Hello and thank you for your continued faithful interest in Joy’s healing and recovery, we so appreciate your compassionate concern. The days of our “new normal” continue with therapy sessions, therapy homework, daily household activities, Joy’s knitting, rest breaks, more hand in hand walks, and now… drumroll please… piano! I finally convinced Joy to sit down at the piano and after one childhood song from an early instruction book, she quickly graduated to a hymnal playing both treble and base clef notes like a pro. Of course, she’s not satisfied with the quality, but thankfully, that has prompted her to want to practice, not give up. This is another one of those times when I so wish I could post a video on CaringBridge (for now a photo will have to do).
I mentioned our walks and that has been such a blessing for us. We can easily do over a mile now and so it gives us much more freedom in deciding where and how long we will walk. Today we went for a late morning walk just before Joy’s nap and then this afternoon enjoyed a wonderful time with Alyx, Ethan, and Nova walking the trail of the Maple Grove Arboretum.
While I would say Joy’s ambition and desire to work on her healing stay very strong, she continues to battle tearful times over her troubles with cognition and sight.
It struck me today, how much it must feel like being blind and even deaf at times for Joy, although we are certainly thankful for the sight and hearing that she has. But this morning, I went to ask her a simple question and it was very clear that none of what I said registered at all, it was like she was seeing my lips move and although she was hearing sounds, she was not hearing words that to her were intelligible. Then, she dug out her “grandma muffin” recipe and stared at the page, unable to make out a single word, at which point, again, she grew quiet and tearful. For her it is like being blind because although she sees images on a page, most mean nothing to her.
It is not all without hope, because we do continue to faithfully use the Tactus Aphasia App and certainly some words are starting to be recognized, but as I’ve said before, it is painfully slow and my dear bride is a high achiever, she doesn’t like slow. We also continue to be very thankful for Joy’s physical gains and stamina which as noted above, allow for much appreciated walks enjoying the beauty of nature.
Continued prayers for healing and gains in Joy’s cognition and sight are so appreciated and needed. Joy functions amazingly well despite her cognitive and sight challenges, but it is exhausting for her, even when things are going well, and I think that exhaustion also plays into the times of tearful frustration. When we both take the time to reflect on how far Joy has come, words cannot express how thankful we are for God’s grace and mercy on our journey and for all of you who follow so faithfully. We continue to covet your prayers and heartfelt concern and thank you so much for sticking with us. We hope you all enjoy a wonderful holiday weekend.
