Flushing Meadows, Here We Come!

My last post was on St Patrick's Day! I have no idea where to begin bringing everyone up to date so I won't. The past six weeks have been filled with hard work and plenty of fun.

MaryEleanor has "graduated" from home health physical therapy as they believe they have done everything they can do. We hope to start outpatient rehab soon along with some pool therapy with Tom Kelleher. He's been working with ME two times a week for a year!

ME has established a goal/reward for herself/us. Our plan is to go to the US Open over Labor Day weekend. We are going with our close friends, Nan and Tony Menke. Tony has been intimately involved with the USTA for many years. ME and I will enjoy some perks over the weekend that only a few can experience. We are jazzed and honored. The trip will include a short Amtrak ride north to see my folks in RI. We haven't seen them for two years....long overdue.

In order to make this happen, ME needs to accomplish many short term milestones. These have been established and posted on the wall in her room. Each goal has a "sticker" associated with it. Along side the goal sheet is a large calendar. Each day, ME has to earn stickers. The more she earns, the closer she gets to achieving the goals.

We are heading to Lewiston, ID over Memorial Day weekend for our nephew's high school graduation. ME will need to feel comfortable sleeping in a regular bed. She's been working on this by sleeping in our bed on weekends. So far so good. The following week we pop over to Seattle for Caitlin's "white coat" ceremony at the UW school of medicine. We plan to stay for a couple of days. ME wants to meet the people at inpatient rehab who helped launch her recovery. She left there on December 10, 2008 on a stretcher. She plans walk back in and strut her stuff.

MaryEleanor and I get out a lot on weekends. Since we no longer need the sliding board, running errands or joining friends for lunch or dinner is a piece of cake. With ME's ability to handle a few stairs, a few more roadblocks have been removed. We enjoyed a fun evening last night at the tennis club at the annual crab feed.

Lemaster Daniels invited us to their "end of tax season" party. It was great to catch up with ME's co-workers. It was very special for the partners to have us there. MaryEleanor wants to maintain that relationship because you never know............

So, if I still have your attention, we've come a long way. Things are happening at a quicker pace. Goals have been set. A reward has been identified. We're trackin'.

Happy Mother's Day!