Christmas 2012
Our dear family and friends,
We want to wish you a very merry
Christmas, and we hope the joy of the season and the love of our Savior will
abide with you in your hearts and in your homes. We also hope for a very happy
new year for all of you.
Since we’re not as good at
making it to family events (or any events with friends) as we would like to be,
and since this has been such a news-filled year for us, we thought we ought to
finally join in the tradition of year-end newsletters to let our loved ones
know how (and what) we’re doing.
Sharisse has been attending
school at Weber State University, working toward a degree in math. Upon the
joyous return of Summer break this year, Sharisse went to work searching for a
new job. Her dedication finally paid off in September when she found an
enviable position with the University of Utah Medical Center. She now works
part time for them as a ‘floating’ Certified Medical Assistant (working at
various locations depending on where she’s needed).
While Quentin was in Arkansas
for a couple weeks for some training for his new job, Sharisse went in for an
eye exam. We’re grateful she did. She had been having some problems with the
vision in her right eye, and the doctor at the eyeglasses store was able to see
why. He told her she needed to see a specialist immediately because she had
serious lattice degeneration, causing her retinal detachment. This explained
why her peripheral vision had been impaired as of late.
Less than a week from that first
appointment, Sharisse had seen the specialist with her dad, Quentin had
returned home (as scheduled) and took her in to LDS Hospital, where the
specialist, Dr. Alldredge, performed surgery on both her eyes. The left eye was
treated with a laser (receiving cryotherapy) to prevent any possible future
retinal detachment. The right eye’s surgery was much more involved. With
Sharisse under general anesthesia, the doctor placed a scleral buckle around
her eye to reshape the eye to reduce stress on the retina. He also performed a
vitrectomy (removal of the vitreous fluid) and a pneumatic retinopexy (an air
bubble inserted into the eye in place of the vitreous fluid) to allow the
retina to reattach without being pressured by the vitreous fluid.
Sharisse had complications in that
first surgery and has had many complications since that time as well. This has
afforded her a total of five surgeries on her right eye thus far. Three of them
were under general anesthesia and two of them were in-office procedures.
Sharisse still has very limited
vision in her right eye. She received a contact lens which helps her get as
good as 20/80 vision out of that eye, but that still leaves most things very
blurry. Her depth perception has proved to be nearly nonexistent, and her
vision is limited even more at night. Needless to say, she doesn’t do much
driving, and when she needs to go in to work she utilizes public transportation
and hitches rides with Quentin when possible. She looks forward to her final
(fingers crossed) surgery where she’ll receive a new intraocular lens. Assuming
she has no further complications between now and then, this is expected to
occur in February.
Since 2009, Quentin has been working with the Utah Army National Guard’s Military
Funeral Honors team. In September or October 2011 he became the Ogden team
leader, and with his promotion to Sergeant in November (2011), he officially
became the non-commissioned officer in charge (NCOIC) of the Ogden Military
Funeral Honors office.
Just before deploying to Morocco for a few weeks with the 128th
MPAD in April this year for training in support of African Lion 2012, one of
two full-time positions for the 23rd Army Band opened up, and
Quentin submitted an application. His experience in Morocco (his second time to
the country, since he had deployed there with the 23rd Army Band for
10 days in 2010) was educational and rewarding. He spent most of his time there
in tents on a coastal desert, capturing the training that was occurring between
the Marines and the Moroccan military. His unique position as a public affairs
sergeant afforded him a lot of opportunity to rub shoulders with high-ranking
officials, and he later received a very appreciative letter of praise addressed
through his platoon sergeant from the man who was second-highest in command at
the Field Training Exercise.
Upon his return from Africa, Quentin boarded (interviewed) for the
position with the band and was offered the job. He started May 1st,
becoming the first soldier to move up from Active Duty for Operational Support
(ADOS) orders with the Military Funeral Honors team to an Active Guard/Reserve
(AGR) position within the Utah National Guard in the 5+ year history of that
Honor Guard program.
With Quentin’s new job in West Jordan, we became serious once again about
finding our first home to purchase and started working with a real estate
agent in May or June. With Sharisse’s
new job in Salt Lake City, it was confirmed that the home would need to be in
Salt Lake County or a Southern portion of Davis County. In November we found
the home that felt right and that fit what we were looking for and we put an
offer in just before Thanksgiving. After receiving a counter offer and
responding with our own counter offer, we went under contract the week after
Thanksgiving, and the deal closed on the 20th of December.
Sadly, Sharisse’s Grandma Uhrey, who was very excited for us to find a
house, won’t have the opportunity to see the place in this life. Donna Lou
Longfellow Uhrey returned to her Father in Heaven after a pleasant Thanksgiving
Day with her family and after saying goodnight and goodbye to her grandchildren
and great-grandchildren. Not realizing it at the time, we witnessed the
ambulance and fire trucks leaving the station, heading for Sharisse’s parents’
home from where we had just left. Upon arriving home and hearing the news from
Sharisse’s brother Torrey (whose basement apartment we’ve been happily renting
for the last 4.75 years), the three of us headed back to Mom and Dad’s house to
find Grandma being recalled by the paramedics, but not willing or able to
return to us.
This Christmas will be a little less bright without Grandma Uhrey, but we
still look forward to the opportunity to spend time with family and to
celebrate the birth of our Savior, who has made it possible for us to have the
opportunity to live with our loved ones in the eternities.
We hope this letter finds all in good health and in good spirits, and we
wish for you a very merry Christmas and a very happy new year. May our Father’s
love abide in your homes and in your hearts as we celebrate the birth of His
Son and our Savior, Jesus Christ.
Lots of love,
Quentin & Sharisse Hendriksen
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