Good evening and thank you for your faithful attention to following Joy’s journey, praying for her healing, and supporting our family.
Being home has been marvelous and Joy continues to exclaim, “this is wonderful, this is wonderful.” Things are really going very well here with much of our life seeming almost normal. Joy has mastered the stairs very well, multiple times a day. We’ve been through all parts of the house exploring and familiarizing. Sleep and nights are going well, meals are going well, showering and self-care is going well. And Joy continues to enjoy her Sudoko puzzles. We did three loads of laundry yesterday with me at the washer and dryer and Joy doing all the folding while sitting on the couch in the loft - she does a much better job with the folding than I ever could. 🥰❤️🩹 Then, last evening, Joy had a profound time of sadness when she had hoped, based on how well she was doing with her Sudoku, that she may be able to write some notes to her friends, unfortunately that did not go well and that was very discouraging for her with her sharing some of the most despondent words I have heard her say. However, last night was restful and peaceful and this morning Joy was she feeling better.
Today we did more exercise/rehab homework, house organizing, and laundry, when you’ve been absent from your home for two months, things tend to pile up. After lunch and a nap for Joy, Alyx and Ethan came to visit with the goal of trying knitting with her. Alyx brought Joy another beautiful hat they had completed for her, along with some heavier weight yarn and some larger knitting needles. Alyx was going to “cast on” a number of stitches for Joy (apparently the hardest part) and then see how she would do, but after Alyx did just two stitches, Joy said, “Can I do that?” and took over “casting on” herself, doing it flawlessly with very even and consistent stitches! And now she’s off to the knitting races. ❤️ She is so excited to have the ability to do something she loves so much and has made great progress since getting started.
This evening our prayers requests remain the same. Healing for her language center, healing for sight (Joy can currently see out of one eye at a time, but not both at the same time, so while she is able to “see” to knit and do Sudoko, see is doing those with one eye blocked), and healing of her emotions as she faces her current realities. We cannot thank you enough, but please know your prayers and compassionate concern sustain us and give us courage and hope for tomorrow.
