Out of the hospital and back in Memphis (a personal note from Tom)

Wow, I'm not in the hospital. No one is taking my blood pressure, it's quiet in the middle of the night, and the ceiling looks a lot nicer in my parents' house (I've spent a lot of time inspecting ceilings in the past 6 weeks. The ones with some water damage are actually the best because you can imagine that they are some kind of contemporary art).

I actually immensely enjoyed my stay at the rehabilitation center in Houston. The care was excellent, I made enormous progress with my left leg, and I had many wonderful visitors. Speaking of my leg, the current status is that when I'm in the pool in three feet of water, I can walk completely unassisted! My balance isn't great and my strength sucks, but it's only a matter of time before I'm walking around town. Perhaps I won't even need a brace. This would represent the best case scenario, and now it's perfectly reasonable to expect it will become my reality.

I've been fortunate to have some wonderful visitors in Houston to keep me company. Both mom and dad have spent countless hours with me. Monica Verduzco-Gutierrez is in her third year of residency in rehabilitation medicine, and she works in the building that I've been staying in. Of course, this is not a coincidence, since she helped with getting in there in the first place. My lovely former cheerleading partner Claudia and her husband David Vasser have been tireless visitors, and I have immensely enjoyed their company. For those of you who are former Houston residents, you'll appreciate that we went out to dinner at Chuey's the other night. My friend Catherine Magill, with whom I traveled to Hawaii this summer, has actually visited me twice in Houston. She left today for a year in Japan with the JET program, so I was glad that we could spent more time together, even if it was in a noisy hospital. William Weaver, my friend since first grade (going on 22 years now), just moved to Waco to start his job as a professor at Baylor University. He drove into town this past weekend, and I showed him around Rice a little bit. Maybe it will help entice him to join the Rice faculty one of these days! Now that would be sweet.

Due to a beautiful coincidence in which Deb Forst got married in Houston while I was here, several of my Rice friends came in from out of town for the wedding and dropped by the hospital when they found out that I was there. Amazingly, I saw three of my former Rice roommates. Marshall Wolfe came in from Chicago, Peter Kaltenbach drove from Austin, and Jeff Caves, accompanied by his wife Diane Berry, flew from Atlanta. Other than Diane, I hadn't seen any of them since I graduated in 2000. What a joy! Besides seeing my roommates, I also got surprise visits from Krystal Clarke, A.J. Moore, and Amy Chambers. It was so fun to talk about our college days together.

Now that I'm back in Memphis, I'll get to see a couple of my high school friends, but most of the other people I knew have moved away. That means you guys will need to come visit me here! It's a great place to visit, and now that I'm more mobile, I can show you some awesome stuff. The national civil rights museum is here, right in the Lorraine Motel, where Martin Luther King Jr. was assasinated in 1968. It is truly one of the most impressive, powerful places I have ever been. We also have one of those neo-retro downtown baseball stadiums, where the Cardinals' AAA affiliates, the Memphis Redbirds, play their games. While you're here you'll definitely want to try our world famous BBQ. We could eat at the Germantown Commissary, Corky's, Pig N Whistle, the Rendevous, or if you're here long enough, you could try all four! One more major draw is the Memphis music scene, famous for its blues music. My high school buddy Justin Conn (www.justinconn.com) is an up and coming musician, and he just played at the Blue Monkey last night. If only I had come home a day earlier, I would have been able to see him in action.

Seriously, I would love to have some visitors. My parents have three empty bedrooms in their house, and my social calendar is wide open (for now). I think I'll be here until mid-September. I can't wait to see you! Of course, phone calls and letters are great too, so you can reach me on my cell at 901-857-2466 or send things to 2691 Sweet Oaks Circle, Germantown, TN 38138.

After some harrowing moments earlier this summer, life is treating me well right now. The next big hurdle is a meeting with my surgeon on August 7. He's going to check how my back has healed and make further recommendations about how to procede. Please pray that he'll give me a good report, that I'll get my back brace off soon, and above all, no more surgeries! Recovering from two surgeries has been grueling. I really don't want to have any more. I also want my back to be strong and durable, so I can do more challenging rehab activities and then get on with my life.

That's all for now. Thanks for your tremendous outpouring of love and support. You guys have helped me maintain a positive attitude throughout this ordeal, and things are getting better each day!

Love, Tom