Thursday, April 30, 2009 @ 2:26pm

We've passed the 6 month mark, yeah!! April 28th was the 6 month mark and we can see how far JoLinda has come in that amount of time. Today she finished her last therapy. At least as far as we know. She is so glad! I don't think she will ever want to go into another hospital again. Her new medicine is finally starting to work. She hasn't argued with me or anyone else for a couple of days. It has been really nice. She has a big test she has to take soon, and I can't wait to get the results back on that. Hopefully, it will give us more insight on her condition and future. She is still going with me on all my Real Estate 'duties' and I think she enjoys it. JoLinda has always liked being busy. I have also noticed that her hair is getting a lot longer. Before the accident she was trying to grow it out and so I have been very careful on any trimming. It is just starting to look long. JoLinda has even started reading again. She has always loved to read. She just finished Harry Potter(the first one) and is now reading the second - again.

The next six months I am really going to focus on helping her become more independent by being able to have her write and keep a planner, taking her meds on her own, shopping without me being next to her, and on her memory. Hopefully, getting her volunteering, of course, under supervision. Well, I hope everyone is doing well, and WE would love to hear from you. Thanks so much, Laurie

Wed. April 22, 2009 @7:31am

JoLinda is 22 years old today! She is so excited it's her birthday. She said last night, it will be the first birthday she will remember.

JoLinda is doing well, just getting over a cold. She is getting stronger all the time. We go for a couple of walks a day, and she is keeping a good pace, and is able to go 30 on one and 20 minutes on the other. Her Doctor appt. was yesterday. She was taken off of one medicine and started on two new medicines. We will see how those go and she see's the Doctor again in two weeks. She thought JoLinda looked really good, but still concerned about her anger outbursts, and not being able to get along with others.

The Doctor also had to remind me that this could all be permenant. That I needed to let go of my expectations for her. That is hard to do, when I want my daughter to be able to go to College, work, get married and have child, and live independently. I have to keep working toward that goal and the Doctor wants me too, but just be patient and see where JoLinda is able to get to.

Summer is coming, the boys will be out of school, and that means more people to be around JoLinda all day long. That concerns me greatly. I hope they will all get along. Otherwise it will be a long summer.

Well, I hope everyone is doing well. It was so good to hear from you who are still commenting on this blog. I hope Brady is still improving and doing well. Please let me know. I still pray for him and your family. I am glad to hear Curtis is doing well.

Thanks to everyone for their prayers in our behalf. JoLinda says Hi! I will write again soon. Love, Laurie

Monday, April 13, 2209 @7:39am

Happy Easter to everyone! I hope everyone had a great one. We did. JoLinda even had a basket and got to look for eggs. She enjoyed every minute of it, as did her brothers. She was able to make it to all three meetings at church also, without even a thought of going home earlier. She has talked quite a bit about having missed the past few weeks because of spring break, and going out of town. It was good to go again. I believe she is continueing to get some memory back. Not with what she is saying, but in actions that she is showing. I am still trying to get her more independent with each passing day. She was able to take a list to the store and shop without my help the other day. I just sat at the front of the store waiting for her and being there if she needed help. She even paid!(My money of course) She has picked up another chore at home and is even getting a better attitude. Matter of fact, she laughed all weekend. It is a nice change. Anyway, hoping to continue with her progress and with her birthday coming up, it would be nice if she will remember it. The sixth month mark is right around the corner on April 28th and I'm excited to get there. Hope all is well with everyone. Love ya, Laurie

Wed. April 8, 2009 @7:52am

Time sure seems to go by fast right now. We are really busy at work with our Real Estate business. School is also winding down and so Jovi and Beau have a lot going on trying to finish up, with Field trips, Field days, Band concerts and Choir Performances. All in all, it makes for a busy April and May. Maybe a vacation will be at the end.

JoLinda is doing well. She is getting tired of thearpy, which I imagine is very normal. We are trying to walk 3 times a day and adding as much jogging in as we can. She has a hard time keeping up with my walk, but can clearly beat me in running. She is doing a lot of cooking still and still fighting me on other chores in the house. Her attitude is still terrible, and hopefully will change soon or drive us all crazy. I am still trying to sociallize her. She has a hard time thinking of things to say to others, especially appropriate things. We decided last night(JoLinda and I) to push the planner idea and see if it doesn't help her do things more independantly. I'm hoping it works.

We are all hanging in there and appreciate all you do. Thanks, Laurie