Lorb Language Lessons, or How Bob Singlehandedly Nullified the English Language

(Photo-Bro-in-law Robin serenading Rehab Bob)
First of all, you people love me. I'm not kidding! Seriously, we take two days off of the Bob blog to attend to very important things... ok, we were eating ice cream and trying to teach Bob our favorite Cher songs, but still... we take two days off and we're getting messages of love and concern. Now, I know what's really going on. You miss the Bob Blog when it's not live and constant. And why do you miss the Bob Blog? Because it helps you avoid your work! We know what you're up to. Sure, you have those "reports" to fill out... but let's just see what Bob is up to on the Bob Blog first!

So the news of the day is that all is well in the Bobosphere. There have been peaks and valleys but every day he makes extraordinary progress and I'm always amazed when I walk in. I am so proud of what an amazing student Uncle Bob is. Good teachers never stop being students, and he proves the rule.

Of course, the most important news of the day is that today he called me by my name. This is important not only because it signals recognition and liguistic recovery for Bob, but especially because the sound of my name is beautiful. I'm not joking! Take a second. Say it out loud. (I know, you're at your desk pretending to work, so don't say it too loud.): Joshua... isn't that like a symphony? I'm sure Bob thought so. I certainly did as Bob said it.

Last night, as Jeff was visiting, he was also able to say Jeff's name and identify Chad as well. Of course, Bob became so excited by Jeff's name that he was saying Jeff's name a whole lot today, even though Jeff wasn't there. Sharon was convinced that he was doing echolalia, but I'm pretty sure Bob just think's Jeff is awesome and likes saying his name. Although, now that he's said the crystaline ring of "Joshua" I imagine that the halls of Loma Linda will be ringing with my name. WE CAN ONLY HOPE!

The language thing, we're learning, is tough. It's about patience, for us, and for Bob. He works so hard to form words. Sometimes, you can see that he's putting together sonnets on the inside, but more often than not, the word that manages to come out... "lorb".

We've become fond of "lorb" around the homestead. First, because it had deep affective significance. In the way that our first words show a kind of breakthrough (let it be known that my first world was "turtle"... which is like... what?) Bob's first word, "lorb," was like a return to language. He uses it an awful lot and now we've begun to as well. Last night, Shadoan walked in the door and said, "Lorb." To which I said, "Hey, how was your lorb?" "Lorb" "That's lorb!" "Are you lorb?" I asked. "Lorb." So I got her dinner ready.

I think Lorb is genius. It really can stand in for all sorts of things. Yesterday, when the nurse was asking Bob, over and over, if he wanted something, and he'd already indicated physically that he did not (but she didn't catch on) he got frustrated and out came, angrily, "LORB!" That showed her to patronize him!

So this is the lesson of the day: Most of these words you're speaking and thinking. You don't need them. Find a good, pleasant sounding word like "lorb" and go with it. It saves time and energy and its totally efficient.

One last thing, in the late night hours I read to quiet the bloodstream. I've been working through (well, reworking through, really) the poems and plays of Federica Garcia Lorca. Yesterday I stumbled on a poem that shook me deep down inside because it made me think about how time must be passing for uncle Bob, and in a way, for all of us in a time like this. The Spanish and
English translation:

Eco del reloj

Me senté
en un claro del tiempo.
Era un remanso de silencio,
de un blanco
silencio.
Anillo formidable
donde los luceros
chocaban con los doce flotantes
números negros.

[Clock Echo

I sat
in a clearing of time.
It was a pool of silence,
of white silence.
Incredible ring
where the stars
collide with the dozen floating
black numbers.]

-Federica Garcia Lorca

NOW GET BACK TO WORK!

LORB!

Joshua