Clarice's surgery went well. She will lose an additional 20-30 lbs on top of the 10 already.

That's a lot of muscle mass.

However, she is in good spirits and we'll do what we can to keep her weight up.

She can't speak much but she sends her heartfelt thanks.

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At night before we have to part, we talk quietly and closely. If you are married you will know that sometimes that intimacy gets lost in the day to day hubbub. It's been renewing for us and restrengthening our relationship. 

Last night she spoke of starting a foundation. It would raise awareness of Responsible Driving and help families who have been affected. Unlike many diseases and issues that plague humankind this one is 100% preventable.

She has survived. She has a voice.

And she will use it. 

I've been meaning to update an now I will have a couple hours. Clarice is heading into surgery for her jaw. I'll let you know how it goes. 

***********************************************************

Later that day.....

Healing one step at a time
Watch this and PLEASE SHARE it. It's an update on Clarice, a recap, and an invitation to the world. 

Together, through our small daily acts and our mindfulness we can make this world a better place for our children now, and for all children who come after. 

It won't take much, just a commitment to live fearlessly, lovingly, and true to the spirit that whispers warmth to our souls.

Share this message, please.

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There is a long, painful road ahead.

To help with the costs of rehabilitation and to get your free downloads:

http://www.aaronpaquette.net/?page_id=924

Facebook groups:

Compassion for Clarice
https://www.facebook.com/events/371181922945803/

Art Auction & Community Celebration
https://www.facebook.com/groups/397241473660166/

Get Clarice on Ellen
https://www.facebook.com/groups/394041763966383/

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A little bit of extra information:

This rendition of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" was the song Clarice walked down the aisle to for our wedding.

June 21 is Summer Solstice, when the sun shines the longest in the Northern Hemisphere. In the Southern Hemisphere it marks the return of the sun after the long nights.

June 21 is also National Aboriginal Day.

In some First Nations cultures, they mark this time with a Sundance. A Ceremony where the participants fast, pray and dance as an offering of humility and to ask for blessings for their loved ones and for all the creatures of the earth to be in harmony and balance.

In Native American philosophy, we are composed of spheres. Or hoops. There is the personal hoop, the family, the community and the world. Over it all stands the tree of life. We are all in this great hoop together, the people, the plants, the animals, everything. What one does affects us all.

Prayers, intentions, meditations, gatherings, ceremony, all are rituals by which we seek a common good. All beliefs are welcome on this day, all acts of kindness are welcome, all laying down of arms.

Please choose on this day to become a warrior.

A warrior for life.

A warrior who doesn't seek to fight, but to love. A warrior who changes the world by changing her or his own heart. A warrior who knows their job is to uplift and protect.

And that protection means service and that service comes from humility.

A warrior gets educated. A warrior puts aside anger, judgement, hate and fear.

A warrior is not wearied by the ills of the world, but instead is energized by the overabundance of goodness and health in the world.

And by doing all that, makes every good thing true.

On June 21, become a Warrior.

Hiy Hiy

(thank you, in Cree)

The Edmonton Police are in our community. 

They set up a speed monitoring station and discovered that people routinely speed down our community road.

One person was going 78. The limit here is 50.

As they told me this a small child was walking home, big backpack on his shoulders.

I couldn't help think what if.

The police all know Clarice's story. They have it printed out and up on their station wall.

Liam got to meet them and one officer even offered his babysitting services down the line when Clarice is good enough to go out for dinner!

I hope the good man in the photo doesn't mind that he's online. If so, I'll take down the picture immediately.

He was awesome.

He's not single.


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One of the gratifying results that has come out of Clarice's accident is how many people are pledging to pay attention at all times while they are driving. To drive responsibly.

This will save lives. This *is* saving lives as I type this.

You made it happen.

By sharing this post:

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10150935540728754&set=a.407683733753.184728.34759153753&

You have saved peoples lives. They will never know it, but it's true.

Help us to keep that little boy with his backpack safe. Help him get home safe from school. Share this story again today. 

I would never have asked that before.

I am a severe introvert but this experience has taught our family that there are far more important things than our personal comfort.

So let's step out of our comfort zone. Share this story so others can share theirs and we can learn from each other.

If you have already shared it, thank you. Consider sharing again as messages get lost so easily in this fast paced world.

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10150935540728754&set=a.407683733753.184728.34759153753&

Thank you 

So Clarice got to go on a field trip today. We went with these amazing paramedics, Davey and Darren, to the University of Alberta Hospital where it was determined Clarice does indeed have a broken mandible (jaw) and will be undergoing surgery soon to have permanent titanium plates applied.

They were so great, I can't say enough good things about them.

I also have an update about our incredible police department but that will have to wait until tomorrow.

Thank you again for your strength. It is supporting in ways I will have to relay when there is more time.

And I will be attempting to thank each and evey one of you over the next many months or years, however long it takes.


Ps. Davey is single. He's on the left.

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Never doubt that you are good. It doesn't matter what you've done in the past, each new minute you are reborn, each new minute you can make a choice to become the miracle you are.

The first steps are always the toughest and it may seem you're getting nowhere fast. But every time you decide to do what's in your heart you get closer to your purpose.

Keep going!

There will always be those who try to hold you down. Even yourself! Love them. love yourself. It builds your strength. And just maybe you will ignite a spark in others' hearts to follow.


-------

A short word on prayer.

It works.


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June 21. 2012

Sounds like a good day to change the world, doesn't it? 

Yesterday they took Clarice's last chest tube out. The healing of her body has been miraculous. The bones are still broken, her back is still in horrible pain, but she can breathe on her own.

Last night Clarice's brother brought our little one to the hospital. It had been a week since Clarice saw him. He was sleeping so we gently placed him beside her. For a moment he woke up and looked at her face, sighed and fell into a deeper sleep.

She was able to touch him and love him and see that he was all right.

When he finally awoke, we picked him up and all took turns holding him so he wouldn't hurt her broken ribs or spine. 

But now she has a heart full of love and even more determination to get well.

I truly believe - no wait - I *know* it is your prayers making this possible. I asked a nurse if it was just me, or was Clarice healing phenomenally quickly.

She got serious for a moment and said, "No. To tell you the truth, I have never seen anything like this before."

-------

Clarice is the type of woman who wants people to be happy. Even when she can barely speak she is trying to make her visitors laugh. After a number of requests for interviews (of course she can't, she doesn't have the strength for something like that) she joked that the only show she would go on was Ellen.

Imagine her surprise when she saw this:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/394041763966383/

This time she is the one who almost laughed. Almost, because if she let it out her ribs would not be tickled.

If you feel inclined, please join that group. We are looking for as many moments of happiness for my brave wife as possible.

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It's thanks to you. We will never be able to repay the world for it's kindness, but we will always try to pay it forward.

Thank you for being a brilliant shining light for us. We have a long journey ahead and your candles are leading us home.

Pray for each other as you have prayed for Clarice, act in kindness and light, and the world will change. It will become healed.

------

For your prayers and well wishes I offer a free download of one of my paintings. It is in high resolution, suitable for printing and framing. It isn't much compared to what you have given us, but I offer it with deepest thanks.

http://www.aaronpaquette.net/?page_id=924

While we are accepting them, there is no donation necessary for the gift. Your goodness is enough. 

So grateful for a new day!

There are some pretty terrible things happening in the world today but there are also some pretty beautiful things.

You are beautiful.

And that's important to remember. It's your inherent beauty, will, desire and depth that shapes this world. Never forget that.

The world you see, you inherited.

The world that will be, you create.

With gentleness, care, loving action, and prayer.

It's what you were made for.

-------

Clarice is talking. In pain. Broken. But talking. And smiling. 

Thank you for the light you have created in our lives. 

As you helped heal her, please turn your power to healing each other.

We love your prayers, they make more difference than you will ever know. We welcome them, need them, and give our deepest thanks for them.

Hiy hiy

The biggest lie our world has ever been told is that it is evil.

This is a world of light.

This is a world of love.

This is a world where a small facebook post for family and friends goes out into the world and the hearts of people everywhere connect into a network of pure energy.

Share this message to change the world.

You have blessed us so much with your millions of prayers from all corners of the earth. Christian, Muslim, Buddhist, Baha'i, agnostic, atheist, Hindu, Judaism, Wiccan, Pagan, and if I've missed you please mention. Dogma was replaced by truth. Divisions by united love.

At no point in the past few days did we feel a moment of despair. We were filled with your warmth and goodness. Clarice is still broken. Still in unimaginable pain, but she continues to hear and feel your prayers.

This world is a paradise. We are all the angels. Some have forgotten, but everyone can be reminded.

Your prayers and wishes and blessings, empowered by the will of the Creator, did something magic. Not only did it begin the miraculous and surprising healing path for Clarice, but we shared our stories with each other, we connected through compassion. I believe that your hearts were filled with the same light as ours. I believe that your souls were somehow, mysteriously made lighter in the past few days and that this is continuing now with each new share and each new prayer.

Please tell me if this is true.

There is something I hope we can do, and please, if you have shared this post before, please share it now for something amazing:

We have been blessed so much by you, can we now bless one another?

We are so grateful that the only thing left in our hearts is a desire to share and to give back.

All this week, can we purposely pray for each other? Can we purposely sing, praise, dance and act in service for each other?

The people of this planet are children of light. The systems and struggles we have might sometimes make us forget this.

But we are all miracles.

Can we recognize the spark of the divine in each other?

Talk softer, laugh easier, give more freely to one another?

Accept more easily?

Can we forgive?

Others AND ourselves?

Can we look for the best?

In the old days, people used to look to heavens and believed the heavens looked back.

They saw in a star the beginning of a new dispensation.

They saw in the Northern Lights the spirits of their ancestors, dancing to protect and reassure them.

They saw truth descending into their hearts.

At the time of this full moon, this time of tides, can we change ours?

Can we change the tide?

Pray for one another. Give one another the blessings you have poured out on one small family.

We are all family.

We are all human.

We make mistakes, we fall. We have our regrets and we have our sorrows.

This is what makes us humble. And that's what makes us human.

And that's when we see the truth:

The hand of the divine has touched us all, works in us all, is the truth of who we are.

This week, pray for each other.

I have seen the network of light, love and goodness on this planet. I am praying that everyone will see it.

This is a world of light.

This is a world of love.

This is a world that prays for each other.

Please pray for each other.

As entire congregations have prayed for us, please, now, pray for each other.

Act in goodness. Act in truth.

Be kind, Be gentle, Be giving and Forgiving.

This entire week, please, oh please, share this message.

We can change the tide.

We can change the world.

We can make it sing with our love.

Please pray for each other.

Change the world with your song. 

Through the morphine and the pain I have been reading your heart felt messages to Clarice. She fades in and out of sleep but wants to hear them all.

She wrote this out on a tablet screen today and I wanted to share it with you.

Your prayers have overwhelmed us. They have overwhelmed the medical staff. Her wounds are healing so quickly. They took an X-ray today and tomorrow will see if she can take a few steps!!

My whole life I will never be able to repay your kindness.

You have changed our family for the better and I am a changed man today.

I will try to live a life worthy of your prayers.

God bless you.

God bless you

You have given us so much light it is shining out of her skin. She looks more beautiful than I can describe.

God Bless you. 

UPDATE

I am at a loss.

Your outpouring of love and prayers has changed our lives forever.

When Clarice (that is my wife's name) was in Emergency they were very concerned. We were told that she would be connected to tubes for weeks, that she would swell so terribly that it might pose a serious risk to her life.

We were prepared for the worst. Brain damage. Paralysis. Severe bacterial infection. On and on.

That's when you started praying. That's when you poured out unimaginable power into our small world.

That's when your prayers and well wishes and tears came into effect and will keep having effect.

Clarice will try having her breathing tube removed tomorrow!

Although her ribs are broken, her lungs have become strong unnaturally fast. The dark shadow that covered them hours ago is almost gone entirely.

She is still weak.

She was able to talk to me without words. I recited the alphabet and she weakly tapped when I hit the right letter. Then we would begin again until we got the next letter right or she passed out in a haze of pain and morphine. That was this morning.

Tonight, when she is a wake, she can draw crude letters with her limp finger on a touchscreen.

"How is baby?" she asked.

"I love you." she said next.

There are tears in my eyes as I write this. I know it was your prayers that made it happen.

Your wishes, thoughts, songs, prayers, warm words and positive energy have filled this place.

And I would be remiss if I didn't mention the awe inspiring medical staff. From the nurses to the specialists, to the doctors. So amazing. So awesome.

There is a very long road ahead and it will be filled with worry, tears and pain. I can't say we are ready, but we are willing.

Please stay with us. You have given us strength we never would have had alone.

I will try to answer every one of your comments. It may take me 6 months to a year or more. But I will try.

Thank you a million times and more.

----------

I will add one last thing.

For those generous souls who have offered assistance by way of money.

We will accept. Humbly and gratefully. We do have need.

But only if you're certain. If there is another cause or need out there that needs your attention then please follow your heart. God, the Creator, will find a way for us.

Thank you again.

Here is the link:

http://www.aaronpaquette.net/?page_id=924 

There you will find photos of Clarice and baby Liam, my youngest son, and my humble gift to you for your kindnesses already given.

The gift is a painting I made called Returning Home. It's a large digital file that you can get printed and framed. Anyone who mails their print to me, I will gladly sign for you. Message me if you want to do this.

Thank you, and please trust me. Your prayers have already gone the second mile.

www.aaronpaquette.net