Good times

Jacob had a GREAT day today.  First of all he woke up at 8:00 in the morning (never happens!) and went to REI with me and Josh to check out the big annual yard sale they had today. He didn't even get out of the car though because the crowd was way too big.  But hey, it got him up bright and early this morning.  He did take a good nap in the afternoon.  Then his friend Tom called at about 4 to invite him to the movies.
I just have to say, I am so amazed by Jacob every day.  This week was a rough one with the lung setbacks and having to go back on steroids.  I'm sure that Thursday and Friday's sleep all day days were his way of coping/moping about that.  But it was like today he just decided to get over it and get on with life!  He didn't let a little (kinda big actually) thing like having to lug around a big oxygen tank with him all day get in the way of doing what he wanted to do.  We took that oxygen tank with us this morning.  He packed it up and carried it like a backpack...no complaints.
He was a little bummed about the fact that he used up that tank in the morning and had to take the big one to the movies though.  But hey, that didn't stop him either.  We just wheeled it into the movie theater with him and when the movie was over, the boys stayed and watched another one and then went back to Toms house to hang out for a while.
I think the whole thing was harder on me than it was for him.  Watching him walk into the theater with two of his best friends, hanging out with the guys, dragging an oxygen tank with him...well, that was rough to watch and I'll admit that the tears were obstructing my vision all the way back to my car.
I am so incredibly grateful for the good friends Jacob has.  Those boys didn't even flinch when he walked up with the tank.  They just walked off together like nothing had ever changed.  I know it's hard for them.  They love Jacob and they would probably be together every day...the whole gang of them. But there's so many things that Jacob can't do with them yet, so we don't see the guys as often as he'd like to.
He can't be in big crowds so on Toms birthday last month, he went to the party at his house and had a great time celebrating there and he even rode along with everyone to Airborne where they have wall to wall trampolines to bounce on...it's a blast.  But, when he got there, he hung back from the crowd and waited till I got there to take him home.  There were way too many kids in there and he knew that was just too risky for him with a weakened immune system.  A simple common cold would land him in the hospital for at least 2 weeks and he'd probably be spending that in the ICU with breathing machines because his lungs couldn't handle a cough right now.  It just wasn't worth the risk.
He can't skateboard, snowboard, ride bikes and going to school is out of the question this year.  Pretty much the only thing he can do with his buddies is to go to the movies for an afternoon show, not in the evening when it's crowded and not on Friday or Saturday night shows...even more crowded.  He has to wear his mask if he's in a crowd or when there's little kids around that could have runny noses or anything he could catch.
But, with all those restrictions...I have to say that he is so incredibly blessed to have a group of friends who love him unconditionally and can just take some time away from other things they could be doing to hang out at the movies with Jacob or just hang out in his room for a while playing video games, joking around and just being guys.  They really have no idea how much it helps him and how important it is for him.  Those times with his friends are probably the best medicine of all.