St. Stephen's Day
Dear All,
Happy St. Stephen's Day! We have had a great couple of days for Christmas, and Greg has been going almost non-stop (with a few pauses on the couch). Instead of hearing from me again tonight, Greg's mom, Sharon Johnson, is going to post a guest blog from her perspective. I am sure you will enjoy this-she certainly enjoyed writing it!
Kirstin
****************
After a very late arrival, the night before, we awoke to a frosty french landscape, surrounded by distant mountains. It was the start of a remarkable day-seeing especially what Greg acheived, just one day after his release from the hospital. Being Christmas Eve day, Greg, Frank, and I drove into Tullins to shop for food. Greg sat in the wheelchair while Frank pushed him up and down the hill. After this two hour jaunt, and after a few brief rest stops on the kitchen couch, Greg and Kirstin gave us the tour of their property in the late afternoon-just as the setting sun illuminated the snow tip tops of the Vercours away in the distance. As well as being mindful of Greg walking easily over the uneven ground, I was silently astounded when he jumped up onto a higgledy-piggledy pile of flattened packing boxes. The whole pile looked quite precarious, but Greg held his balance with nary a second glance, it seemed. Later he did admit to thinking twice before he attempting the feat! From that first day home, he's been leaning over, bending, and going up and down the stairs. In fact, on Christmas Evening, he carried down his new keyboard on his own. On Boxing Day, he had his nose on the ground and his butt in the air as he assembled railway tracks from the model train set of some friends we were visiting. These examples show that Greg has regained a very considerable portion of his balancing abilities. No doubt fine tuning remains.
It takes a while to get used to concentrating on the left side of Greg's face to "read" his meaning from his facial clues. On this, our third full day here, the more glaring sense of his right eye has abated somewhat to a more gentle demeanor and we are pretty certain that there has been a small bit of lid movement that we noticed today. These are all very hopeful signs. Both yesterday and today, he has managed to get through each day without any significant rest period, too. I'm sure he will have much to tell you himself before too long. But for now, rest assured that he is making remarkable strides (!!) in his recovery. Each day, however, will bring its own challenges and much remains in the healing and recovery process. He has been sociable, and seems to appreciate the stimulation of our company, while greatly enjoying being in his own home.
Sharon Johnson
Happy St. Stephen's Day! We have had a great couple of days for Christmas, and Greg has been going almost non-stop (with a few pauses on the couch). Instead of hearing from me again tonight, Greg's mom, Sharon Johnson, is going to post a guest blog from her perspective. I am sure you will enjoy this-she certainly enjoyed writing it!
Kirstin
****************
After a very late arrival, the night before, we awoke to a frosty french landscape, surrounded by distant mountains. It was the start of a remarkable day-seeing especially what Greg acheived, just one day after his release from the hospital. Being Christmas Eve day, Greg, Frank, and I drove into Tullins to shop for food. Greg sat in the wheelchair while Frank pushed him up and down the hill. After this two hour jaunt, and after a few brief rest stops on the kitchen couch, Greg and Kirstin gave us the tour of their property in the late afternoon-just as the setting sun illuminated the snow tip tops of the Vercours away in the distance. As well as being mindful of Greg walking easily over the uneven ground, I was silently astounded when he jumped up onto a higgledy-piggledy pile of flattened packing boxes. The whole pile looked quite precarious, but Greg held his balance with nary a second glance, it seemed. Later he did admit to thinking twice before he attempting the feat! From that first day home, he's been leaning over, bending, and going up and down the stairs. In fact, on Christmas Evening, he carried down his new keyboard on his own. On Boxing Day, he had his nose on the ground and his butt in the air as he assembled railway tracks from the model train set of some friends we were visiting. These examples show that Greg has regained a very considerable portion of his balancing abilities. No doubt fine tuning remains.
It takes a while to get used to concentrating on the left side of Greg's face to "read" his meaning from his facial clues. On this, our third full day here, the more glaring sense of his right eye has abated somewhat to a more gentle demeanor and we are pretty certain that there has been a small bit of lid movement that we noticed today. These are all very hopeful signs. Both yesterday and today, he has managed to get through each day without any significant rest period, too. I'm sure he will have much to tell you himself before too long. But for now, rest assured that he is making remarkable strides (!!) in his recovery. Each day, however, will bring its own challenges and much remains in the healing and recovery process. He has been sociable, and seems to appreciate the stimulation of our company, while greatly enjoying being in his own home.
Sharon Johnson
posted by Kirstin Jeffrey Johnson | 9:22 pm
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