A friend found my LDS Living Article online here:
http://ldsliving.com/story/74951-sticking-together-one-couples-amazing-love-story

It has a few differences: different title, & less pictures, but has the video I have on YouTube. However, both say the stroke occurred in Texas, but I want everyone to know it occurred in Indianapolis, Indiana. I lived my 1st, & hardest, post-stroke year there, & had so much love & support from my friends there! In fact, the video at the end of the article was made by my wonderful husband, for these friends, & some of them are seen in it!

Another friend posted this on Facebook, & said to listen to it, not to read it:

http://www.npr.org/2014/02/07/273046318/henry-and-jane

It is about another couple like us, only just in reverse (the husband had the stroke) , so it was like déjà vu in some things-like the way he talks & laughs & says how his wife is the true hero -yet it was also interesting to be the outsider looking in, & to hear what others hear when I talk!

An update on my speech:

I’m not sure why it affects me, but if I’m tired/feeling lazy or feeling bad, mad, or sad, I don’t feel like I can talk around the person that is affecting me (maybe I don’t want to put forth the effort to talk, & just want to be done with it, versus repeating again & again, until I’m understood), so I sign! I have friends who want to learn ASL, but i won’t let them, & I enjoy visits where I try to just talk for 30 min.-1 hr. My goal is to only talk, but if I’m home, though I’m too chicken 2 actually do it all the time, cuz i get tired! it’s also hard to start, after i’ve been quiet (I often need 2 clear my throat, but I can’t), but once i get going, i’m good!

It’s been a rough week, & I needed to know God was still there…not that I thought he left, but like any child who needs a hug from their dad…I got what I needed:

for 10 years, i’ve been like a ragdoll, & i finally have a new trick: while seated (w/only back support), i pull myself forward 45 degrees, held it for a bit, then let go of the grab bar, & briefly balanced myself! Sometimes I can lean forward more, or sit back up, with no hands! I believe horseback riding has contributed a lot to strengthening my core!

Then today I found this on my brainstem stroke group on facebook, from Carol Dawson:
“My beautiful daughter Rachel has locked in since last May but is fighting her way out! I told her the first week that she has lots of people that love her, the medics are doing all they can to help, BUT that YOU are the only one in there with your body and can tell year body to heal itself, I know how strong and determined you are, so I want you to GET BOSSY with your body and keep telling it to repair pathways or build new ones! She raised her eyes to say “Yes” and has been amazing everyone ever since with her progress :)”

Everything I have comes from God, & I’m so thankful! I have been so blessed w/so much love from family & friends too, & am so grateful for that! I am also grateful to be able to have the means to afford the therapy I need!

I know people compare their lives sometimes to rollercoasters. Lately, my life has not only been like a rollarcoaster, but DisneyWorld has a ride called ” The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh” that my life seems to literally & figuratively be like the Winnie the Pooh ride, where guests ride in “spinnable” honey pots through what was conceptualized as the best scenes from the three Winnie the Pooh featurettes, & the tracks take you on a wild ride, turning & twisting, banging into doors & walls, etc.

maya & dima came Thursday night, 12/19. maya is staying at our home, & doing a fabulous job at learning 2 languages (english & “jenny-ese”)! dima i hardly ever see–he’s staying w/some neighbors.

I keep a practice log for music therapy, & thought I’d share these notes from it:

Friday, 12/20–Our 1st full day w/Maya (our Ukranian visitor who barely speaks English)—both of us seem to have improved w/our English skills, & she seems to understand me!

Mon., 12/23— Today was the 1st day I had to use google translate w/Maya

Christmas Eve, I saw a friend who hasn’t seen me in a year. Last time she saw me, I could vocalize & say things like “ah”, but that was it. That particular day was a very good speaking day, so I’d answer her questions w/words & short sentences. She did quite well at understanding me, & was almost in tears that we were TALKING, & loved telling people, “did u know she can talk?!?”

this month, we celebrated the birth of Christ. Why is that birth so important? the answer is in John 3: 16, which says: For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

Recently (ironically on Christmas Morning), I had an experience that had me marvel at the Christlike behavior I saw, & I thought: did Christ not also sacrifice himself 4 me? It seems a sacrifice worth remembering, & the best way to honor that sacrifice is to do what that sacrifice was for: repent & change.

For me, part of my changing requires me to return to no signing days. No signing days stopped over the summer w/the family when Dima & Maya came (though I still did it Wed. mornings w/Angie, until very recently).

I’ve been to chicken to do this, & I keep brushing aside: “While no signing days have been helpful for me to re-learn speech, there is another benefit, & it will help me in other ways as well.” Even though my speech is like 100 times better, i am scared & terrified of doing no signing days again, & I’ve been justifying it, by thinking, “Well, I often speak the majority of any day now, & only sign when I HAVE to, anyway!” But I’ll be upset if I don’t try it out, too, & it seems like it is precisely what I think I need, in order to grow the way I should!