Just Hanging Out

This weekend marked the one year anniversary of Sam's catastrophic event. I've tried to look at it as just another weekend, but it is a time marker and was certainly an emotional one for me. Sam however has made amazing progress over the last year and I hope and pray that she will continue to do so. I will be moving her tomorrow to a new facility called Northeast Center for Special Care in Kingston, New York. They are supposed to be progressive in their approach to therapy and they focus on healing through the arts. Sam will be kept busy all day and her therapy will be integrated throughout. There is also a beautiful glass enclosed art studio and separate music studio. Art work is up everywhere you look and they call themselves the anti-nursing home. I tired to prepare Sam this weekend for the transition and she seemed to be okay with it. Sam was definitely doing well this weekend, and when I asked her what she wanted to do on Saturday, she just said, "hang out with you." If it wasn't for her repeating the same words over and over again, I would say she is doing well. Over the nine months Sam has been at Park Terrace, I have made some very close friends and connections to people there. It is hard to say good bye to them, since you have such an understanding of what you are each going through, seeing each other care for your loved ones day in and day out and understanding all the set-backs that have occurred for all of us over the course of the nine months. I will be staying in touch with a number of people for whom I've become especially close but it was still hard to pack-up Sam's things tonight and say goodbye. The journey continues.