Tomorrow's the day

Hi Friends,

Today was good, but full of anxiety for poor mom...she is very nervous about her big move to the new place tomorrow, and nothing I say to her can truly alleviate this anxiety. She is very sad to be leaving all her friends she's made at St. Joe's...particularly her therapists who have been so instrumental in her continued recovery. She has truly enjoyed meeting and working with them, as have I. Once again, we have to get used to a new staff and new rules and ways of doing things, and I know that everything will be fine. However, that doesn't make change any easier, and it will just take a little time to become familiar and comfortable with everything. The timing is somewhat unfortunate with Christmas coming up right after the weekend...but I'm hoping that by that time she'll have settled in a bit, and perhaps they'll let us check her out for at least a little bit on the holiday. If not, I'll just bring Christmas to her, though...as long as we spend it together we'll do our best to make it special and continue some of our traditions.

Pam spent most of the afternoon with us, and attended a holiday party at St. Joe's with mom...I missed it because I had an appointment this afternoon with my psychologist, but they had a good time...there was live music and treats and it sounded like lots of fun. Mom got a new roommate today...let's just say it's a good thing she's leaving tomorrow, because this woman is very loud and a little obnoxious as are her family members...so much so in fact that mom decided she was going to complain to the nurse about her, and she did! Now that's showing some spunk!! She would never have thought to do that before...she was so passive and let everything happen without protest, but this is a return of her old, opinionated self!!! I'm so pleased!!! She's really starting to speak up for herself, which is just absolutely fantastic. Yay! :)

This evening, mom played the piano beautifully (she actually played a whole song, "Jingle Bells," with both the top and the bottom parts, and used the foot pedal too!!! Talk about coordination!), and ate dinner in the dining room (we spent a lot of time out of the room because of the new roommate). We walked around a bunch, she chatted with one of the patients with whom she has made friends, and we had a nice time. Just as Pam and I were leaving to go eat dinner, mom's boss and friend, Pat, arrived for a visit, and of course brought beautiful flowers as always. He always has perfect timing with those flowers, because the ones she has in her room now are just past their prime. :) So we left them to have a little visit, and I'm sure they had a wonderful chat.

So, tomorrow's the big day...yet another on our journey. I'll of course update you tomorrow evening on how everything goes...please wish us well for a smooth transition. Hope you are all well...thank you as always for your continued support and love. Peace.