Stroke recovery: Christmas pleasures and pain

A happy Christmas Eve present

Walt, our oldest son, celebrated birthday Number 41 today. What a special gift! Happy Birthday, Walt.

Christmas blues

Husband Walter has been under the weather since Friday. We made a late night visit to the ER. Saturday and Sunday he had no interest in food, not even a nibble, but I am thankful that he seems to be feeling better today.

He ate a bit of chicken noodle soup and a few crackers. That was my go to medicine in a Campbell’s can when I was a child. I hope he derived as much comfort from that soup as I used to.

He felt well enough to take me to therapy this morning and follow that short trip with longer last-minute forays to finish Christmas shopping. We both followed up on that excursion with collapse and naps.

Blogging break

We will be spending time with family members who are traveling to visit during this season. I am looking forward to the visits of our sons and their families and my brother and his family from Virginia.

I am not looking forward to being without my laptop. It seems the graphics card is in a not-so-slow-decline. I have backed up everything except my draft of this post. My beloved MacBook Pro will travel back to Baton Rouge with youngest son Jeremy. He will deliver it to the Apple Store for shipping to the Apple docs.

He is no stranger to the personnel there, and I am confident the laptop is in good hands. But blogging will be seldom to not at all until the patient is returned to my care in what I hope is a healthy condition.

Therapy has resumed

I have been approved for 15 more sessions with my occupational therapist at the neuro rehab center. I went through the evaluation routine Thursday Dec. 13 and had my first session Monday, Dec. 17.

It felt great to be back working with my creative therapist. Joared, a blogger friend who has professional experience in the therapy field, articulated precisely what I felt during my Monday session.

Her whole comment was informative, but here is her observation that summed up my return to therapy:

“Sure, your daily activities benefit you, but understand how you feel most positively about the concentrated structure and supervision of actual therapy sessions.”

Joared is a speech therapist and her comments on my posts often contain nuggets of practical advice. Although I often want to join in the commenting conversation following some of her posts, I have had no success signing in to comment on her blog Along the Way.

Hers is not the only blog where I am unable to comment. I have yet to find what the difference is between Blogger blogs where I can comment and those where I cannot. 

Dec. 3, I acted on a fellow blogger’s suggestion to change my settings on who could comment. As of Dec. 3 none of those auto-generated messages has shown up in the spam folder, but I wonder if any real people are having problems commenting. If you are, please email me.

Celebrating

Our kids and grands will be arriving the day after Christmas, and the parents are helping with what promises to be a simplified Christmas meal this year. It makes me happy that they are creating the tradition of celebrating Christmas morning at home with their offspring.  

Their day-after schedule will also give me a bit more opportunity to finish wrapping, bagging and tagging gifts. I know kids of all ages like ripping into wrapped presents. But wherever bagging works, that is how I will be finishing up. One-handed wrapping is frustrating. If I were not so last minute, I probably could have used some of the new products to make the process more doable.

At least one ability has not been affected by my stroke. As I bag or wrap the remaining gifts for my family, I can still pray for each one and enjoy thinking about the love and joy each one brings into my life.

And that is a gift too big to be wrapped or bagged.

May your Christmas be filled with love and joy.

‘Tis the season

In the prescribed position of hands clasped and eyes on the music teacher, Molly Kate, second from right, stands ready to sing.

Husband Walter and I spent most of Wednesday on the road to and from Baton Rouge to attend granddaughter Molly Kate’s preschool Christmas program at St. Andrews Methodist Church.

All of the little participants wore their Christmas pajamas for the presentation “Twas the Night Before Christmas.” Each class also wore a different style holiday head gear.

Molly Kate takes school extra seriously. Even when her class was awaiting their second march to the stage, she kept her hands clasped and lips firmly sealed.

Molly Kate is all business.

She did smile a bit as her class was ready to return to the classroom and the anticipated Christmas party.

But she almost immediately clasped those hands together again.

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Waiting for the doors to open and for the program to begin, we also enjoyed our two-year-old grandson Walker. Both maternal and paternal grandparents are interested to see how this little one will adapt to life in a preschool classroom next year.

Walker visits with Baboo and Nana.

Our daughter-in-law Katie’s family calls Walker "Jeremy Junior," because his personality as well as his appearance are much like his dad’s. As a child, Jeremy considered rules mere suggestions. He was creative about stretching rules as far as possible without technically breaking them. 

Jeremy and Katie have some fun days ahead of them.

 *   *   *   *   *

Yesterday was cold. I stayed inside and recuperated from Wednesday’s trip. I had already made my Christmas list, but I did check it twice to determine what gifts we still needed and what bastions of commerce we should breach to acquire them. I just assumed that no one was naughty, that all were nice this year.

Baboo to the rescue

Husband Walter was definitely on the “nice” side of the ledger, stepping up, or in this case, kneeling down to wrap and bag the gifts already in our possession.

Here it is Dec. 21, and we have a few more purchases to make. We have had several deliveries today from my online shopping. I hope the rest arrive in time. 

I guess it’s a tradition, always last minute.

A weekend jaunt

Lights of a small-town celebration 

Husband Walter surprised me with a pleasurable fix for my addiction to Christmas lights this weekend. Friday he advised me to pack for an overnight stay.

Saturday morning we set out early with the destination still a mystery to me. We wound up in Canton, Mississippi, a small town about 20 miles north of Jackson, Mississippi, our state’s capital city.

The historic town square was charming. The old courthouse held pride of place in the center, and merchants had their store fronts dressed for the season.

We have seen so many towns in our state that have fallen on hard times. Their old town squares are dominated by decaying, empty, boarded up buildings. Some have attempted revitalization through demolishing original structures and replacing them with buildings that are graceless boxes.

Although there were some For Sale signs up, Canton has avoided both those extremes. We enjoyed a stroll around the square with peeks into shops and a few eateries. We also stopped into the Welcome Center, where I was delighted to see a Christmas tree with Victorian-looking ornaments and an antique sleigh that took up half of the premises.

We were back for an evening in the square after lunch, check-in at our motel, and a needed rest.  We had learned that a dedicated group of volunteers start “dressing” the square and setting up animated indoor tableaus in September to prepare for the Nov. 23-Dec.23 Christmas festival.

Saturday night the square was filled with families with small children, couples and young people. All were vocal and obvious in their enjoyment and appreciation of the wonderland environment the volunteers had created. People of all ages were taking rides around the square. They kept the little “train,” a trolley, and two antique buggies pulled by real horse-power busy.

In the midst of tragic events that have dominated our thoughts and prayers in the past few days, I find hope in people of good will who have worked so hard to bring moments of innocent enjoyment to others and a sense of unity to their community.

Husband Walter’s photo of a family entering the square’s homespun wonderland.

Holiday road trip

After a spell of being out of pocket and without easy access to my computer, Husband Walter and I are back home. Our Dec. 4-Dec. 11 trip covered lots of territory, both geographically and emotionally. Here’s a sample:

Destination: Family

A happy reunion with Grandma Sugar, center, O'Neil and Sue, right, and their sons Matt and John, left.

The purpose of our jaunt was to take my mother-in-law Grandma Sugar to visit Sue, her youngest sister, at her home in Kentucky.

Hubby and his Aunt Sue were born only a few months apart. Next-door neighbors, theirs was a brother-sister relationship. Sue is energetic, caring and has a wonderful, infectious sense of humor.

We requested that Sue and her husband make no plans for entertaining us. We just wanted to “visit” during our three-night stay. And visit we did.  

We caught up with this special couple, their grown sons, their sons wives and children, plus a couple of friends and neighbors who had traveled with Sue on earlier visits to Grandma Sugar. 

We headed home several pounds heavier but with light- and laughter-filled spirits.

Fantasy in Lights

Our trip’s first stop on the way to our Kentucky visit was for the Christmas Fantasy in Lights at Callaway Garden and Resort in Pine Mountain, Georgia.

The annual holiday lighting extravaganza is just one of the attractions of the 14,000-acre gardens and resort that is nestled in the Appalachian foothills.

Our tour of the garden’s annual Christmas lighting display was the third for Hubby and me and the first for Grandma Sugar. She rated it nice but not in the same league with Bellingrath Gardens near Mobile, Alabama. I think one difference is that visitors walk through the Bellingrath display. I assume most visitors view Callaway Garden’s light displays from private vehicle or from the Garden’s trolleys.

The exception is a March of Dimes walking tour. That colorful hike in 2008 was my first experience with Fantasy in Lights. The one-night-only fundraiser evidently was an annual holiday tradition among many Georgia families. The festive crowd included adults, babies in strollers, kids in wagons, family members in wheelchairs.

The light displays had not changed much this year, but for me there was a bit more magic at work when we walked the route surrounded by the whimsical plants, animals, toys, fairies and elves, all created in colored lights. Whether Callaway, Bellingrath or someone’s front lawn, I do enjoy Christmas lights.

Click for earlier posts on our 2009 Christmas light experiences at

Bellingrath Gardens, and

Callaway Gardens. Photo by Walter Skupien

Click on photos to enlarge.

Charlie’s smile changes

Charlie flashes a new smile.

Our second day on the road was spent with our oldest son and his family.

We arrived at the Georgia Skupiens’ home Wednesday in time to join the audience as granddaughter Charlie, six, arrived home from school. She regaled us with the saga of her first loss of a baby tooth.

The tooth ready for nighttime pickup

Charlie tucked the tooth in a special little box, and was happy and excited about an anticipated visit from the tooth fairy. The next morning, however, Charlie’s woebegone face clued us in that something was amiss.

The tooth was missing from the little box that Charlie had stashed under her pillow, but the tooth fairy had left nothing behind. Daughter-in-law Sarah consoled a distraught and gap-toothed daughter. Sarah finally hit on a solution that Charlie embraced.

Charlie would write a letter to the Tooth Fairy alerting that dental emissary of the malfunction in the pickup and delivery process. Charlie loves writing and sending letters which she illustrates with abundant drawings. Her tooth was lost. But it will not be forgotten. And I am eagerly waiting to hear the rest of the story.

In the Smoky Mountains

We spent two nights in Gatlinburg, Tennessee. Our itinerary included attending that mountain city’s annual Christmas parade. There was the traditional Santa Claus, marching bands, floats and assorted princesses and beauty queens. But other parade units surprised me. I had never seen so many fire trucks together in a single parade, all with sirens full blast.

And those Tennessee folks do love their cars. There was a Ford Mustang group, a group of ancient antique cars, vehicles from the 1980s TV series Dukes of Hazzard and even a string of those diminutive Smart cars sporting either elf ears or reindeer antlers and a Rudolph red nose.

The most unusual unit, though, was an auto extravagantly decorated with Christmas lights. Husband Walter posted here about the parade, including his video of that vehicle bedecked with lights.

Pleasures and pains

Happy visit

A quiet Walker plays with battery operated “bugs.”

Our youngest son and youngest grandchild presented husband Walter and me with the happy gift of an overnight visit this week. Two-year-old grandson Walker and his dad Jeremy made a quick trip from Louisiana the same day that Walker’s sister, mom and maternal grandmother left for a girls’ only jaunt to New York City.

Walker was happy to have the undivided attention of Baboo and Nana. We were more than happy to provide that attention, and there were also cherished moments with son Jeremy.

During the night, Walker woke up with upset stomach and was still not quite as active as usual early the next morning. When this child is still enough for me to easily snap a picture, it is obvious he is not feeling 100 percent. Eventually he perked up, and his trademark grin made appearances.

During his dad’s mid-morning preparations for the return to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Walker asked for “Mama” but accepted Jeremy’s reminder that Mama and Molly Kate were on the airplane to New York. 

When it came time for dressing and getting his shoes on, Walker grew quiet again and offered the opinion that he wanted to stay at “Baboo and Nana’s house.” Of course, that did our hearts good.

Walker and Dad Jeremy

As our son outfitted Walker, we got a chuckle from the clothing in blue and red worn in conjunction with the purple and gold trim on his toddler-sized “LSU shoes.”

Red and blue are the colors of the University of Mississippi, the alma mater of Walker’s parents. Their Louisiana friends and relatives are die-hard Louisiana State University fans and keep Walker and Molly Kate supplied with purple and gold attire.

Jeremy, daughter-in-law Katie and kids enjoy tailgating at LSU games with Katie’s extended family, but Katie makes sure the kids and she and Jeremy don red and blue whenever LSU plays the Ole Miss Rebels.

 * * *

A break in therapy

A mid-week call from Ocean Springs Neuro Rehab cancelled my appointment for the day and alerted me that my sessions through Medicare had run out. I hope I will be back in therapy in the new year. In the meantime I am finding it difficult to keep up with all my at home exercises when we are traveling and having overnight visitors.

But both travels and visitors provide pleasure and huge doses of good medicine. I am hoping that lifting little ones into my lap, playing with them and attempting modest contributions to household tasks associated with preparing for houseguests will compensate for my missing exercises.

Such activities will still help strengthen and reeducate some of the same stroke-affected muscles, brain cells and nerves that my exercises target. That is my theory anyway.

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In the land of Spamalot

Since I took word verification off this blog, the automated commenting has hit again. I am thankful that Blogger’s spam filter has kept all but one of those comments from appearing as a comment on my blog. That is pretty impressive considering the deluge, close to 200 by midmorning today and 2,286 since I took word verification off on Nov. 27.