Sylvia's Journal

We’ve come along way in one month, two of us at home and Axel walking with a cane and needing less and less professional help. I find that the further we move away from the moment of the crash, the further I can start to look in the future. I remember the first few days I could only consider the coming night or, if I stretched, the next day. When I got home I could only consider the next week, then Axel’s homecoming and now I can start to contemplate September. I suppose this is a good thing, and a sign of returning to normalcy, something we all want to happen, sooner, rather than later.

This notion of living in the moment was very appealing to me a couple of weeks ago but it is less so now. It is a childlike sort of living, where you don’t need to worry about anything because others are taking care of that. When Joe was still here I remember him saying, each time I worried about something to get back to focus on my body’s healing, and that the Lobster Cove Calamity Management team (LoCoCalMan) would take care of the rest. It has indeed done that and I can’t begin to express my thanks to everyone who took part in this effort and played a role in managing our complicated household.

The girls went to bed very late as Steve is preparing his departure for Canada and is starting to say goodbye to his friends. They do that on the beach around a campfire and by staying up very late. It is always a surprise who will descend the stairs in the morning.

While everyone was sound asleep and after nurse Tessa set me up with breakfast, book, pills, computer and phone, I settled into my quiet morning routine of idleness which was pleasantly interrupted by Cynthia from North Shore Friends Meeting who came by for a chat, brought strawberries and wheeled me outside over the new ramp into a glorious Lobster Cove morning.

About 1 PM the house started to wake up and Steve and Barbara showed up, followed shortly by Jim’s mom Helen and Ed. Steve and Barbara took me to Salem and we had a nice time sitting on the deck with Axel who is starting to outgrow Salem and its various routines and eternal background busyness. He is more than ready to come home. On the way home Steve and Barbara bought me a small icecream cone which turned out to be about a pint (I should have asked for half a kiddie cone) and I managed to eat the whole darn thing during the remaining drive. That should put some weight back on me. It became my dinner and was supplemented with some chips and a green pepper from the garden.

As usual, I was exhausted from the trip and went to bed about 6:30 PM. I was happy to read caringbridge guestbook messages from Edith (sorry you could not make it here) and from my nephew Steve. I enjoy these so much and can’t wait to read them together with Axel.