run to the store to get a child-proof doorknob cover to put on the inside of Kevin's room so that he could not get out and keep flicking lights and finally go to sleep.



I was very excited to get to celebrate July 4th this summer. We got to spend the evening at Blossom Music Center. We took a picnic dinner, listened to patriotic music, and watched fireworks afterwards. I was very impressed that Kevin was able to stay awake and that he was not scarred of the noise from the fireworks. I loved snuggling on the blankets with “my boys”.



We made two trips to Middletown this summer. One trip was for my sister Marcia’s birthday and one for the Twins birthday. It made me very happy that we were able to be there to celebrate their birthdays. During our first trip in July, I left after a couple days to return home and help Jon get some more work done on the house. And Kevin got to spend time with his Grandee & Pap all by himself along with all his cousins and Aunts & Uncles too. I heard that they went to the Cincinnati Zoo while he was there. They also went swimming at Bob & Terrie’s pool and played in Grandee and Pap’s fountain in the front yard.

On our second trip to Middletown in August we celebrated the Twins 2nd birthday with a bounce house from all of us. It made me very happy to see Kevin having fun in the bounce house with his cousins bouncing around.





Kevin also got to spend time with his Grandma & Grandpa Hudak at their house in Painesville. I was very glad he was able to have alone time with them as well, especially when it was not safe for him to be at our house during the upstairs renovations. Kevin's Grandma was so nice to fill up a pool for him in their backyard…she even put warm water in for him. They liked taking Kevin for car rides and he even got to ride in their truck.





The Bedell Family invited us up to their cabin on Johnson’s Island (Lake Erie) in July. We got to go to the beach and Mr. Bedell took us for a ride on Lake Erie in his boat, but Kevin was so tired that he fell asleep on the floor of the boat. It was so nice spending time with friends and Kevin loves hanging out with the Bedell kids.



Jon & I wanted to have a little honeymoon of their own after getting most of the work done on the house. So Kevin got to take another trip to Painesville while we went to New York’s Lake Chautauqua. We stopped at wineries, ate some good food, had picnics, and even rented a boat one day on the lake (where Jon & I got very burnt). When we returned to pick Kevin up he gave us the best welcome back greeting ever. He was very happy to see us and we were very happy to see him!



Believe it or not Kevin did spend some time at home during the summer. We got to go to the playgrounds where he was able to climb up the steps to go down the slide. I was very proud to see him so independent on the playground. We even caught a goldfish in the swimming pool at the park to keep. We went to Waterworks Park to swim. We went with our neighbor Karen for a pontoon boat ride on the Cuyahoga River. But mostly Kevin enjoyed going for car rides around town and exploring new places especially if there was a shopping cart. But my favorite was probably the evening we took Kevin to the mall and you walked all over. I especially enjoyed just sitting on the porch with Kevin and visiting with our neighbors and friends.






Just as our Honeymoon was coming to an end Kevin's passport was delivered to the house. So we decided that he would go and get his first stamp in his passport with Jon and his parents in Niagara Falls, Canada for a day trip. I took that opportunity to have a day alone to clean the house now that the upstairs renovations were complete and to get our house back in order.

Our last weekend on our Honeymoon was Labor Day Weekend and what better way to spend it than having my sister Marcia's family come visit us. We went to the Kiddie Park where Kevin and the Twins got to ride a roller coaster and Carousel. Unfortunately, we had to take Kevin off the boat ride after he kept putting his hands in the water for safety reasons. From there we had a picnic lunch in Cleveland and watched some of the planes coming in and out of the Cleveland Air Show. Everyone got scared when a really loud F-15 flew by. But we did get to see some spectacular planes. It was a very enjoyable weekend and we were happy to have them come to our house and stay in our new guest rooms.



We are especially proud of the new skills Kevin developed this summer. Kevin began walking up steps (with a hand rail on the right), and sometimes down. But he is always independent getting himself up and down steps either on his feet, backwards, or on his bum. I was getting frustrated when Kevin wouldn’t pick up food with his fingers to eat. So I offered him the spoon instead and he began eating from the spoon like a champ. And not long afterwards he decided it was okay to pick up fruit and eat it with his fingers. I’ll never forget the day Kevin & I were standing at the sink together while I was washing strawberries and Kevin picked one up and began eating it and then another and another. This was the first time he ever ate food without it being given to him. Kevin also enjoyed drinking green smoothies from a cup all by himself.







At the beginning of the summer I had a difficult time adjusting to being home with Kevin and not constantly doing something with him. But I adjusted and soon discovered it was good to give him some freedom to discover things on his own. After being on the program for three years there was a lot that we wanted to do during our time off. I especially enjoyed spending so much time with our families and a little alone time with your Jon. It was fun getting out of the house with Kevin and going new places. And not having to live by a schedule, timers, and clickers.

Can you believe it was three years ago that we took Kevin to the healing service with Dr. Issam Nemeh and his wife Cathy? This summer we received a phone call from “Trapper Jack” a local radio host, who is a friend of Dr. Nemeh’s. He heard about us through a gentleman at our church who was inspired by Kevin to see Dr. Nemeh himself. After talking with Trapper Jack and receiving his encouragement to revisit Dr. Nemeh we made an appointment. We saw Dr. Nemeh on August 12 at his office in Rocky River. His treatment included LED lights, and vibrations & frequencies, which Kevin loved the most. He put his hands and feet and even his face on it. Afterwards Trapper Jack came over to meet us. He was very generous and paid for our visit with Dr. Nemeh. It was the next day that Kevin began picking up fruit with your fingers and a couple weeks later I began noticing the fingers on Kevin's left hand open and some movement. Very encouraging!

Soon we will be returning to The Institutes on September 12 for our seventh visit. I am looking forward to seeing our friends in Philadelphia so they can see how much Kevin's walking has improved. During the summer I realized how far Kevin has come since we first began The Institutes program three years ago. I am very proud of Kevin for all his hard work and everything he has accomplished. But I have also realized that we still have more work to do on Kevin's pathway to wellness. We want Kevin to have the best life possible. We know he can do it and we will be there every step of the way!