Thanksgiving Day

Dear Family and Friends,

Thanksgiving day was a very quiet and uneventful day.

I am very thankful that we are all safe and sound. Warren spent his thanksgiving  with Grandma in Florida. Howie came home and was able to spend sometime with his mom. Howie got stuck in bad traffic on his way back to Birmingham, But  is safely back in his dorm. Warren is also safely back in NYC. 

I spent my entire day with the love of my life, my Miriam. What a blessing to see her and be with her. I talked to her and prayed with her. I continue to encourage her and try my best to lift her spirit. I always give her lots of hugs and kisses. Around 6pm, Howie and I had Thanksgiving Day dinner with Jason, Susan, Amanda and Justin. Susan has been visiting Miriam frequently and so has Vilma. Miriam has so many friends who love her and pray for her. Thank you all very much. I know Miriam would love to thank all of you personally but she remains unable to. Please take many rain checks from her. She loves all of you very much and she is trying her best to recover. 

The day prior, a dear friend from Costco came to visit Miriam with her two children. Susan was here and said Miriam tried to talk to her. As her friend said a special prayer for her, Miriam became very emotional. I am quite certain Miriam was trying to thank her and probably wanted to give her a hug. She couldn't. 

Below are some notes left in her guestbook written on 11/25/2011:

1.  Miriam, I love you very much! I pray for you often. I cannot wait until we can go to Big Rosie's again for lunch - just us 2! I have hope and faith that God delivers miracles. You, dear, are truly a lovely woman. I actually found some early photos of you and your boys with us from many years ago that I will bring! I hope it cheers you up! God bless you.   N.

2.  Miriam! I'm so glad that I got to visit you before I go back to college. I have faith and hope that you will pull through this. You are such a beautiful, kind, caring woman, and you will be in my prayers. I will always remember that time you and your family were so warm to invite me, my mother, my dad and "C" to your beautiful house in Hampton Cove. I still have pictures for memories. May God bless you.  J.

3.  Hello Miriam. I'm so glad I could come and visit you today! I have so many wonderful memories of the time you had my mother, father, "J", and I over for a dinner at your home. When I think of you, I see a strong, beautiful, loving mother, friend and woman. I pray for you and a successful recovery. I remember I ran into you and your sweet mother at Stein Mart before Christmas last year and I still remember the warm and sweet comfort you embraced me with. I will come back and visit. May God bless you always. I love you very much.  "C".

4. Miriam, my mom and I came to visit you today while I'm visiting for Thanksgiving. It was so good to see you again. I have fond memories of going out for lunch together and catching up. You always brightened my day. I remember the last time we went to lunch and you told me that it's important that the guy I date treats me like a princess. The guy I was dating then was not like that and we broke up shortly thereafter and I have since found a wonderful guy who really does treat me like a princess and makes me very happy. Thank  you for the good advice!.  love, "C".

Skype has been a tremendous blessing to us. We are able to group Skype video so Miriam is getting auditory and visual stimulations. 

The mild increase in Baclofen  has also improved her muscle tones in her lower extremities. This is according to her occupational therapist's opinion. She should know since she has been taking care of her since March of this year.

Thank you prayer warriors. We continue to wait for Miriam's functional recovery.

In His Time,

Dad/Alex

10 Months since Jan 4th

Dear Family and Friends,

 Miriam is being transitioned to maintenance therapy i.e. OT and PT are being handed over to the Restorative CNAs. Without progress in PT and OT, they feel it is unethical for them to continue. So this past week, I have been observing the director of OT  training the Restorative CNAs. It has been a learning experience for me too. I took some video recording for family to learn how to take care of her.

When mom and Doris were here last week, Miriam   attempted to laugh at funny stories and Skype conversations. She did that 3 days in a row. As a reminder to all of us and her visitors, Miriam hears and understands our conversation. Talk to her and keep encouraging her. Keep her updated on your family. She remembers all of you. Don't be discouraged when she attempts to make some sounds. One day, God will restore her speech.

Keep on praying and believing. Mark 11:24  Jesus speaking:  " Therefore I tell you,whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it and it will be yours."

In His Time,

Dad Alex

A Rainbow- God's Promises

Mike received news of how A.Miriam was laughing yesterday , this is his response:-

Amazing, just amazing! Yesterday Nikki snapped this photo of a rainbow. The quality of the photo doesn't do it justice. Following a massive downpour of wind and rain, this rainbow stretched out across the sky and captivated everyone's attention. I immediately thought of God's promise to Noah, and how he is always faithful to deliver on those promises. I began to go thru all the promises that our CREATOR made to us- it's really interesting to think that the God of the Universe made so many promises to us and it is comforting to know that he ALWAYS follows thru. 

Take a minute to look at all the promises. This website lists just a few and has a nice song to help reinforce that. Promises of God

Auntie Miriam- we are so happy to see you smiling and laughing, we continue to pray for you everyday!! :)

Uncle Alex- we are always praying!

Mike, Nikki, Allie