A Celebration

Grant in 2008

In May of 2008, a friend of mine was involved in a serious traffic accident in Los Angeles. He was/is an aspiring screen writer that specialized in horror films and had a couple of scripts submitted to various studios.

He and his dog Dez had gone jogging at a local park and were driving home when another dog dashed in front of the car. Grant swerved, successfully missing the dog, but lost control and hit a concrete beam. Grant suffered several broken bones, the most serious were a couple of vertebrate in his neck. The paramedics used the jaws of life to remove him from his car and airlifted him to the UCLA Medical Center, where he was placed in ICU to begin his battle of survival.

Dez wasn't as fortunate and died in the crash.

Grant went through numerous surgeries on his broken leg and neck over the next few months. The surgeon's main concern was stabilizing his neck. There had been a large amount of damage to the area, and his spine had been twisted in the crash which had caused paralysis.

Grant in 2011

After a few months it became apparent that Grant would be a quadriplegic and was transported home to Texas, where his parents had remodeled his room to state required standards for someone in his situation.

I visit once or twice a month, bring dinner and watch a movie with him. He's a big fan of horror flixs, but me, not so much. He is always gracious enough to spare me from watching this particular genre'. However, he is also a fan of superhero type movies. Superman, Ironman, Spiderman, Hulk, Captain America, etc, he loves them all, but he is especially fond of the Marvel comic characters, so that it what we usually watch.

Grant is such a huge fan of the cinema and it's just a shame that he's unable to go to a theater to enjoy a movie in its full screen splendor. Oh, he has made numerous trips to a local hospital over the past few years, mainly due to frequent urinary tract infections. It's the only time he's left his room in the four years since the accident. By ambulance, to a hospital.

Until today.

A mutual friend has arranged a medical transport to take Grant to a local movie theater to view "The Avengers." I can't begin to explain how excited he is to be able to go to a theater for the first time in years, so I won't attempt it here. Be assured though, it's a BIG deal :)

He's also invited a few friends to join him for the show. I'm proud to say that I am one of those friends, so I'm taking the afternoon off to join in the fun.

I know the movie will be full of superheros performing heroic acts, but none of them will show more courage or strength than my friend Grant has in the past four years.

I'm sure I'll enjoy the movie, but I know I'll enjoy watching Grant enjoy the show even more.

It will truly be a day of celebration. I can't wait!