A Wonderful Saturday Visit

Drew and I decided to pop on over for a quick visit and I'm so glad we did. Martha was watching some John Travolta flick (don't remember her being a BIG JT fan), and was in great spirits on this wonderful Saturday afternoon. A lot of interaction between Andrew and his Auntie Martha as he once again started to take over the DeShong house - the Sunday Funday crew know exactly what I'm talking about! He just loves playing with Gary (the cat) and raiding Martha's cabinets. Martha enjoyed the madness as usual! Bronte and Chloe were sporting their new haircuts... very nice! It's always nice to see the DeShong gang. If you're in the neighborhood just stop on by, I know Martha would love to see YOU, too!

A movie and pizza

Last Wednesday, Linda, Bronte, Kate, and Kate's mom took Martha to the movies. They saw "The Blind Side." I met them for pizza after the movie. Martha seemed to enjoy herself. She even wheeled herself to the cash register to pay the bill when we finished. Hopefully trips like this will help motivate Martha to work hard at her rehabilitation, now that she's home. She's being a bit of a pain about it otherwise. It was also a break for Chloe and Dave. We'll try to do something on a regular basis, as schedules allow.

Martha At Home Update

Hello everyone. This is Micki (or Monique). I am Martha's older sister (well I quess I am ANOTHER one of Martha's older sisters because most of you probably know Mel). I'm the sister that lives away from home in Indiana.

Anyway, I came home to visit Martha this past weekend. I haven't seen her since she was in the hospital just a few days after her stroke. My son, Danny, and I came up during the blizzard. Martha has made remarkable strides since this all first began. Regretfully I wasn't able to see all that she is able to do. My visit was too short and she was in "one of her moods" the one day I got to spend with her. She didn't want to take her meds, she didn't want to eat, she didn't want to do much of anything. Knowing Martha as we all do, Dave, Bronte and especially Chloe, have their work cut out for them. Fortunately, Chloe has her mother's stubborness and determination. And Martha has never been one to shrug anything off because it meant hard work. Hopefully she won't get discouraged with herself. But if she does, she definitely has a very strong support system surrounding her. At times it's hard to know exactly what all she is grasping. Before I left her Sunday afternoon, I looked at her straight in the eyes and told her she had a lot of work to do, but I wanted my sister back. She seemed to understand that. And when I went to give her a hug goodbye and told her that I would be driving back to Indiana the next day, she just hung her head. So I knew she understood me then.

I would like to express a special thanks to her friend, Kate, who stopped by Sunday afternoon. With Kate's encouragement, Martha's mood brightened up and she got cleaned up and took her meds. And Kate planned a "girl's day out" for herself, Chloe and Martha. Today, after Martha's doctor's appt, they planned to go see a movie. (Chloe - please let us know how that went).

I know this is not necessary, but I would like to ask her friends to continue to stop by and give Martha as much encouragement as possible.