"I want steak"

"I want steak" were Daniel's words, when I asked what it was he wanted to eat when he could do so autonomously. To this, I answered that if it's steak he wants, then he shall have the best piece of steak I can find, once he is ready to eat.

It was early Saturday, Lito, Joe, and myself were spending the day with Daniel. The weather was perfect, so we cruised to the patio with Daniel to take in some much needed sun. He was in good spirits, I put my shades on him and we chilled in the sun. At times, he would tell us he was hot and we would then move him to the shade, then he would say it was cold and we would return to the sun. This was what we did for him to keep him as comfortable as we could, when asked if he wanted to go inside he told us "no I'm cool outside".

It was definitely lifting to see him so engaged and willing to talk, we talked boxing, basketball, soccer and UFC, among other things. For the record, Daniel favors Brazil in the upcoming World Cup, Evans in the next UFC and if it ever happens, Paquio over Maywether. The fact that he can now verbalize all of those things is simply amazing and it made me feel like it is only a matter of time, before his body catches up to his mind.

His mind is definitely sharp, he was tracking our conversations and at times he would chime in on what he thought about the subject matter. He spoke in small phrases and when I shifted the conversation to Spanish he would adjust and speak to me in Spanish, he did the same when we spoke in our most common language (slang). A "Puro pedo" was mixed in, here and there by him too.

Once the sun started creeping away and it got a bit chilly, we returned to his room. He wanted to remain in his wheelchair, so we complied. The topic of our conversation changed a bit as it was getting late and we were going to leave soon. We shared with him how much we miss him, how amazingly far he has come and to keep up the good work. He relayed his frustration with his situation and how he does not feel like he is moving fast enough in the heeling process. This was really tough to hear, my response was; " I wont lie to you, so please believe me when I say that you have definitely come a long way and it is through your hard work and determination that you have come this far".

I realize it may be difficult for him to really understand just how much progress he has made, but I do believe he needs to hear it over and over again.

Our time with him ended as we lay him back in his bed to rest and we had the nurse come in to check up on him, to make sure he was okay. As we parted ways and let him rest for the day, we walked out of the facility in silence, happy to see him doing so well, but also realizing he is now fully aware of his situation.

In Solidarity,

Chuy