Week 2, day 2 Hey, all A good night! Traffic was a bit tight, but I made it in time to meet up with Jeanna, her recreational therapists, and another patient named Wes. We walked out to a nice little Chinese restaurant! Yes, she walked outside, on a little exterior jaunt for the first time since she had her stroke. She walked well, without any sign of a limp I could see. She could squeeze my hand with her right hand well, too! Her speech is still slurred, but I could understand all she said. There were only two occasions she got frustrated with getting the words out. “slower, honey. Just slow down, and it’ll be fine.” And it was. She was. “They tell me my memories will all come back,” she said, “With at most, 5 percent of my memories gone.” “That’s not bad at all, honey! Look at how much stuff I forget all the time!” She laughed. It’s great that she gets the jokes, and remembers enough that she hasn’t forgotten I’m the Absent Minded Professor at heart, & probably always will be. The restaurant was small, but clean and the service was great. Literally the best Sweet & Sour chicken I’ve ever had....and they even threw on some cashews for me for only a buck extra. ☺ Jeanna looked at the menu, first selecting a dish because it was easier to see, but later settling on string beans and beef. “No chicken, thank you,” Jeanna said. “Most of what they eat at RIO is chicken,” the Rec Therapist said, “so she probably doesn’t want it here.” Jeanna smiled. The food? Great! Jeanna got a bit frustrated trying to cut her meat and beans with her spoon, but she got it eventually. Ben, one of the Rec Therapists, took our picture with my camera/phone, but I found out it doesn’t save automatically. Rats! It got lost. Oh, well! The walk back was fine, and Jeanna (as always!) walked faster than everyone else. The therapists noticed and referenced it. Hee Hee Hee! It’s a little disconcerting, I realized, that Jeanna has such a bond with these folks from working with them so intensely for the past two weeks. Is this what it’s like, I wondered, for others re. their spouse’s workplace? We got to spend some time chatting when we got back. I have a sub tomorrow, but I’ll likely still drop by for mass before I go pick her up tomorrow, and bring her home. Got home at about 7:30; unloaded the wonderful food and other wonderful things from helpful parents. : ) Help with homework, clean the room for when Jeanna comes back so that there’s no chance for her to trip on anything. Little ones having wars with nerf pistols, little 3 year old was asleep (“when?” “Since about 5:45, dad. We tried to wake her up...” oops. She didn’t wake until 9:30) Catholic Media night at the McNichol household. I played them a vid from Christopher Stephanek, asking why God lets us suffer. Then Tim Staples, talking about the Rapture. Thank you, youtube! You are good for something besides movie trailers. : ) Now, putting Shrek on for little Claire. The kids have been good. Hopefully she’ll all asleep soon. : ) youtube/watch?v=gJUJpWI4xDk youtube/watch?v=LgEJS0cf9B4
Posted on: Thu, 16 Jan 2014 06:51:49 +0000