The charm of Coach V

I mentioned previously that I had just started nursing school when Mike and I met.  I had been working as a massage therapist while keeping busy at my house with my girls.  The decision to start nursing school came with the law in the State of Ohio that allows me to be a paid provider for my girls if I am licensed and working for an agency.  My desire to become a nurse wasn't so much for the sake of nursing as it was a way for me to support our household.  All of my jobs have been dependent upon the health of my girls and the reliability of the nurses hired for their care.  Going back to school in an accelerated nursing program where the school was unfortunately not established enough to have a proven syllabus proved to be much more stressful than I was prepared for.  So lucky Mike, this was my state of mind when we met....... stressed.  Lucky me, Mike was living in the nursing home that was less than 3 miles from my school but 30 miles from my home.  With him living so close to school, I could spend a good deal of time with him between classes and after classes before going home.  I would sit with him and do my homework and he would listen to books or watch movies.  His Harvard education wasn't much help for my nursing classes except for philosophy.  And some of the legal/ethics classes he helped me with his law degree.  I mentioned too that he had to type out all his responses with his head.  I probably shouldn't have said "with his head" since that might make you picture him hitting the screen with his forehead or something....   He had a reflective dot taped to his forehead that lined up with a receiver that sat on the top of his computer. With that connection, he could use his head control to move a cursor around the screen.  He could put the cursor on a letter on the keyboard on the screen and hover over it until the letter was chosen.  As long as this explanation was...... it was about as long as it would have taken him to type out a couple of words.  Keep that in mind when I tell you that he said what he meant and he meant what he said.  Being on the receiving end of his effort made me appreciate what he had to say all the more.  So when he used his Harvard and OSU Law education to help me with my trade school classes.... he was doing me a huge favor. His intelligence was indisputable but his kindness to me was unmatched.  I had not met a man before who could with one sentence totally focus me and calm me.  An example...he would tell me things like....I have no doubt that you will do well, you are passionate, that will only enhance your efforts in studying....... Use all of your anxiety to remind yourself why you are doing this and use that energy as positives.   Seriously, what man talks like that?  Mike did.  He showed me what support and love was through his words.  I have heard Mike described with words like determined and tenacious and he wouldn't quit until he was doing something to the best of his ability.  He took his life lessons and shared them with me, making me a better person... a better nurse.  During my graduation ceremony he posted on Facebook how proud he was of me and all my efforts.  I was as proud of myself to have his praise as I was that diploma.  You'll see over and over how easy it was to fall in love with him.