Paul's Update - 01/14/08

Dear Friends,

Paul continues to improve in his walking. Wow ... it is so wonderful to have hope that someday he may walk normally! Wednesday Dad rode his motorcycle again. It has been so unusually warm and it is a great opportunity to get out.

Thursday he went to therapy. Since the therapist has been gone she wasn’t aware that Paul was walking without his cane. She told Dad that she read the substitute therapist’s notes from last week and saw that she had written “Paul walked without his cane” and she thought it was a misprint ... that she actually meant “with” his cane. She was amazed when she saw him walk. She told Dad that she would never have thought to have him walk without the cane. Isn’t it amazing how much we limit ourselves to what we have ... instead of attempting to get what we WANT! Gradis told us that she would be leaving on Monday (the 14th) for Ghana. She is very worried about her mother but she also found out that her brother had a stroke. She took the day off on Friday to prepare for her trip. Apparently she talked to Dora and found out that Dora isn’t going to be back from Ghana until Thursday the 17th instead of the 9th. That is going to mean we may not have any nurses for the next week!!

My sister Cathy’s retirement ceremony was on Friday morning. Mom & Ann arrived Thursday night to be here for the big day. Ann spent the night at my home and Mom stayed with Cathy. Dad, Paul, Ann & I left Friday morning at 8:00am to go to Falls Church. We needed to be there for the 10:00am ceremony and expected the traffic to be pretty bad. It turned out that we arrived at the Skyline Towers Building about 9:30am and had plenty of time to park and get to the area for the ceremony. After she was properly honored we visited with her friends and coworkers for a bit before heading to Shirlington to the Capitol City Brewery where we were going to have lunch. There was a reception scheduled there at 3pm. Paul used his walker since we had to do so much walking.

Saturday was a busy day. We didn’t do our regular routine but we instead had Max come for the day. Nana & Aunt Ann had an opportunity to visit with him. Carolyn also came with Alysa & Chris. The kids were very cute and we enjoyed spending the day with them. Mom & Ann spent the night at Cathy’s house since they needed to leave on Sunday morning to go home. Cathy’s house is lots closer to I-95 and it saves them about 20 minutes of driving.

Sunday we didn’t have Max since he spent Saturday with us. We had a Sunday School breakfast which Paul enjoyed ... we all did! I had to help with the 11am service since it was United Methodist Women’s Sunday. After the service the ladies had a Tea with a light lunch. It was a good time for Carolyn, Alysa & me to spend with the other ladies at our church.

Monday was “take the tree down” day. Dad & I started first thing while Paul watched us work and clean! I enjoy Christmas but I was very ready to put everything away and get my living room back in order! Since Gradis is gone and Dora hasn’t returned yet we had no nurse for the day. Dad called the nursing agency to find that they were unaware that we had nobody. They said they would try to find someone and get back to us but we haven’t heard anything yet. It was actually kind of nice to have no nurse for the day ... we got a lot done! Paul has been doing more “normal” walking. His walking isn’t consistent but from time to time he walks with a nice stride. He will go to therapy on Tuesday and we will see what the therapist begins to work on now that he is doing even better! What a nice blessing ... and just when he is eligible for more therapy!! We received a notice today that Paul will be eligible for Medicare in May of this year. We actually knew that would be coming but I’m not sure what that is going to mean for the things we are currently getting through Tabby’s insurance and Medicaid. Just when we think we are understanding our life ... another “thing” to deal with!! Oh well ... we can be thankful for the things we have been blessed with too! Oh yeah!!

Have a great day, Lynne & Carl