Our first encounter

This is my first post..... my first blog.  This is my way of writing memories of the life I shared with my boyfriend, Michael Wayne Vollmer and sharing it with others.  Mike and I met through Facebook.  I know that sounds a little funny, which is also why I like saying it that way.  We all know how Facebook works, right?  Well, my friend Jessika had come to the hospital to visit my daughter and after her visit she posted something on Facebook.  Mike just happened to be friends with Jessika and having seen her comment, he messaged me.  His message was typical Mike, he saw my little girl who has a trach tube and ventilator just like he did and he reached out to her mother.....me.  Our messages were through Facebook only for a few months.  Then November 2011 on Thanksgiving Day, I didn't have any plans and didn't want to spend it alone, so I messaged Mike and asked if I could visit with him.  He liked the idea and after telling me what food he would like to have, I headed up to the nursing home he was living in.  I was excited to meet him and was happy to be spending a holiday with someone but I couldn't figure out how he was going to eat the food he had asked me to bring.  One of the first of many things that I learned from Mike..... he figured out how to eat even when he could no longer breathe on his own.  I remember how tall he looked in that hospital bed, he was 6'2".  His smile was big and bright, his eyes were engaging.  He was a very handsome man, even in a hospital gown.  After a brief conversation, the remainder of our visit was spent watching a movie while I fed him spoonfuls of my home cooked Thanksgiving Dinner.  I wish I could remember what the movie was, but I don't.  Mike's life when I met him was lonely.  He had recently been placed in a nursing home and had very few visitors.  He had been diagnosed with ALS when he was 36 years old, he lived with this disease for 13 years.  I lived it with him the last 5 years.  He could no longer move his arms or legs but he could move his shoulders a little and his head and facial expressions were still working for him.  And he could still move his right index finger.  I smile when I type this..... I'll sneak in this one anecdote ..... I had come into Mike's room at the nursing home and was frustrated by something.  After hearing me out he typed (I'll explain that later) out instructions for me to get up in the bed with him and put his right hand on my knee.  After I followed his instructions, he had typed out for me to hear "there, there" while he moved his finger tapping on my knee.  It was exactly what I needed.  He always knew exactly what I needed.  He was exactly what I needed.