5:23am - My hopes and spirits are high this morning. Last night, I got a call from my sister Betty around 11pm saying that Eric opened his eyes. Betty said that she was talking to him telling him how handsome he looks and that the mustache he's growing (since he's been in the hospital) makes him very attractive and something about California when he suddenly opened his eyes. His mother saw this and they called for the nurse. The nurse asked them to tell Eric to close his eyes (to see if he's capable of understanding), his mother asked him to close his eyes, which Eric did and opened them again. His mother accidentally moved her hand across his face and he reacted by flinching. Eric closed his eyes as this seemed to take too much out of him.

Betty has been able to get him to respond to her voice and open one or both eyes for a very short time since. For those of you that don't know Betty, you definitely can tell when Betty is in the room. Her voice is crisp, clear and loud but yet gentle and sweet. Eric seems to respond to Betty when she is talking about California or when she is telling him how cute he is.

I have been with him all night and anxious to see those beautiful eyes however; I'm giving him time to rest and have not tried to bother him. I will wait until the nurses are done giving him a bath and try to talk to him again (if they have not tired him too much).

I know this is not much and many are dismissing this, yet, I know in my heart that this is the beginning of his healing process and God's sign and response to all our prayers.

Thank you God and all of you for your caring, good thoughts and prayers and please keep the prayers going. I will update this again later today.