Sylvia's Journal

After a very long sweep of the most glorious fall days, real fall weather seems to have arrived. It is overcast, windy and rainy. The kind of day that makes you want to stay in bed.

Axel did not have a very good night. When I tried the ‘crawling in the hollow of his arm maneuver’ early in the morning I could tell quickly that no such thing was possible this time. The onward and upward is sometimes interrupted by a standing still, or even a slight downward and backward. This we saw with his eyesight the other day. We try not to be too disappointed. On the other hand, the return of feeling in my heel remains upward and onward. I checked it about 20 times yesterday because the improvement was rather big in a very short time and I could not quite believe it. But it stayed that way and when I set my foot down and the heel touches the ground I feel it, such a novel sensation.

We attended a lovely christening ceremony of grampie Magnuson’s latest great-great-grandchild, Annaleigha Akerley. Sita and Jim joined us for the event at Tucks Point. Below the rotunda, all through the service, three little boys were fishing for crabs with pieces of hotdog tied to packing twine. As far as I know none were caught. It made for nice background noises and fitted the theme the minister had chosen for his words: a happy and safe childhood. After the short service we celebrated the event at Nancy and Ed’s home in West Gloucester with relatives and friends, good food and Stewie, a very stubborn and busy little dachshund.

Axel and I took a ride to Ipswich in the afternoon. We stocked up on fresh apples, honey, cider and pears and expected a quiet evening at home, doing our exercises, eating leftovers and going to bed early. Not quite. Ankie and Emilie called form France just when Gary showed up to select and cook for us some of the abundant mushrooms in our yard (they are all edible he assured us and showed pictures to prove it). To add to the entertainment, my colleague Karen from work arrived to show off her godchild Leilani, accompanied by her proud parents Tiffany, a former colleague and Paolo her husband. The grown ups in this quartet all practice the Brazilian fighting dance Capoeira which I saw once at a dance place at Central Square in Cambridge. Paolo is a teacher and Karen a new student. That would be about the last thing we could imagine doing. Maybe that is why I dreamt about it during the night. The way we are when we wake up, and someone participating in this dance are as far apart on the continuum of flexibility as I imagine possible.

Gary stayed for the dinner that followed the mushroom appetizer. Jim cooked us a spicy beef and veggie curry and Gary donated several ears of fresh corn to cut the chilies. And then all was quiet again.

I am very conscious, this morning, as I write this that exactly 3 months ago we woke up in our hospital beds to this new experience of being alive and survivors of a crash. We woke up to the joy and surprise of many people, including ourselves, but we also to the pains, frustrations and tears of a long and slow recovery. Three months into this recovery our days are starting to be quite normal and the changes from one day to another less spectacular even though they remain remarkable. With a few exceptions, like Axel’s driving, we can do our own daily living again. I am beginning to suspect that there may not be enough material for a daily report. Is it time to close Caringbridge? Pleas let me know.