Celebrate

We've had a lot to celebrate these past few days. July 1 was our 30th Anniversary. We just enjoyed a quiet day and capped if off with a nice evening walk to check out the construction across the street and then go to hear the thousands of frogs croak near the clubhouse. While there we met one of the first residents of Four Seasons, a lady by the name of Ruth. She was so friendly and positive that when she walked away I could not help but smile. It was one of "those" encounters. She has no idea of the lift she gave me that day. (holidays tend to be somewhat bittersweet at this point)


As I shared in the last post, M is really doing well with his walker. He has already worn the rubber feet right off of it. On the way to the gym yesterday we had to make a U turn and return home about half way up the road. We had nothing but aluminum on concrete and it sounded like fingernails on a chalkboard. We found some tennis balls in the garage and attached those to the bottom (haha) and today he wore those down to a fine piece of rubber. Thanks to Amazon though, we were able to get a quick shipment on some new cool "Ski feet" which hopefully will be a bit more durable.

Today's walk was the longest yet. We went around our small block which is quite up and downhill. We walked about 1/3 of a mile. His gait is getting more consistent and I don't have to give him quite so many verbal cues. Pretty much, "move back over to the right" as he tends to drift left a lot.

We should be resuming professional therapies next week as it appears that finally the paperwork is once again in order. They are going to be surprised by the walker progress he has made since we were there last. He keeps telling me "I'm trying hard." YES he is!!

Over the years, we used to watch a lot of Jeopardy. I asked M a month or so ago if he wanted to watch it and he said no. (I think it was too painful) This evening, however, we turned it on and I was smiling ear to ear when he started giving some answers. (or rather, the questions as is Jeopardy's format) He did not get nearly as many as he used to (he would run categories) but he was getting several of them correct...and pretty quickly too. I was seriously blown away and SUPER excited for him!

Before he went to sleep awhile ago I told him how happy I was of the progress he has made. He said, "I have a long way to go." Yes, he does. But the progress he HAS made since I brought him home 2 months and 1 day ago is remarkable.

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