My very dearest Maria: This is day five following your heroic deed and the injuries you receivedin saving Jenna. I decided to keep a log starting today to – well, record your status and mine as well. Before I go further, you should know that I am proud of your deed but devastated emotionally given what happened to you. I hope you never remember the physical pain you are suffering. I will always remember my mental pain. I remember when I left to go the company I consult for that is Beta Analytics International (BAI) and from there to JCITA (the Joint Counterintelligence Training Academy) you were still cozy in bed and I kissed you goodbye—it was a very sweet kiss. Here’s what happened. On Tuesday, 12 October 2004, you and Pauline did your usual thing walking the park along Beach Drive with Jenna. This day, however, you started out later than usual because the air was a little nippy. Pauline pushed the baby stroller going toward Connecticut Avenue via Beach Drive and you pushed the stroller for the return trip. Fate would intervene at the Beach Drive and Cedar Lane crossing. As you crossed with the green light in your favor and with the little walking man lighted for your lawful crossing, a pick up truck making a right turn from Beach Drive onto Cedar Lane struck you at about 10:15 AM– he hit you hard, actually launched you which in some respects was a good thing as he did not roll over you. The man, John Purcell, said he was blinded by the sun and did not see you. He did hear a thump after he hit you, he said, and pulled over to see what happened. Before you were hit, my wonderful darling, you had the presence of mind to push the stroller with Jenna out of the way. You did not step back which would have saved you but would have killed Jenna. With your action, she only suffered a bruise when the stroller tipped over after hitting the curb. You are a true hero – the police said so, the print media and TV too. Every channel had your story on it as did every local newspaper. NBC4 was kind enough to send me a copy of the tape. They even reported the incident on the news in Madison, Wisconsin. Jackie and Jeff, Jenna’s parents, publicly proclaimed to all (TV and print) 1 that you saved their child who otherwise would have been killed. You are a hero to many now but you’ve been my hero for always so how could you be anything else now. You saved my life many years ago and for that I bless you and as you’ve never doubted, I love you with all my heart and soul. Your injuries were super-traumatic. You received a skull fracture and blood ended up on the brain (we do not know the state of the brain injuries at this time). The bones forming the left occipital cavity were broken; seven broken ribs (the docs called them “thrashed”) on the right side and two on the left with both the lungs punctured; your pelvis and your clavicle were broken too. No legs or arms broken or internal organs harmed (except the lungs) but you did have internal bleeding. You almost didn’t survive but being close to the area’s trauma center helped. You were rushed to Suburban Hospital which fortunately was only three miles away. I was at JCITA and people had trouble reaching me as no cell phones are allowed in the facility. I got to the Suburban Hospital at about 1:30 PM after a high speed run in our car for 35 miles. Niko beat me there by ½ hour. Needless to say we were both traumatized – maybe not of body but certainly our minds were hard hit. Your first day in intensive care was spent patching you and working on stabilizing your condition. It was touch and go. On day two it was determined that you were still bleeding internally and a thoracic surgeon was called in – he stopped the bleeding (we thought) and he filed your splintered ribs to smooth them and then tied them together with suture thread. He also repaired your lungs by excising some of the really damaged tissue. Later it was found that you were still bleeding. The pelvic area was suspected. They used a specialized imaging technique with dye (called interventional radiology) to find where you were bleeding. They located where it was coming from and squirted a gel (sort of caulking) and sealed off the bleeder. No more bleeding. It is called an “ Angio-Seal,” it is a vascular closure device that is inserted with 2 an anchor and a collagen sponge both drawn together with a suture. Within 60-90 days, the anchor, sponge, and suture are naturally absorbed into the body. Day three was a downer. The pressure on your brain was building up and a neurosurgeon was called in. He operated and a very large and a somewhat smaller blood clot was removed from the right side of your brain. They placed a catheter onto your brain’s surface to monitor the pressure. Things were scary as we couldn’t determine if the operation would have an adverse impact on your functions. Dr. Leonard Rubino, the surgeon, was optimistic. Day four was pretty quite. You were stable. They gave you an epidural to control pain. During the entire period described above, your family and many friends were nearby in the ICU waiting room. Dini and Will flew in from Wisconsin the night of the accident. Nick and Nina were here every day too. The outpouring of love and support would have been something for you to see. All of the Vidos family came and even Mike participated by ordering pizza from San Diego for us to eat at the hospital. Joe and Debbie came twice and during their second visit brought a big bagful of sandwiches. Joe came alone on Saturday (Debbie had a meeting) with crab cakes. Mary and David (Nina’s sister and brother-in-law) brought a gigantic tray of goodies and Kathy Adams cookies and pretzels. We shared with other families in the ICU waiting room. Pauline brought doughnuts one day. Harry and Mary Anna came and so did their daughter Maria. Pauline, Jackie, Jeff and Jenna came several times too. Bob and Kathy Gleeson and folks from work came. Here’s a cute story. On Tuesday following the accident, the police used your key to enter our house in an attempt to locate me – they did find a business card for BAI. Becky, one of the Montgomery County Police Officer’s who really likes you (she was first on the scene) said that the officers entering the house were so impressed by the neatness and cleanliness of our home they told all of their fellow officers. So, now you have a Montgomery County reputation as the cleanest, neatest home in town. 3 I have been on an emotional roller coaster – I get high and can’t stop talking and then very low with lots of crying. After all, you are my soul and my love. Your pain is my pain. As I write this on day four I am watching TV (not really watching much, my thoughts are with you and I’m writing this by hand at this point – computer later). I have no Maria near me to hold her hand. Woe is me!!!!! Day 5 (Sunday, 17 Oct)–Dini and Will went back to Wisconsin in the morning. I spent the day in your ICU room and will do so from now on. I set the little walkman CD player with earphones to play Greek singer Eleftheri for you. Since we used to listen to him so much while driving in the car, my hopes are that you might hear his voice and feel better. I also read some Nora Roberts to you but didn’t get the feeling that you were listening. I guess I need to take the books back to the library soon. Your numbers (BP, temperature, breathing) were good. The catheter was removed from your brain as your intracranial pressure is under control. Towards the end of the day your BP went to 180/94 and you fever to 104.2 –scary for me. They worked hard to fix this and when I left for the evening you were on a downward trend. I ate dinner with Niko and Nina. I called Dini and she checked with the hospital and all was well – BP down and fever 101. Whew!!! Your responses to the neuro check were good. Yea!!! Day 6 (Monday, 18 Oct)–in terms of your recovery, there were few changes today. The neurosurgeon seemed upbeat though and he doesn’t please easily. We hoped that you would respond to us yelling your name but you did not. In the morning your BP and fever were low but began to creep higher during the day. It was brought under control. You were given two units of blood and insulin as your sugar was high. The ophthalmologist came and dilated you pupils. Your left eye looked better than when you came to the hospital but you pupils did not react as well as we had hoped – we were told not to worry. Tonight you are to get a CAT scan. 4 Father John came and gave you a health blessing (Father Steve came twice earlier and did the same). He told you that he loved you. I love you more and said so many times today. Father Vasili called from Ocean City and said he would pray for you. Niko stayed all day with you and Connie, Bob and Nina came. The big story today was from strangers. In the afternoon, a young Mother with two children approached me and gave me an envelope. Her boy Michael drew something for you. Inside the envelope that I later opened was A Hero Award to Maria Pattakos signed by six year old Michael Gump. I can’t wait until you see it. Later I called their home to thank them (I looked up their name in the phonebook). It seems that Mother and children read the paper together on a regular basis and she read the article written about you. The boy said, Gee mom she should get the Noble prize. Mom responded, Well, Michael, they really don’t give that prize for this. Michael then said, I have to give her an award. It is tacked on the bulletin board ready for you to see. Here is what the mother wrote in a card that was with the award: Dear Ms. Pattakos, My family read about your accident in the newspaper and we were very sorry to hear of your injuries. Although we don’t know you, we were inspired by your heroism. Thank you for being a neighborhood hero. Best wishes for a full and speedy recovery. Sincerely, Karen Gump. Also on the board are many, many get well cards, a picture of you and one of Jenna. So my sweet, open those eyes and take a look. Day 7 (Tuesday, 19 Oct) – Dear Babe, I got up at 3 AM today. I lit a candela for you in the kitchen under the icons of the Theotokou with the baby Jesus and Aghia Paraskevi. I placed them on the East side of the house in the kitchen. I plan to keep the candela going 24 hours per day. God how I love you! Well, I am home now and spoke with the Dunn, Vidos, and Hogoboom families. You looked much, much better today. The nurse washed you hair and the swelling of your body has decreased. The numbers were all good. You looked more relaxed. You even 5 opened your right eye three times when the respiration therapist (RT) did her adjustments. You also rotated your right foot. I think these are all good signs. The left side is limp, probably due to the operation on the right side of your brain. They implanted a Braun Vena Tech LP Vena Cava Filter (is that a mouth full, or what?) in your groin because of their fear that you might develop blood clots –Deep Venous Thrombosis—which occur mainly in the leg. The filter is a cone shaped device designed to trap large blood clots while allowing blood to pass freely through the filter and around the clots. Over time clots dissolve. Activities are not limited by the filter and they do not clean or remove it. There should be no problems but if there is significant swelling of the legs it might mean some big clots have been trapped, not dissolved and we must contact our doctor promptly. The material they use does not interfere with having an MRI. We have a brochure, a card for you to carry, and a medallion too. Palmer Esau visited today, he just returned from Colorado. Niko was with me (he’s taken many days off). I just spoke to Dini and the grand kids and they send much love. You were supposed to get a special attachment to the bed today but somehow the order got screwed up. It is back on track now. Today was better than yesterday but I am still a wreck. Day 8 (Wednesday, 20 Oct) – Hey!! Great news today!! You opened your eyes in response to my voice and later in the day to Niko’s, Bob’s and later Nina’s voice. Your numbers were good. The neurosurgeon said your CAT scan looked OK. All-in-all a great day! I even felt focused enough to bring my computer into the room and worked a total of three hours in your ICU room. I have a little corner of your room set up with the hospital’s permission. I can keep informed of everything going on by staying with you all day. They even let me attend your rounds in the morning where they discuss your progress. 6 We had a little glitch with a bed attachment that helps shift you position which is good for your lungs and possible bed sores. Today the Director of Emergency Services (Marsha) assured me that it will be in tomorrow or the latest Friday. She just retired from the Army nurse Corps as a Lieutenant Colonel. Today, you received a gigantic vase of flowers from Booz-Allen. Joe and Debbie came and took me to lunch. Both have been warm and supportive. On Saturday they leave on their trip to Vietnam. Joe wants to visit the scenes and places where he was during the war. Day 9 (Thursday, 21 Oct) – you are still opening your eyes especially when they jerk you around to give you an x-ray or to re-position you. You are not moving your toes or squeezing our hands when asked to do so. Please do that soon. Tomorrow is our date day but I guess it will be spent in the ICU. I will NOT be going to any movies without you. I need you and must have you by my side. I did some more BAI work today while at the hospital and plan to do some every day. It helps distract me and yet enables me to be near you. Everybody in the ICU is super nice and they are pulling for the hero (that’s you). All of your numbers are good and they took out a drain tube. This evening I ate one of the spinach pies you made before the accident (BA) and a salad. The pie was delicious. Dino and Myrna sent a get well card (you have many from many people) and Myrna wrote a very sweet letter. Of course, I cried reading it. You are my heart and soul (I love you more – hah, beat you saying it). “Re ghamoto tha phonaxo se ‘ghapo,” as the singer Eleftheri Pantelis says in one of his songs. I wont translate because of the bad word used. I am lonely watching TV without your hand to hold. Father Vasili from Ocean City called. He has you in his prayers. Day 10 (Friday, 22 Oct) – you kept your eyes open for most of the day. You still do not squeeze hands or wiggle toes when asked. Hopefully this will come soon. Good numbers all day today and they took out your final drain tube. Niko and Nina took me out to the Athenian Plaka for mezethes (appetizers) and to try and relax me. 7 They hosted Dino, Myrna and Connie too. An important person was missing –YOU!!! I really did not relax! I did not sleep well last night and was pretty depressed today. In addition to my worries about you I think that Tylenol PM did me in –I think I read somewhere that its active ingredient is an antihistamine which is not a good thing for older folks (I guess that means me) as it can promote depression. I’m watching John Wayne and the Green Beret movie. I guess you wouldn’t want to see it. Well, I’m not going to see much more. I’m soon off to bed. Today they taught me how to exercise your arms and legs. I’ll be doing that at least three times per day. Our broker sent a beautiful basket of fruit from Harry and David. I’ll keep the basket for you and probably give away much of the fruit since we recently bought so much of it. Love ya!!! Day 11 (Saturday, 23 Oct) – well honey, your eyes were open much of today but to my dismay you are still not responding to requests to squeeze hands or move toes. Twice a day I play the Eleftheri CD. All your numbers are good. The orthopedic Dr. came today and said I could gently move you legs. There was some concern about that because of your broken pelvis. Of course, I was very gentle. People keep telling me to go home during the day but I cannot and will not. I need to be near you. I must admit that I cry a lot and often. I hate, really hate not having you awake and with me. You truly are the light of my life and I cannot live without you. Remember what we said? Panta Mazi, always together! Niko and I cleared the deck of the tables and chairs. He put them into the shed for storage. I blew the deck and in front. I washed away the dirt where the squirrels dug into the plants. I sprayed some stuff that Niko got for me and hopefully they will now stay away. Niko took me to Hechts while Nina stayed with you. I bought corduroy pants. I thought you would want me to have new ones. 8 Visitors today included: Fred McDougal from BAI; Nick + Nina; Pauline, Jeff and Jackie. You cannot believe the love that Pauline has for you and she has been very, very nice and supportive to me. She even talks to me using full sentences. So many people love you but I love you more. Day 12 (Sunday, 24 Oct)—I did not sleep well again last night and that was after taking 5mg of a drug called Ambien, the very latest in sedatives. I only managed to sleep until 4AM but stayed in bed until 5 AM. I got to the Hospital around 6:30 AM. Quite frankly I was a big mess all day and could hardly stop crying. You seemed to be sleeping all day until I left in the evening when you did open your eyes a little. I exercised your legs in the morning and afternoon (Nina helped too). This is Sunday so I went to Church. I got there at 9 AM for the Orthos. I lit two votive candles for you in front of the church – one for each icon there. Of course, I lit a candles at the entrance (the narthex) too. During the Orthos I kissed the Holy Bible, cried and Father John hugged me. I had communion after fasting all day Saturday from meat, eggs and sea food (per Father Steve). I ate nothing before communion on Sunday. Father J at the end of the liturgy told all attending about your heroism and since you were a hero and badly hurt asked all to rise and pray for you while he offered his prayer for heeling and resurrection. He never did that for anyone before. So, as I’ve been telling you, you have many, many people praying that you get well. Myrna and Dino came to the hospital before leaving for Lewes. Kathy Adams and her boys were here and Connie too. Nick +Nina came and then later brought food to the house to feed me. Niko bought barbecue brisket – it was very good. They removed a lot of clotted blood from the swelling over your right eye. Your numbers are pretty stable. Day 13 (Monday 25 Oct) – hi dear girl of mine! I slept well last night after popping a pill. I was by your side by 7:30 AM and we did your exercises. You are back to sleeping a lot and I can only hope that 9 this is part of the healing process. Since they are not giving you pain killers right now I figure you are thinking “Brain let me sleep to avoid the pain.” All your numbers are great but I do need a hand squeeze. Please, babe!! Tomorrow you will have a tracheostomy tube placed into your throat so that they can move the breathing tube from your larynx – you’re not quite ready for breathing on your own. Pauline, Jackie and Jeff came again today. Pauline was petting your arm. In the afternoon Niko came but had to leave early as he said he and Nina were off to buy a house. We’ll see how that ends up since they have not been too successful in the past. Father John came and blessed you again. Mary Haziannis called – she just found out about you. Philoptochos wants to do something and I suggested they donate to the church building fund in your name. Susanne and Noonie just found out (Pauline went there to tell them). They brought some food to the house even after I said not too do so (What should I do with it? – it’s stew of all things, not a favorite of mine). We cried together. I got very depressed when I got to our home which was totally empty without you. It was horrible. Another frustration was my computer – I was typing this letter for about one hour when the word processing program went mental. I tried to find what stupid thing I did and could not. I lost the work that I wrote. Given my lack of typing ability, this dismayed me more than it probably should have. Dini called and I cried over my frustration with your status and the stupid computer. She said to restart my computer. I did and the problem was solved. I still lost my work and I still don’t know how I screwed up so I don’t somehow do it again. Oh, my dear, the pain in my heart must at least match if not exceed the pain you feel in your body. Day 14 (Tuesday, October 26, 2004) – today is two weeks following the accident, Maria my hero. I slept hardly at all last night. I got up at 3 AM and watched some TV (Urban Cowboy with Travolta). I can’t even read. Since it is chilly, I shut the sunroom door this 10 morning after bringing in the plants (oops, must water them today – can’t find the watering can). I did remember to take out the garbage yesterday and the recycling too. Pauline brought the can in. I arrived Suburban at 6:30 AM. Your numbers are good and I think you were responding a little more than yesterday. I hope I am not fooling myself. Niko was just here and left for the airport. He is going to Chicago. They put in a bid on the house. Good luck! They just this minute wheeled you out for the trip to the OR for your tracheostomy tube. I hope you will be more comfortable without all the tubes in your mouth and down your larynx. At the same time they plan to check out your neck to determine if there is any damage there to the spine. Hopefully they will find out that your neck is OK so they can remove the neck-collar you are wearing. You are back, the operation was perfect and the collar is off. They can now use the full capabilities of the bed to move you around without jerking you. You look much better without the tubes in your month. Somehow today I felt we were communicating. Maybe it is wishful thinking on my part because you did not squeeze my hand when I asked. When I left the ICU at 6:15 PM you had your eyes open. Your numbers were very good. Mary Hatzianis came today and met our Nina who was also here. Bob came too, he looked tired. I finished some BAI work today. I will e-mail it to the guy I am helping tonight. I caught up with my hand written notes about you and us and this horrible situation by working on the lap top here in the ICU. I am home now and writing more. I just watered the plants and made myself some cereal for dinner. I’ve getting calls from everybody asking how you are but it drives me a little nuts since I get emotional about it. Uncle Alex wanted to come and I discouraged that. Harry and Mary Anna asked me out to dinner, I said no. They are coming to see you tomorrow. 11 I am sort of watching TV -- NCIS. I hope that I sleep tonight. I am not as depressed tonight and I did most of my crying this morning. Hey panapola mou (my everything), I need you back here and well. Day 15 (Wednesday, 27 Oct)—I am here at the ICU again. I exercised your arms and legs. You look good, had your eyes open when I came but are still not responding to requests to do something like raise your hand. Sweetheart I am scared. I fear for you and am crying as I type this in my little corner of your room. Why have our lives turned to such a horrible path? I sometime see myself curled into a little ball in our bedroom on the rug. I just seem to wither away and decompose into a pile of dust. A puff of wind comes and just puff – blows me away. Your body appears to be well on the way to healing. Today we discussed your move to somewhere for neurological rehabilitation. This may happen in the next couple of weeks. Someone is supposed to talk to me soon about this. Well, a lot of activity today. They took you for a CAT scan and an EEG. The CAT scan showed no changes for the worse. The EEG will be looked at by a neurologist this evening (I just learned that he is the husband of the nurse attending to you). You have been moving your left arm and leg lots today and even sticking out your tongue out to wet your lips. Everyone tells me these are good signs. But babe, we need you to do stuff when we ask you to do them. You’re now on your way to get a PICC which is a different way to give intravenous fluids through semi-permanent needle into your hard to find veins. It is less subject to infection and doesn’t have to be changed for up to three weeks. The Dr. Jebraili, an orthopedic surgeon, was just here and not so good news about your pelvis. Your right socket joint is fractured in multiple places and the ball that fits into the joint is displaced. He recommends a conservative approach given your overall condition. No operation and let it heal as it needs too without intervention. He believes you will be able to walk OK but likely will have arthritis. If 12 the walking is a problem and arthritis pain too severe, they can do a hip replacement to fix things. Harry and Mary Anna came to see you. The nurse threw us out (in a nice way) when they came to give you an EEG. They insisted on taking me to lunch and we went to Geppeto’s located in Wildwood. I had a tuna salad, salad. Upon our return, Pauline, Jeff and Jackie came. Bob has come and gone. He brought me food to take home. A pot roast, I believe. Connie and Nina came and did your nails Well, you will be on the 11:00 PM NBC news tonight. The story is the little boy creating the hero award for you. His name is Michael Gump and his mother in Karen. What a boy! So my dear, your heroism will be recognized once again. Niko called from Chicago to see how you are. Guess what? They were not successful on their bid for the house. They bid $55,000 over the asking price and still lost out. What a market? I watched the 11:30 NBC news. It was great. They showed your picture—the one I took of you in the sunroom. You are beautiful. Day 16 (Thursday, October 28, 2004) – I slept OK last night and was here by my usual 6:45 AM. They had a restraint on your right hand. It seems you wanted to pull on some of the tubes. A good sign, I hope!!! I’m told it is. I exercised your arms and legs and later Steve the neuro PA came and took out the stitches in your head. I helped by holding your head—even put on surgical gloves. Your EEG looked OK–no sign of any seizures and they saw what was to be expected at this point in your recovery. The right side of your brain (where they operated) is a little more sluggish than your left. Again, I’m told this is what was expected. I had the report sent to Dini. All your numbers are great. They will try to give you some time off of the ventilator today. They did and you breathed on your own for about 90 minutes. Dr. Rabino (neuro-surgeon) came and pinched you awake. You had great movement in you right arm all day today. I exercised your arms and legs four times today. Bob Peavey the 13 government guy for our MDA contract came today. He was very supportive and said all who know us are praying for your rapid recovery. Nina came too. We’re looking to the future for your recovery and a transfer to a neuro-rehabilitation center, perhaps at Shady Grove. Tonight when I go home I guess I will do some laundry. Baby, if the love I feel for you were to somehow be transmitted to your brain now you would wake up and smile at me. But I am sure this awakening will happen. Maybe not soon but when you are ready. I love you my sweet. I got home to our empty home and got severely depressed and cried my heart out. I did the laundry and cried some more. When I see and do things that have your touch I get overwhelmed. Bob called me and I couldn’t talk to him and he came over to be with me. He hadn’t eaten so I made him two Hebrew National polish sausage with whole wheat pita bread–so, OK, I had some too. I had to keep him company after all. I only had one pita (he had two) and I promise I will not get fat again. Pauline brought me a cooked chicken she bought at Giants. Many, many people call me to see how you are and it’s very difficult for me to talk to them. It hurts so very much. I love you–and I can hear you say, “I love you more.” Day 17 (Friday, October 29, 2004) – I did my usual starting out stuff after a pretty good night’s sleep. I guess I wore myself out crying and folding the laundry. I had a little cereal for breakfast and was here by 6:45 in the morning. I got my coffee from the cafeteria ($1.04), scanned the newspaper and then gave you your morning arm and leg exercises. Oh, yes, I cried again. You are still sleeping but you moved your arm and last night they had to tie that right arm so you wouldn’t remove the ventilator tube. At rounds, it was reported that all your numbers were good. You are very stable now and we are all waiting for you to wake up and to respond to our requests to move hands or toes–your choice. 14 Well, the occupational therapist and the physical therapists have been in and apparently I am doing the right things right. They kicked me out so that they could give you a PEG – a tube for feeding you that goes directly into the stomach. They took the tube out of your nose. I spoke to people involved in determining where you go next to start your rehabilitation. I asked them to select a place that is good and hopefully near our home. That is what’s good about Suburban Hospital–it’s only 3.7 miles from our home. It is afternoon now. I exercised your arms and legs. You are still waving your right hand and you have opened your eyes a little. I think you smiled while listening to Eleftheri. Niko just returned from Chicago and he is here and Nina has arrived. They love you. The kids came to dinner at our home. They bought some side dishes and we ate the chicken that Pauline gave me–the barbeque chicken is not bad–and we had some of Bob’s pot roast. Day 18 (Saturday, October 30, 2004) – I arrived before 7 AM to good news. You moved your left arm. Wow is that wonderful. I am waiting to see it. I saw you move your right hand to your nose to scratch it and you even stuck your finger in your nose. We did the morning exercises of arms and legs. Before I left home, I spoke to Gregory. They are still in the village. All send you their love and prayers. The Icons and pictures from the baptism are on their way here. So, you need to rise and shine to see them. At rounds this morning, your numbers continue to be great. They’ll continue activities to wean you from the respirator. I mentioned that you scratched your nose and the Dr. said this is promising development because scratching is a very complex neurological maneuver. He says you are right on the edge of waking up. I can’t wait for that event. 15 Wow, so far lots of visitors today. First, Pauline, Jeff and Jackie came, and then Myrna and Dino came just for a couple of hours and then returned to Lewis. Seems like they will do Halloween there tonight. Nick and Nina came. I bought them all sandwiches to eat. I went to the commissary for a few things. They changed the places of things there and it was a real pain to find quickly the few things I wanted. I also bought you high top shoes (actually boots) at the PX. It was recommended to keep your feet up and prevent drooping. Your stomach looks distended and hard and they are going to take an x-ray to make sure that the feeding tube is behaving. The x-ray was read and you are just full of air resulting from the feeding tube. Dini is here and will stay for the week. We went home and she ate the leftover chicken and I some pot roast. I made a salad. We watched some TV and went to bed at 10:00 PM. Day 19 (Sunday, October 31, 2004) – we are here again. Dini and I had some breakfast and arrived at 8:00 AM. You looked about the same. I did your exercises and you are breathing mostly on your own. I gave you a rubber squeeze ball to hold. Oh, I love you so much, right now I hurt for you so much and have tears in my eyes. Please, please come back to me soon. You got good marks during rounds. Clinically, you appear to be just at the edge of waking up. You stomach is still distended by gas but they say all is ok. You are moving your hand around, scratching and so forth. The PT person came and exercised you legs. Everybody likes the boots I bought for you to keep your feet up. While Dini kept you company, I went to the Navy and got you some Clinique perfume and lotion. We have some here, but you know me, I want back up too. You really did not have much Clinique left. Niko, Nina, Tania and Mary Anna and Harry visited you today. I asked Jonathan to mow the lawn and to mulch the leaves. I think 16 Tania will pitch in too. Dini believes you responded to a command today. With all my heart I hope that she is right. You really pop open your eyes when they suction you. Most of the time you keep your eyes closed. Dini is a real sweetheart the way she cares for you. Today is Halloween. We are figuring out ways to not be home. I cannot go to the movies without you so I guess we’ll just do the dinner bit and hope we use up enough time. Across the street the red headed lady with the red headed little girl really decorated the place to an unbelievable degree. You would have enjoyed seeing it. Niko took us out to eat Chinese and then Dini and I went to White Flint and walked around a little. Borders and the restaurants were still open but since it was Sunday the rest of the stores were closed. We went for a little walk until we thought we were safe from trick or treat. We got home and yes we were OK. Jonathan and I think Tania too did the lawn and got the leaves off of the driveway. Day 20 (Monday, November 1, 2004) – we are here with you at the ICU. You look good. We put on your new boots and sat you up more. You really do look close to waking up and my heart is singing. All your numbers look good to us and we’ll find out more during rounds. You will have another Intensivist on duty today. We attended your part of the “rounds” and things are going well. You are breathing on your own. The occupational therapist massaged you neck and got a big knot out. She was impressed with the boots you are wearing. My sweet, at about 12:15 PM today, you definitely heard my voice and gave me a very, very big smile. Dini saw it too. It clearly is progress and this time we cried from happiness. You are now listening to the Rocky Road to Romance by Janet Evanovich. I just ordered you a cross from the Antioch Orthodox Church in sterling silver that says in Greek “Phos-Zoe” (Light and Life). 17 Pauline, Jackie and Jeff were here. They were thrilled to hear and see your progress. Pauline has been very loyal and very positive. They are going to move you because (yea) your condition has been downgraded. You’ll be going to a little less intensive area—it’s called a step down. This is good news. You are making progress. Your stomach is still full of gas but no one seems to be concerned. Right now they are sponging you. I went home and Dini met a friend that was in town from Madison. She was a big help to Dini with the kids during the earlier part of this crisis. I ate left over Chinese food, checked email. I prepared for tomorrow’s voting. Tanya came by and told me they had raked the leaves in the back and helped me move the cans for pick up. I asked Jonathan to mow and they did this too. I paid Jonathon. We really do have nice neighbors. Day 21 (Tuesday, November 02, 2004)--I went to the voting poles at the library about 20 minutes before they opened at 7 AM. Once they opened, they moved pretty fast and I managed to process, vote and get out of there in 18 minutes. We arrived at Suburban and they had moved you out of the intensive care suite to the “step-down” unit one floor down and immediately below the ICU. This is indicative that you are no longer on the critical list. The same crew that manages the ICU does the same here, so we are comfortable with that. In fact, Dr. Morton, the half Greek (the other half is Italian but he’s Orthodox and goes to St. Sophia), is the Dr. on for the week here. We just attended rounds and clinically you are great. We are still looking for more awareness on your part. It is now 10:15 which is about the time you were hit three weeks ago today. You were put back on the respirator at 7 AM which means you were breathing on your own for about 23 hours. Good for you. 18 We and many, many others are still praying for you. When I got home yesterday the Icons from Greece were waiting (Gregory bought them, got them blessed, and sent them here). I called Greece this morning and thanked him and told him that you seemed to be coming out of it. The Icons are now in the room with you. Aghia Paraskevi is hanging over your bed and on the left side hopefully working on healing that eye. The Theotokou with the Christ Child is on your personal bulletin board looking at you. We put all of your get well cards, hero’s award, and other religious items on the board ready for you when you awaken. By the way, you just opened your eyes and smiled at Dini. I mentioned to Dini today how we had discussed in the past what you would do if I were to proceed you from this life and your fear that you would be alone. I told her that could you see now the love that you were getting from her and from Niko that your concerns would vanish. Dini burst out into tears saying that she felt terrible that she didn’t make clear that you were wanted and expected to be with her. She also said that she was a terrible daughter for not telling you that and calling more and talking to you. She really has made clear to me and everybody how much she loves you. Visitors today: Bob, Becky Micozzi (our favorite Montgomery Police Officer), Connie, Nick and Nina. I spoke to Detective Ratnofsky of the Accident Reconstruction Unit. He hopes to complete the investigation this week. He told me, however, that the man who hit you is clearly at fault. Sun in his eyes may have been a problem but no excuse. You spent most of the day sitting up. Your eyes were open most of that time. You let us into you mouth to swab your tongue which was new and Dini says that this too is a good sign. You did some more smiling today but we are still waiting for you to respond more clearly to requests to do something. We are all looking forward to this. The physical therapist checked me out and said I was doing a good job in moving your limbs. 19 Nick and Nina brought two rotisserie chickens to the house with some sides and I also threw some ready made salad into a bowl. We ate one chicken and saved the other. I ate mostly salad. Evangalia from Canada called and left a message on the machine. She heard you were “sick” and asked that I call her. Roula called from Greece– she was expressing hope that Bush would win. She does not know about the accident. We stayed up until 11 PM to hear some election results but had to go to bed then Day 22 (Wednesday, November 3, 2004) -- I awakened at 5 AM and turned on the TV. It appears that Bush has won but it is not official yet. I called Evangelia (Canada) and explained your situation – we cried together and she will be saying prayers. I decided to call Roula too. She was shocked. We cried together. She is going to the Dr. today as she is still bleeding. She will light candles and pray for you. She asked that I give you kisses from them. You look good this morning but asleep. The neuro-Physician’s Assistant (PA) seemed pleased with your progress and the nurse said they will get you up and into a chair this afternoon. We attended your rounds and all your numbers are good and you are physically stable. We are still waiting for you to respond to our requests to do something. I just finished doing your arm and leg exercises. It is 9 AM. They sat you in a chair. You stayed awake that way and really moved your right hand scratching different parts of you. The thing that I liked about that was you closed your eyes when you scratched near them showing coordination of two activities. Also, you moved your left hand more than ever-- all good signs. You are back in bed now and I did your exercises. It is 2 PM. Bob came today to deliver food again. He prepared that Sekroot (who knows the French spelling – you know it’s that sauerkraut with sausages). He really is a good guy. Kathy is now in her training job and thrilled with the flexibility it gives her in planning her day. 20 Niko just came and later Connie too. We think you responded to Niko’s request to take his hand and later to let it go. If this was not our wishful thinking this is great news. We all left for home (Niko and Connie too, Nina is working on a project due tomorrow) and ate the second chicken that he bought yesterday with the sides. It was all eaten and thus no leftovers. The dishes from yesterday went into the dishwasher and we used it -- a good idea every once and awhile. Uncle Alex called to ask how you were. He and Aris have called other nights too. Day 23 (Thursday, November 4, 2004) – before I left home, I cut my hair. It is not the same without you. I’m sure I missed spots but, ya’ know, without you to check I don’t really care. Dini informed me that I’m wearing the same clothes for three days now. Again, without you to provide me the incentive to change, I don’t really care either. It is raining and will probably rain all day. It’s gloomy. I spoke to the physical medicine Dr. on the phone. He was here to see you earlier this morning. Of all things, he is a Greek-American (Panagos). He wants to get you up and about. We need your ability to participate in rehabilitation activities. In other words, we need to get to the point of when we say hold up two fingers you do that. We are not there yet--maybe this afternoon? We attended your rounds and all is stable. They are keeping track of your bladder to make sure you don’t get an infection since you are still using a catheter. You are using the respirator this morning but latter they will try you on your own. I put on your hiking boots so you don’t get drop foot and we did your morning arm and leg exercises. I got the boots at the PX. Since Dini was here, I went to BAI soon after they had you sitting up in a chair. You looked well and tolerated it. BAI folks send you their love and hope for a speedy recovery. I got rid of a lot of email. I left at 12:30 for BAI and returned to Suburban at 4 PM given the weather, the beltway traffic was not fun. When I came back to you I 21 found you in bed and breathing on your own. I did your arm and leg exercises. We are still waiting for you to respond when we ask. Visitors: Pauline came with Jeff and Jackie. She is trying to get you to respond to her. Nick and Nina came. We are waiting for you to join us. I ate Bob’s meal and some salad. I was really very depressed. You seemed so tired and still no hello for me. Day 24 (Friday, November 5, 2004)—as usual one of the first things I did this morning was pray. I kissed the Icon where we have our stefana. I asked the way our stefana joined us in marriage that God soon join us now with you awake and in my arms. I put the $40 into our piggy bank for our trip to Greece. Yes, I still do that--$20 from you and from me on a weekly basis. I ate breakfast and refilled the candela with oil and lit the wick. I prayed again to the Theotokou with the Christ child and to Aghia Pareskevi. I prayed for you and for a Lebanese woman named Helen who after a simple out-patient procedure had a heart attack and is in a coma and for Calvin who was in a terrible automobile accident. May God extend his grace to all of you. I’ve been crying this morning because I feel so sad. When we arrived you were being exercised by a physical therapist. She was giving you a good workout. The nurse said that you even supported your head with your right hand. You are now sitting in a chair and listening to a book that Dini has on her Ipod. I play the Eleftheri tunes for you too. You seem more with it today than yesterday. Everyone says that you are standing in the door, please step through it soon and say hi. I am waiting and until you do so my heart is so full of anguish. Dini pushed me to go home and exercise, so I did. When I got home I noticed the flower bed (we have been getting home in the dark). It needed work so I pulled all of the dead hosta leaves and it looks much better now. I also blew the leaves and dirt away. I walked on the treadmill for 30 minutes. I thought it better to start again gradually since I haven’t exercised in awhile now. I showered and then took the books back to the library. George Contis called and we 22 talked about you. He lights a candela every night for you and you are in his prayers. Cynthia is in Tanzania. Today, I also spoke to Shawn (Suburban’s social worker). We are working with Johns Hopkins to determine where you go next for rehabilitation. Wherever it is I want to be near you and help. Two choices head the list: The Kessler at Shady Grove and The National Rehabilitation Center (NRH) in Washington. Hopefully, I can visit them and get an impression on how well they might do. Visitors: Becky came, and Nick and Nina are here. Dini leaves tomorrow. Connie came too and the kids insisted that we go to bid Dini goodbye at the Plaka. So we went there and did the orechtika (appetizers) bit, I paid but Nina was cute – she sold some clothes and had $26 and wanted to contribute, she gave the tip. Becky, who was the first officer on the scene and followed the ambulance to the trauma center told us how serious your condition was upon arrival. She said that the trauma Dr. said to her that he didn’t think you would make it. So, my doll, your strength and courage has brought you a long way. Suburban’s outstanding care and the Lord’s blessings certainly were key contributors too. When we got home, an NBC tape was delivered by courier. This is the tape that shows the little boy, Michael Gump, giving me your hero’s award. We’ll watch it together when you are really well. I put $40 in the travel piggy bank Day 25 (Saturday, November 6, 2004) -- we are here again and we found you sitting up. They said you did really well doing PT at the side of the bed. You are very active this morning and you have been off ventilator support all evening and so far today. We did your exercises (arms and legs). Today I saw you move your left leg – yea! You seemed to open your mouth when I asked so that I could do your tongue. Right now Dini is talking to you and hugging you. She thinks that you kissed her cheek. She has displayed phenomenal love and affection for you and tells all that you are her Mom and she 23 your daughter. Whenever she is asked in Madison by those that find out you are not her bio-mom she always points out that you have been part of her life from the time she was three years old. Pauline, Jeff and Jackie came. They are pleased with your progress. Nick and Nina came too and took Dini to Reagan National Airport. Dini called and said they were there and eating lunch (she did not want me to worry about my car keys –I gave them to Niko so he could take Dini’s bag out of the car). I asked her if she checked her bag yet and when she said she did I told her to look for a thank you card when she arrived in Madison. I didn’t tell her but in the card I put $300 to pay for her airfare. As I said she has been a good daughter to you and to me. Nick and Nina came back. I went home to exercise and instead of doing the treadmill, I decided to mow the lawn and mulch leaves. I did a good job. Also, I worked more on your flower bed and cut the sticks that grow out of the hostas. When I came back you were back in bed and fast asleep. Connie came and she is talking to you. So far, you have had a very good day and all are amazed at your progress. Connie told me she had a dream that she came here and you were sitting up and eating a meal. She’s another one that believes her dreams to be accurate. Oh yes, before the election, she dreamed the country was very red (red is the color of the Republicans when displayed on the map while blue is for the Democrats). She certainly was right on that one. Bush won!! (Connie just said “darn.”) Vickie has a cold and that is why she didn’t come. Mary Hatziannis called and she really had a bad cold too. Mary Anna is hurting and thus Harry and she have not been able to come but Harry has called every night. Today I have been fasting from meat. Tomorrow I plan to go to Church and receive communion. Stay tuned, I’ll let you know. I did a load of wash this evening and folded and put stuff away. I know that I am not doing things to the level you would do it but I am trying. I’m still making the bed and even shutting closet doors. I 24 received a bill for the epidural they gave you. I don’t know why they didn’t send it to the insurance. I’ll call. I miss you so much. Day 26 (Sunday, November 7, 2004)—I came in bright and early and, had a little run in with the nurse –she reminded me that visiting hours did not begin until 11 AM. I replied that visiting hours begin when I arrive. She said I was rude. At any rate, we later made up and she has been sweet. I did your arm and leg exercises and left for Church about 8:45 AM. I attended the Orthos and then the liturgy and then left right after I received communion. I don’t know if our religion would recognize my feeling that I was receiving communion for the two of us. (Later when I told Father Steve this, he affirmed that Jesus would accept it as such.) I cried a little on and off during church because I wanted you there in body. I went home to change and ate some leftovers. I got back to the hospital at 12:30 and found Nick and Nina visiting you. At the gift shop, they bought you a very soft and cute little black bear for you to hold and said you were very alert earlier before I came back. You are sitting in a chair and I’ve been sitting near you. Your eyes open now and then. Tania and Jonathon came and I gave them the Sunday paper. Guess where Niko and Nina went (it’s Sunday, don’t forget) – you guessed it, house hunting. You have lots of gas again and are making faces from the discomfort. There doesn’t seem like much they can do. One thing about it, it keeps you stimulated. Honey-bunny of mine, I wish that you’d move when we ask so that we’d know your all back. At 3PM they put you back in bed and gave you a bath. I put lotion on your hands and sprayed Clinique on you. You are resting now and I am doing this letter to you. At this point, it is 17 pages long. I yearn for you to know how special you are to me. I don’t know if you can hear me when I tell you things like I love you, when I call you kardhoula mou (my heart), psihi mou (my soul), panapola mou (my everything), fotia mou (my fire) and other words of endearment. I feel if you could hear me you would respond but you 25 don’t and I am sick and cry. It is day 26 today and you would think I’d be numb by now but I still hurt. It is hard for me to see you like this but it would be harder if I wasn’t near you. If these words could just take wing from this computer to you and bring you to awareness, it would be so wonderful. I just promised God that when he brings you back to me that I would thank him everyday for the rest of my life. At night before I sleep and in the morning shortly after I awaken, I kiss the Icon holding our stefana and ask God to rejoin us the way he joined us when we got married. Mary mou (mine), you are everything to me and my ability to survive without you is not very good. So, help me live by coming back to me. I just wrote a sort of a poem, I’ll keep working on it. Nick and Nina wanted to bring food to the house but I suggested we eat what Bob prepared. Nina liked the sausages and sauerkraut and Niko liked it a lot. After they left, I had a pretty bad evening as I was crying a lot. I called my boyhood friend in Florida, Gingie, and he cried with me. He will join us all in praying. Tom Ariosto sent a nice email to the OPSEC Society board members asking them all to pray for you. After taking some sleeping pills I finally slept. Day 27 (Monday, November 8, 2004)—about 7:15 AM I met the physiatrist, Dr. Panagos, he asked you to raise two fingers and you did raise one – yea, a good sign (I called Dini to let her know, she was thrilled). When he pinched your left toe you went wow with your mouth. He sees major progress from last Thursday AM. I did your morning arm and leg exercises and they moved you into a chair at about 9 AM. You are just semi-awake now hence I am working on this letter to you. Dr Leo is the Intensivist on duty and he too says you have made much progress. I spoke to Shawn the Social Worker and he’s still dealing with Johns Hopkins to determine where you go for rehabilitation. On Saturday, we got another bill from the folks who gave you the epidural ($831) – I called today and referred them to our insurance. 26 You are back in bed after five hours in the chair. Some wonderful news for me was when I asked you to kiss my cheek you gave me a real, no fooling, smooch. You did that on two separate occasions today. Wow. As usual, when you seem awake I play you about 15 minutes of Eleftheri. An occupational therapist lady came and did some exercises with you. All comment how well your skin looks. I’m going to put some lotion on your hands now and a squirt of Clinique. I did it and you seemed to enjoy both. Mary Hatziannis came and you seemed to hear her. Father John came and blessed you. And, good, faithful Niko came too. Nina has to get projects ready for school and she probably will not be able to come until Wednesday. Niko came home with me and we ate the rest of the meal prepared by Bob. Niko really loved it. My friend Gingie (John Buono) called. I had called the night before when I was really depressed. He wanted to come and be with me. His wife Jean said that she supported him coming but I declined. They are praying for you. Barbara (Ocean Pines) called and she asked that I kiss you for her. Harry Doukas called. Mary Anna has a cold. I went to bed at 9:30 PM. Day 28 (Tuesday, November 9, 2004)--this is the fourth week following your accident. This morning Roula called from Greece to see how you are. I told her about the kisses. She and John are still having health problems but are hanging in there. She asked that I give you a kiss from both of them (I did that). I went to the National Rehabilitation Hospital (NRH) today. It seems like a busy place and its location makes it hard to get to. They have a dedicated brain injury program and use a team approach for rehabilitation. I hope to check out the one in Shady Grove too. I suspect that NRH will be the place to go if the health plan doesn’t give us a hard time. 27 When I arrived, they already had you sitting up in a chair. You look good and your numbers are good. You gave me a kiss today too. You still don’t hold up fingers as we ask you too. But you look alert. Come on my baby, I’m shedding tears as I write this. I need you to be aware so badly. You really are moving around a lot today and that is a good thing. Hopefully you will be doing the finger bit. Joe called. They are back from their trip to Vietnam. They will come to visit. Police Officer Becky came and stayed about ½ hour. She had to leave to go fight crime. A new Dr. showed up today, his name is Westerman and has taken over from the trauma surgeon as the admitting physician. He is going to help check out where the best rehab place is for you. Joe and Debbie did come and said they had a great time in Vietnam. She suspected that one of her meals (at least) consisted of dog meat. Niko came too to be with you and after we left at 6PM Connie called to say she came and we just missed her. Lot’s of people called me at home to include Uncle Alex and Harry who is keeping close check. This was the four week anniversary of the accident and I was miserable. . Day 29 (Wednesday, November 10, 2004)—I arrived at 7AM and Dr. Panagos, the physiatrist, came shortly after that and said he will have a meeting with the Social Workers to discuss what’s next for you. He is encouraged by you progress. The night nurse said you were really moving your left leg a lot. I did your morning arm and leg exercises. I just saw you moving that left leg up and down – yea!!! At 8:48 AM you gave me a kiss on the cheek. I just plucked some hair from your face. By the way, you are on straight room air right now—no extra oxygen but some moisture and you seem to be doing very well indeed. They put you in a chair about 10AM and by 3:30 you were back to bed and exhausted. They will be giving you a head CAT scan this evening. They are doing this to determine if they can give you heparin that is a blood thinner. They are cautious given that you had blood on the brain caused by the accident. 28 Bob came and brought me more food to take home. This time it was breasts of chicken in wine sauce and real mushrooms. Joe came and took me out to lunch. We went Chinese and I ate no rice. Debbie would have come but today is the maid’s day and she wanted to supervise. Pauline, Jackie and Jeff came today. Shawn the Social Worker told me that two places have dedicated brain injury programs. They are the National Rehabilitation Hospital in DC (12 miles away) and the other is Sinai Hospital (45 miles away). Sinai is part of the Johns Hopkins network and NRH is not. I hope it can be worked out that NRH will be the chosen location. The doctors here feel that NRH is great. Dr. Lee called in response to the fax I sent to him updating your condition. He is now aware of the rehab situation and hopefully will help us get to NRH. Niko arrived and wants me to read his resume. Later, Nina arrived and she spoke to you and stroked your arm. Niko is working on updating his resume. He’s tired of Oracle. He asked me to read it and make suggestions. I did. A neurologist arrived to give you an evaluation. He’s pinching and poking and you don’t much like it. He seems satisfied with your progress but his warnings of what might still happen even though of low probability were very unsettling. He said you could still have a seizure and even become hydrocephalic. Well, I cried again at home and I prayed too. The Candela is still lighted and I pray where I set up the iconostasis near the sink in the kitchen (the most East place in the house). I also pray in our bedroom where we have our stefana. I have never prayed harder in my life. I am kneeling to God to help you and to reunite us. Day 30 (Thursday, November 11, 2004)—I got up at 5AM, balanced our checkbook, did prayers, ate some FiberOne, dressed in a suit (one of my skinny suits, at that), and arrived at the hospital at 7AM. I was told you had a good night. I exercised your arms and legs. Nina (no not our Nina) the occupational therapist came and did 29 exercises too. She helped you apply lotion and clean your face so that you can remember how you did such tasks when you were well. Right now you are upright in the bed and you are listening to Greek music. I’m going to bring other Greek CDs for you to listen to. Rounds are over and as usual your numbers are OK. You continue to move but you still are not ready to put up two fingers when asked. Again, I say, I need to see you do that so very badly. They showed me how to suction you –get the mucus up and how to replace the trach tube. You make a lot of clicking noises with your mouth and I suspect this has to do with your injury. I asked about the low volume of the TV and found we were doing the wrong thing. The speaker is now on your bed and Regis and Kelley are on. Soon, I am going to leave and try to teach at Joint Counterintelligence Training Academy (JCITA). I hope that I can do it. I left your side at 10:30 and I really felt bad doing that—I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to teach. But, I managed to do the job and I think OK. I returned to you at 4 PM but the down side of the return was that I took the same route I took on 12 October, the day of your accident. It started me sobbing while I drove. You looked good but sleepy. You had been sitting up in the bed for most of the day. You were doing much better with your right hand and when I tickled your left foot you really felt the tickle. You are not holding up two fingers when I ask. I pray you will do so soon. Nick and Nina came (I don’t know if anyone else did). Niko spoke to you and Nina stroked your arm. Then Niko ordered a bunch of food from the Outback, picked it up and brought it to our home to eat. I had spare ribs and they were as tender as Red, Hot and Blue. they weren’t dry but they were good. Now I am watching…you’re right, Law and Order – next is CSI. Tomorrow, I go directly to JCITA from home to teach. I should be with you by 2PM. I love you baby. Every night when I go to bed I say good night to you, as if you were right here. Kisses to you, my honey bunny! 30 Day 31 (Friday, November 12, 2004)—this AM I was off to JCITA and it was raining buckets. I was saying to myself that if I have to drive 45 miles to Sinai under such conditions I would have big problems. The class went well. Joe insisted that I meet him at the Timbuktu restaurant where he fed me a crab cake sandwich. I did not eat the bread. I then hastened to your side and got here at 12:30 and found you in bed. Father Steve was here earlier and blessed you and found you much better. I called and thanked him. I got very good news when I arrived (no you are not yet responding to requests) – Dr. Westerman (your new admitting physician) spoke to Dr. Garber, Medical Director of the USFHP and it was OK for you to go to NRH. I visited there as I wrote above somewhere and it looked like a very good facility with a dedicated brain injury team. The good thing, it is only 12 miles away; the bad thing is the traffic may be horrible but I plan to leave the house early when you are transferred there and hopefully avoid some traffic. The last time I went I started at 8 AM which is probably the height of traffic problems. The transfer may take place next week sometime. The big deal at NRH is that you must show recovery progress or they will place you in a skilled nursing facility. So, my doll, you need to get to the point where you hold up those magic two fingers. Today is one month since that terrible day. I said prayers this morning in front of the stefana and where I have the Candela. Roula called this morning . Harry called too to invite me for lunch, I had to pass. Since it’s Friday, I plan to put $40 into our trip bank. In 30 days you have come a long way given the extent of your injuries. You are very active on your left side now. You are gripping with your left hand and you are now jiggling your left foot and even repositioning your left leg. All good stuff! I was told that when the occupational therapists were working with you this morning that you were helping support yourself. Again, all good stuff. Nick and Nina wanted to go to Ambrosia and we went to see if the new one was opened, if not we would go to the Ambrosia Café. Well, 31 the nearby one finally opened on Monday. The food was good but the service not so good. What would normally would take us 45 minutes took us 1½ hours. They will need some shake out time. When I returned home there was a call for the Canadian cousin. I received the police report of the accident and Purcell is now officially at fault. I still can’t believe what he did to you Day 32 (Saturday, November 13, 2004)—I am still making the bed every day but I must admit that I have not washed the sheets yet. I gave them the sniff test and they passed. I put $40 into our travel bank and called Greece. Marianna answered and I spoke to Gregory too. Of course, I cried. So, here I am again. You were not being too modest as you keep pulling your sheets up and exposing yourself. They even tied them at the bottom but you managed to uncover yourself. You are really moving your left leg and foot a lot. We exercised and maybe soon you will be holding up two fingers when asked. I’d like to think so. I think that you are more aware of what I am asking you to do today. It seems like you are very close to holding up the magic two fingers. I went to the commissary to pick up a few things. When I returned you had Nick, Nina, Connie, and Vicki all visiting with you. You were in your chair for 4 ½ hours today (you love to slide down when there) and now you are back in bed and zonked out. Sitting up seems to really tire you out. I am now going to eat my cheese sandwich. It is Saturday and I will fast from meat with the idea of going to church and taking communion. The sandwich was good and I ate two little apples too. The vegetable drawer in the fridge is full of them. I’ve thrown a bunch of stuff away that expired (the yogurt) or spoiled (the cauliflower). Day 33 (Sunday, November 14, 2004)—I came to see you at 6:45 AM and you were fast asleep with your legs (both of them) bent at the knee and brought up toward your chest. A good move! I stayed with you until about 8:45 when I left for church. They were going to 32 move you to the chair when I left but when I came back you were sort of sitting up in the bed. Apparently you were too busy moving around in the chair and they were afraid you would slide out without somebody watching you. When I’ve been here with you in the chair, you did keep sliding down even though we had a non-slip strip under you. I’m glad to hear you were moving but now that you are back in bed, you are fast asleep. Church was long today. I didn’t get out until 12:15. I received communion and in my mind asked for God to bless us both and to forgive our sins. During the Orthos, I kissed the bible and Father John asked about you. After church I went to the Navy PX to buy some stuff for you and for the house--then home to eat and to change clothes. Today, Terry Livanis called just as I was about to leave and she sends love and prayers to you. Jonathon mowed the leaves into mulch. So, while things are not how you would have kept them, they are not terrible. Nina and Tanya are working on your nails—shortening and filing them. Nick is here too. They went house hunting again and saw nothing they wanted. Mary and Athos came too. We sat you higher in the bed and turned on the lights so you are more with it and moving around. I played some church music for you and now we have the TV turned on. We did your arm and leg exercises a couple of times. Soon I’m going to go. Another day has passed and God willing we are closer to you coming fully awake. You’ve been moving a lot this afternoon and gave some hints that you hear me – you smiled when I said “I love you.” I do with all my heart and soul. Bobby called from Chicago as he and Kathy were to board their flight but since he called me on the cell and I was in your room, I couldn’t stay on the phone. He called again later when they arrived in DC. Alex Pattakos called too from Santa Fe. I ate cereal for supper, watched TV, said prayers and kept the candela burning. Day 34 (Monday, November 15, 2004)—it is cold this morning, 30 degrees to be exact. When I arrived you were sound asleep. We did 33 your exercises and Dr. Panagos came. You are still not putting up two fingers for him but I sense you are close. You kissed the Theotokou and Aghia Pareskevi this morning when I asked. We did your stavro (cross) together. I am now drinking some coffee and I finished glancing at the Washington Post. You have been put in a chair but you are not very alert today. This makes me sad because I don’t see your eyes and thus you are not responding or moving much. This pains me deeply and worries me a lot. It’s clearly impossible for me to write and catch the depth of my emotions on how much pain I’ve been in over the almost six weeks now. I cry in the morning and I cry in the evening and often in between. I am crying now because a volunteer group called “Touch Toys” just delivered a hand made doll to you. Here is what they wrote on the card: Dear Mrs. Pattakos: Please get well soon! We admire your courage! This comes from Touch Toys Volunteers who make ‘surgical dolls’ for children in surgery at Georgetown Hospital. Here is one of them for you. I called and thanked them. Oh my, there are good people around!!!! I just called a lawyer to represent us in this matter. I left a message on his voice mail. Things are complicated because while USFHP will pay the bills, they will also forward information about Purcell’s liability to DoD for possible recovery by them from him. According to USFHP, they could decline to do so thus I need guidance. Harry came and you were listening to Kazantsakis. You seemed to be enjoying the tunes and were active with eyes open. Harry is gone and they put you back to bed. They took out the catheter from your bladder because it is giving you an infection. They will be using pamper-like stuff. A reporter from the Gazette called. They will do a follow-on article giving your status. I will also send them my poem tonight. Another person who entered a week later than you, Helen, is now your neighbor. She is the one that had a simple nose procedure that 34 turned into a heart attack and now a coma. I pray for her two. I just heard some very sad news. A young man was in a terrible auto accident and came in a couple of weeks before you. Calvin, died yesterday. He was doing well and then apparently had a brain hemorrhage. May God rest his soul and give his family peace. His fiancé, Lynn, was such a sweet person and her Mother Judy was here everyday to support them. I am crying again. I will now pray for him, Helen and you. You seem to be listening to TV. At least your eyes are mostly open. The nurse is trying to wipe your tongue and you are not cooperating too well. You love to bite down. But you did let go when asked. Nick came, we left and we were bad. He ordered from Continental Pizza a small pizza and a sub. The lawyer called and we have an appointment for tomorrow. After Niko left the house, I faxed the police report to NBC (they were interested) e-mailed my poem about you to the Gazette and then I did the usual—watched TV, prayed, and cried. I cry at least every morning and evening and between Day 35 (Tuesday, November 16, 2004)—Roula called from Greece bright and early this morning. I had just finished taking my shower and was about to make the bed when the phone rang at 6:15. She missed me the other day by calling at 7:00 AM and wanted to catch me. She asked about you and then asked me to kiss you from them. I did that when I arrived. You were pretty much asleep but we did your exercises, we prayed and you listened to some Greek music about Thessaloniki. You are now moving around. This is your fifth week at Suburban. You move a lot but I’m waiting for the “big moment.” Rounds are over and as usual your numbers are all good. You still have mucous but you are spitting it up well. They suction you but not too often. The catheter to the bladder is out and they put a body protection lotion on so that your skin stays as beautiful as always. You are pretty alert this morning and now you are sitting in a chair. You seemed to help a tiny bit when they put you there (maybe it’s wishful thinking on my part). You heard a little Regis and Kelly and now Jane Pauley is on with her new show. 35 They checked your urine and you have a bug that can be transmitted. Right now I sit here with a gown and in gloves. You are under isolation conditions. They said it’s unlikely that I will have any problem but they are also concerned that I not transmit the bacteria to others. These gloves are not fun (my hands feel clammy) but the gown is ok. It is awkward typing. I am now back from the lawyer’s office. His name is David Lease and he is a friend of Niko’s friend, another lawyer. He is a local guy. We now have a lawyer to take care of us and guide us through all of the possible rocks in our path. Since he knows of your heroism and as a friend of a friend he will charge us $200 per hour rather than his usual $250 per hour. So, now if anything comes up associated with the accident, I will refer them to our lawyer. I left early for the lawyer so I could go home and clean the front garden areas. I cut stuff that looked weather worn and picked up leaves. I did some blowing and I washed the area too. The area looks OK but as I’ve said before, not as good as you would have done it. I am in the gown and typing with the gloves on. I was never great typing with my two fingers before, now it is truly a mess hitting multiple keys. You are still very alert and moving. Great!!!!!! Father Steve came while I was out and spoke with you, reported the nurse. I’m sure he blessed you too. Becky visited today too. When Niko came we went out to a chicken place in Bethesda to eat (my treat this time—he’s treated many times). It is called Chicken on the Run and is on St. Elmo street. The chicken was really great, very tender and very moist. Then I went home for the usual – prayer, TV and bed--I am sleeping better now. Day 36 (Wednesday, November 17, 2004)—bright and early this morning I went to CVS and bought you a new pair of stockings to wear with your nifty boots. Tonight I will wash them with other stuff. When I came in you were sort of awake and we did the exercise bit and said our prayers (the Our Father in Greek and in 36 English). The nurse is in now and she just suctioned you and did not bring anything up—a good thing. Soon I’ll sit in (really stand in) on rounds. They are cleaning you up and then off onto the chair. I just came from lunch with Harry. He and Mary Anna send their very best to you. Mary Anna still has a cold. You are currently listening to Greek music and I will be helping you do your exercises. You showed the nurse two fingers today and you look very alert. You are back in bed (after 6 hours in the chair). You are tired now so I guess that is why you are not cooperating too much in holding fingers up etc. The Social Worker came and said all is set for your transfer to the National Rehabilitation Hospital (NRH). Since you have this infection, it requires a special room there so we are still not sure when this will happen. Channel four called. They are still interested in your story. They are waiting to find out what happens to Purcell. Nick and Nina came and I left to do work at their home. I did the wash when I got home but, of course, I forgot to throw down my towel so it did not get washed. I am now using yours. I ate a meal prepared by neighbor Susan (she insisted) and then did the usual, prayers, TV and bed by 9:30 PM. I woke up at 3:30 AM. It bothered me that the candela did not make it through the day and I went looking for an alternative. I’m using a demitasse cup; we’ll see how that works. I did sleep after that. I wrote a poem to try to alleviate my pain but it still hurts. Here is the poem, it is long, not very good but it does express my feelings. My Maria Maria, you are my life and my bright light. We have been in love and together for years Your warm support has dispelled my fears 37 You always help me reach the highest heights Your strength in adversity helps me win fights Your compassion and wisdom sets things right. Maria, you are the brightest part of my life Together we’ve endured so very much strife I survived many tribulations because we are one Your warmth and nurturing ways are like the sun There are many ways to express words of love: My all, my soul, my flame, my heart, my dove, All seem so very special when I say them to you My heart sings out as I see how our love grew Hugs and kisses bind us firmly much like glue We don’t do things found exciting by some But we think what we do is simple fun We enjoy movies and sit in our room built for the sun Some folks thought it strange when they took my measure When I drove you here and there for shopping and pleasure I didn’t mind, not even a bit, for after all you are my treasure You’re called a hero for saving a child one fateful day Now you are in a hospital with grave injuries you lay I did hasten to your side and oh sobbed so very deep It is hard to believe, it’s like a nightmare’s sleep Such misfortune makes it hard for my sanity to keep My love, my sweet was hit by a pick-up truck Oh, my God what abysmal, horrible, bad luck I wander the house doing things you used to do And I cry because they evoke memories of you Visions without substance are not real, not true This causes me pain; it makes me so terribly blue Watching TV I reach for your hand but alas it’s not there And for me this blossoms into a hurt so very hard to bear 38 Even now you must know how very much for you I care This whole situation for you, for me, leads to despair I’m told “be calm” you’ll revive soon and be here I’m just very anxious it might not be quickly I fear I continue to cry for you and shed so many a tear All say “be strong” and I listen and even try to hear I try to be brave and powerful for you my very dear You show a little bit of progress each day-by-day You are standing right on the threshold they all say When you cross that very line we will shout hooray and look to the future as you rise from where you lay Maria, you are my bright light, you are my life, you are my wife. Day 37 (Thursday, November 18, 2004)—Gregory dreamed of me last night so he called from Greece at 6:15 our time—I was awake, had already showered, dressed, and, yes, even made the bed. I told him that you were progressing and soon would go to NRH. I asked him to send me some water from Aghia Pareskevi and he said he would also send me some aghiasmo. When I arrived, you were fast asleep. Per the nurse, you had a very active night moving all over the place. You seemed to settle down when I came and spoke to you. Now you are moving again, have your right knee up and are holding it with your hand. You even grabbed the bottom of your right foot and brought it up high. The nurse just came in to clean you up. I have not tried the “hold up two fingers” bit yet with you this morning since you seemed so sleepy. I did play Greek music for you and soon we will exercise. I did ask for two fingers after you raised all five and I got a response – you folded two fingers over your thumb. Another thing you did was respond when I said kiss me without my cheek near you lips—you puckered up and kissed in my direction. Rounds are done. Your white cell count is well within the normal range and no fever thus it is unlikely that you have an infection. You 39 do have a high sugar count so they are giving you insulin. Off I went about 10:00 AM to go get gas, get some stuff from the commissary and then home to power wash the front porch area and walkway. I got the major dirt off but I think this spring we’ll get professionals to do the work and the back porch too. I ate a little lunch and was back here at noon. I like to be near you. I got a copy of the Gazette and there is an article about you in the paper. I have a copy. They did not publish my poem. Well, it is far from professional but it does portray my feelings. You are in the recliner now and very alert and active. You are doing something new with your left leg—you bend your knee (which you have been doing) and then straighten the leg—which you have not been doing. You are listening to Dalaras right now. I decided to rotate the music you hear so things are fresh for you. Well, I put the Eleftheri CD we like on too since we haven’t heard it for awhile. After 5 ½ hours you are back in bed. Joe came today and brought me a hunk of cheese. Later Nick and Nina came and we went to Chicken on the Run. You were very missed sitting outside to eat. Imagine, it was the 18th of November and we were eating outside. I dripped some grease on my jacket so when I got home I washed it and the pants I was wearing too. Dr. Westerman, your admitting physician, called me and said they would be moving you to another floor since you are so stable. Day 38 (Friday, November 19, 2004)—I came here earlier than usual to make sure I was around when they moved you to another room. I took down all of your bulletin board stuff. I also packed your beauty stuff. But, as of 9:30, you are still in room 2440. The word is you will move when they find an isolation room bed. I think that they’ll wait to get the word that you need not be isolated and then move you. Stacy and Julie came and moved you into a chair. You are only supporting yourself a little during the transfer. You have the strength but bend your knees. I really don’t have to exercise you now since you move so much on your own. 40 Pauline, Jackie, and Jeff came. They stayed awhile and were most impressed on the way you move now. I washed your hair, combed it, put cream on your hands and face and even put a little make up. I just got a call from the Detective Ratnofsky who investigated the accident. Purcell will be cited and will have to go to court. There is no pre-determined amount or other penalty and there will be a prosecutor there. I will be advised of the court date. I let our lawyer know about this and NBC4 news is very interested. They have been following your story very closely. I asked you to kiss me and you did and then I asked you to show me two fingers and you put your thumb between the first two fingers. They just put you back to bed and you sat up on your own in the bed – yeaaaaa. When I got home, there was a message from State Farm saying they are prepared to settle to the limits of their client’s liability. They asked that I call on Monday and advise them of your condition and to discuss the settlement agreement. I emailed the information to our lawyer. Bob called from California where he was on business to ask about you. Otherwise, the evening was the same as other evenings, lonely without your hand to hold. Day 39 (Saturday, November 20, 2004)—good morning my sweetheart! I had to search you out, they had moved you first thing this AM. You are now on the fourth floor and the room is not nearly as classy but you are in a private room. My little corner is not as good for setting up my computer because the lighting is poor. I spoke to Gregory and then to Litsa in Greece today. They are both praying hard for you. Thano celebrated his birthday on the 19th –a week late (he was born on the 12th) because that is when Marianna could take off from work. I didn’t ask who came to the party and other details so I can’t tell you that. I also forgot to ask if he was walking yet. I’m a guy and I didn’t think to do so. Anyway most of my thoughts these days concern you and my poor brain has little room for anything else.. 41 Before I came to the hospital, I went to Penny’s and bought two nice long-sleeved shirts to wear under my other shirts in brown colors. I had no shirts of that color—I had gray, black, white, blue, but no brownish. The doors to Penny’s opened at 7 AM and I was out of there by 7:15 AM and then I came directly here. You were fast asleep upon my arrival. I try to wear different clothes every day because I think you would want me to. They moved you from the ICU to a medical ward and I am not happy with your new location and the level of care. I told them that you needed cleaning at 8 and they didn’t do the job until 9:05. They had many excuses. I have complained and I am very angry--too bad since things have been great at this hospital until this point. I hope you’ll be moving to NRH soonest where they will give you intense therapy to get that brain of yours functioning. You are now in a chair listening to Greek music and moving your legs and arms. I have not asked you to raise two fingers yet but we did our morning prayers and you kissed the Icons. They seem to be taking better care of you now. I think the problem was that they transferred you right around a shift change and everyone was running this way and that. At any rate, since I voiced my displeasure people have been particularly pleasant and attentive. I changed your music to Eleftheri’s Filakia (Kisses). I took Niko and Nina out to lunch for all you can eat chicken at Chicken Out—it was not too good except for the sides. After I finished and returned I remembered that I wasn’t going to eat meat on Saturdays. I did eat mostly side dishes but I feel bad that I ate meat. Since I didn’t eat meat deliberately to be bad, I guess I might be forgiven. I do not plan to go to church tomorrow. This weekend (starting Friday) they have been celebrating the church’s 100th anniversary. Tomorrow, Arch-Bishop Demetrios will participate. I expect the services will be particularly crowded and the service long. I will be here with you. You are now back in bed (3PM) and fast asleep. You are tired from exercising so much while you were in the chair. Some good news is 42 that you were bearing your own weight when they got you on your feet for the transfer. Again, I say, while I see baby steps of progress it hurts me that we really have a way to go until you communicate. I long and pine for that day. You are my angel and I need you. Niko and Nina viewed with me another mini-milestone of yours. You turned yourself on you side and, here too is a good one, you pulled your pillow down to better adjust it to your head. A good WOW and YEA to you! Mike Vidos sent you flowers and had a very nice card that said how wonderful the news of your progress is and his prayers for more of the same. Day 40 (Sunday, November 21, 2004)—I got up a little later than usual—6:21 to be exact. I took pills to sleep. They were needed. I was disturbed yesterday because of the room change and the initial lack of response for your care. Now they are very attentive. Roula called bright and early and in fact called when I just finished showering. I even spoke to John. They both send their best wishes and prayers to you. They asked I give you a kiss from them. Since I am mentioning Greece, I mailed a card and sent the Christmas gifts and village expense money to them today. When I arrived, they were cleaning and changing you. After that we prayed together. Following this you sat in the chair. You supported your weight during transfer. You are very alert and listening to Greek music. Earlier I played famous Beatle tunes for variety. With the Greek music you seemed as if you were trying to sing along. Results from one urine culture came back today and it looks OK. Tomorrow we get the results from another and if that passes muster, we can take off the isolation sign and perhaps accelerate the move to NRH. The PT person came in and you sat upright in the chair a little bit and then they got you standing and again you held yourself up. This is very good physical progress. You inserted your thumb between your two fingers when I asked you to show me two fingers. Today you are moving your lips more and I’m wondering if 43 you are trying to say something. You are holding up your head and really want to chew on something which right now is your gown. Visitors today included: N+N, Tanya, Mary Hazianis and Harry. We left about 5:45 and I went to get my meds at Rite Aide, of course it was Sunday so when I got there it was closed. When I got home all the leaves were picked up and in cans. I think the leaves are all done. Jonathon (and Tanya too, I guess) did the job. When she came to get the blower, I gave her $40 for Jonathon. Following that I did the usual to include my evening cry out of loneliness for you. Day 41 (Monday, November 22, 2004)—I cut my hair. It was sad because you do that for me. As I’ve said elsewhere doing the things you did is painful because they remind me of you and of us and you are not with me. I’m even tearing as I write this. After showering and prayers, I ate my cereal and then off I went to you. When I arrived they were washing you. I went to the cafeteria for some coffee and I bought some bacon to add to my pita and cheese sandwich that I made at home for lunch. When I came back, I massaged your legs and arms with lotion. I put Avon stuff on you face after cleaning it and some lip gloss too. We said our prayers. As usual, you are pretty sleepy in the morning. The nurse said that you had an active night. I turned on Channel 7. At home, I am still keeping the candela lighted 24 hours per day and I change the wick daily. I pray for you twice before I leave home (in our bedroom and then in the kitchen) and I pray for Helen too, the Lebanese-American women. God is listening as you improve a little every day. But, I am still waiting for you to communicate with me. Stacey from PT came to get you into the chair a little later than usual (11 AM). You sat a bit at the edge of the bed and then upright holding your own weight. You are supporting your weight but liked to lean your head into Stacey’s shoulder and bite some. After she got you into the chair she did some exercises with you. I then left to go 44 to Right Aide (again) for my meds. You like to chew on your gown and even wires if they are handy. I came back and had my sandwich and sat near you after I ate. You are now listening to Greek music while sitting in the chair. The latest lab cultures came back and there is still something there. The nurse must discuss this with the doctor. I just spoke to Dr. Rao VP of Clinical Services at NRH. They have a negotiated contract with TriCare for $1700 per day but USFHP countered with $1200 per day in a fax that NRH received at about 3 PM. I don’t understand USFHP’s position since they are a TricCare provider. RAO will be meeting with his Chief Financial Officer and attempt to resolve the problem. I will call tomorrow at 9 AM to find out if I need to call anyone. I saw Dr. Westerman, your admitting physician, this evening and alerted him to the problem. He was writing an order to lift the isolation requirement. I called back Rao and he was glad to hear that isolation was lifted and then told me that USFHP basis their calculation at 70% of what they are asked for thus 70% of $1700 is about $1200. Dr. Westerman and I are ready to make calls, if required. The USFHP medical director is supportive but now the bean counters are involved. I reminded Rao that NBCnews4 is very interested in your situation and that might dropped into the conversation with USFHP, if needed. Day 42 (Tuesday, November 23, 2004)—this ends week six here at Suburban Hospital. Bright and early, Gregory called and told me he sent the oil from the Aghio Tafou and the water from Aghia Paraskevi on Monday. I came and kissed you hello and by the time I came back with coffee, Nina (no, not ours) came and did some exercises and put you into the chair. This shook up the nurse because she couldn’t do her morning evaluation with you sitting up. So, now you are back on the bed. Good Morning America is on and you seem to be looking at it. Hopefully, my ritual here at Suburban will soon come to an end and you will be at NRH not later than tomorrow. Dini called and 45 suggested that I ride with you when the actual transfer takes place and I will try to do that if they let me. The nurse is doing a very thorough check of you. You have no residual from your feeding tube which means that you are absorbing the food very well. She noticed that you still had some staples in your back (I saw four of them) and they will be removed today. She gave you your meds, vitamins, etc. through the feeding tube and your good to go back onto the chair. Ms. Mary is the tech taking care of you today—she is the one that cleans you, moves you, checks your vitals. She calls you sweet pea and is very, very sweet herself. She offers me coffee and wants to take care of me too. You are back in the chair, very alert, and waving your feet around. The isolation notice is gone and you are no longer contagious with a resistant bacteria that can spread on contact. You are smiling right now. I am doing some work that I can charge to BAI. Stacey the PT person came in and she has you standing with you holding onto a chair. You did terrific and you look great. You are now sitting upright in the chair with little support. I called out your name and you turned toward me. Now you are standing again followed by sitting upright in the chair. This is my most exciting day seeing you responding so well and so alert. I called Dr. Rao of NRH promptly at 9 AM and they will be in negotiation with USFHP and should know something by 1 PM. I’ll get an update then. I finally got him at 2:30 and they’ve gone back to USFHP asking them to accept the TRICARE rate of $1700/day. He will advise me by 4 PM what happens and who I should call if needed. I hope they solve this now and we get you there tomorrow. NRH is ready for you. USFHP keeps saying they are not a TRICARE provider when it says so on their card. I have faxed the card info to NRH after I found that USFHP rejected the NRH TRICARE negotiated rate. The guy at USFHP that rejected the NRH offer has now sent it up to the next level of decision making. The good news is that NRH contacted TRICARE directly and they 46 said of course you are covered and immediately sent a consent letter. You are scheduled to go tomorrow afternoon. Niko came and we chatted a little. You were asleep from all your activity but you did turn onto your right side all on your own. Joe Saul came to take me to dinner and we went to that Chicken-on-theRun that Niko introduced me to. He loved it and even bought a whole chicken to take home to Debbie. She wanted to come but she had a insurance physical to take. Aris and Uncle Alex called. Have a good evening my baby. You know, every night I say good night to you when I lay my head down to sleep. Day 43 (Wednesday, November 24, 2004)—his is the big day. You get transferred to NRH at 2PM. Judie, your nurse has come in to do her checks of you and all is OK Mary Owens cleaned and bathed you. I wrote a Star commendation for them. I did the morning coffee bit and read the paper. It is a rainy and somber day. Because of the move I did not bring my laptop as I had your stuff to pack up and move. They continue to feed you directly into the stomach using something called Isosource VHN in a 250 ml can at the rate of 70ml per hour. There are all sorts of vitamins and minerals, 2 ½ grams of fiber and 250 calories per can. I spoke to the lawyer and he sent a letter to State Farm advising them that he represents us. He has not heard back and feels things will get moving next week after Thanksgiving. You were put in the chair for an hour or so prior to getting ready to leave. You have been alert and active. I put nice smelling lotion on you arms and legs. The nurse said you were very active last night. Nick and The ambulance was a little late in picking you up and we didn’t leave until about 2:50. We arrived at NRH near 4PM and went right to your room 308/2. I rode with you in the ambulance and you were fast asleep on your side. I hit my head twice once getting in and the other getting out. Apparently I didn’t learn from 47 the first hit. Luckily I had a Greek sailor hat on my head thus only a little cut. Dini was worried that you might be scared by the move. As it is, I was afraid because here is the place that needs to help you get back to me. You have made exceptional progress but I am still very anxious. This place is supposed to be very good, all the doctors and nurses at Suburban rave about it. The VP for Clinical Services Dr. Paul Rao came by to greet us. He is a colleague of Dini’s. Nina came to pick me up and return me to our car at Suburban. Dino and Myrna are in town (they are staying with Connie) and they invited us to go to the new Ambrosia. I went but I was not very good company. I miss you so badly and I sort of felt guilty because you were not there. I came home and I cried. Good night my love. Day 44 (Thursday, November 25, 2004—Thanksgiving and I thanked God that you were not taken away from me on the 12th of October. You truly have come a long way since that date. You are now at your new location and the doctor that heads the team that will be getting you better came and looked in on you. He was very enthusiastic about what you can do. He said he is 99% certain that you will be back to being you within about six weeks. I’m sure God is listening and that he will help too. God loves you. I love you. When I came in, I decorated your bulletin board with your hero’s award, your pictures, cards and so forth. I hung the Icons, the cross and some prayers too. Later when Niko came, he had all sorts of pictures that we tacked to the bulletin board behind your bed. They sat you in a chair that was not nearly as nice as the one at Suburban. I hope they change that tomorrow. A new thing you did today while in the chair was to bend forward completely from the waist until your chest touched your legs without losing balance and then you were able to sit up without any help. Dino, Myrna, Connie, Vickie, Nick and Nina all came to visit you today. You loved the way first Myrna and then Connie rubbed your back and shoulders. I could practically hear you purring. You did 48 cuddle your head on them as they were doing the massage. Connie had not seen you for a week (she had a cold) and she was most impressed with your progress. Nick and Nina hosted Thanksgiving in their party room. They bought two turkey breasts with trimmings from La Madeline (Dino pitched in with the cost) and others brought stuff--Connie a ham plus salad, the others deserts and drinks. There were eleven there including a friend of Vickie’s. I left for home at 5 PM to find clothes for you to work out in. Later found out the others left at 8:30 PM. Good night my sweet—yes, I am still making the bed and trying to keep the house reasonably neat. The leaves are all gone and picked up. Can you believe that I actually have conversations with Pauline? Day 45 (Friday. November 26, 2004)--I was out of the door by 6:35 AM today and off to Silver Spring to get a SmarTrip Senior card for metrorail. Seniors (over 65) travel for half price. The store opened at 7AM and I had to wait ten minutes in the cold until it opened. I was first on line (I can hear you say, “Of course!). My next stop was to the nearby metro station to add $50 to the card. I am now ready to park at Wheaton and to take metro to NRH. It’s a straight shot to the Brookland station and then a short shuttle ride right to NRH. I got to NRH about 7:45 and found a good parking space in the garage. Parking costs $6 per day. Traffic was light. I brought you three sets of workout clothes, went for coffee and when I came back, there you were decked out in the lavender outfit. You looked very nice. You had a full schedule of therapy including the speech pathologist who also works on breathing and cognition, the occupational therapist who works on helping you remember everyday tasks and the physical therapist who gets you standing, sitting up etc. Each had an hour with you performed in half hour increments. Liz is the speech person, Olivia is OT and Natalie is PT. They are all in their late twenties (at most early 30s) and appear competent. A woman named Young is the nurse coordinator for the unit and Judie the nurse practitioner. You were put on straight 49 room air (i.e., 21% oxygen and off of the 28% you were getting). You are still getting moisture since you are not breathing through your nose/mouth which automatically adds moisture. With a little physical prompting, you rolled on your left and right side when asked by Natalie and did hold up two fingers and your legs when asked. Liz put her finger over the trach opening and you breathed through your mouth on your own. She said you did well. Later you did some edge of the bed sitting, standing and then sitting in a chair without a head rest. You sat up beautifully straight. A social worker came and asked what expectations I have for you upon discharge. I said I wanted you walking (at least with a walker) and, of course be aware and able to comb your hair and take care of your personal needs. She asked about our house configuration, and how I was doing. I said the usual – as you improve so do I. I did say that I still cry a lot but that we have good kids that check up on me. Dr. Paul Rao dropped in and asked how you were doing. He said I could stay overnight if I wanted. I thanked him but thought that it would be better to get some home time. I didn’t mention it but yesterday I visited a young Marine who was wounded in Fallujah, Iraq. He was shot and blown up. He was shot 13 times but the vest he purchased stopped 12. One got him where the vest didn’t cover. They reconstructed his thigh muscles using muscles from his abdomen. Oscar married Jennie when he was eighteen and she 17—married three years, no kids. They’ve known each other since he was eight and she seven. He told me the story of how his squad was ambushed and in big fire fight. He also told me how two Iraqi’s (a man and a woman) came out of a house to help the wounded. I asked him if he’d be interested in telling the story to NBC news. He said yes and I called my contact who was interested. Dino, Myrna, Vicki, Nick and Nina came to see you. Myrna rubbed your back again and you loved it. The ladies put lotion on your hands. They were very sweet to you. We all left when they came in to put you back into bed and into your gown. I went to Modell’s and 50 bought you two more workout outfits for the hospitals. I put $40 into our tin can bank for our trip. Day 46 (Saturday, November 27, 2004)—I called Greece this morning, from a health standpoint all is well. They are all praying for you. They are still in the village. All send love and kisses. When I arrived here this morning, you had a sitter and you had mitts on that looked like boxing gloves. Apparently, you were trying to get out of bed and trying to take out your PIC. They just cleaned and dressed you. I brought my computer in here for the first time today. On the weekends I will drive here because there is no shuttle from the metro so bringing the computer is no problem. We’ll see how it goes bringing the computer using the metro. The weekend occupational therapist came and did some stuff such as brushing teeth and hair with you. You wanted to chew on the toothbrush but you did help (a little) with brushing. She also put you in a chair without a head support and you are doing very well holding your head high. I tweezed you a little and we applied lotion to your hands together. You are belching this morning. As you did yesterday, you are displaying excellent torso control. You listened to some Greek music and now I have the TV on. If you knew how much it breaks my heart to see you like this, you’d jump out of the chair and off we’d go home. Baby, I love you so very much. The weekend PT came and exercised your limbs and a second one came later and had you sitting on the side of the bed. The weekend speech person is here and showed you some pictures. You really did not respond to them. We spoke to you. Dino and Myrna came on their way back to Delaware. Myrna is giving you one of her massages and you love it. Connie came and stayed for more than an hour. For lunch, I ate a big salad—no meat today so I can receive communion tomorrow. After about 3 hours in the chair holding your own body erect you are back in bed and relaxing. 51 Niko came and he brought a chicken from Chicken-on-the-Run located in Bethesda. I am waiting for your new NRH sitter to arrive. You had a sitter all night and through most of today. When I got home I did your laundry consisting of two workout outfits. I had cereal and some cheese for dinner. I finally did some desk work and caught up with the check book. In that department I have felt worthless since the accident. The other thing, even during warmish weather I have yet to go into our all-season room except to take the plants out. I’ve had no meat today thus I am ready for communion tomorrow. Day 47 (Sunday, November 28, 2004)—I got up early, paid some bills, glanced at the newspaper and got it ready for Tanya. I prepared and sent a birthday card to Dini with a check enclosed. I also wrote a combination birthday/Christmas card for Niko, again with a check enclosed for both occasions. Dini shopped for Nina from us. She got her a jacket from Jack and Jill that she admired. I wrote a $500 check for the Church building fund in your name. I left for church at about 8:30 via the post office. I got there even before the Orthos started. I lit five small candles and two votive candles. I said lots of prayers. Initially I was very weepy and then I had some peace as I heard the chanter Stelios sing. I received communion and then upon departure at the end of the service Father Steve gave me two handfuls of bread. My next stop was the commissary where I bought my milk, cereal and some other stuff. I also bought you two pairs of socks. When I left there I went home to change and to eat. I ate left over Chinese food and two wings from the chicken Niko got for me yesterday. I arrived ay NRH about 1:45 PM. They came to clean you and change your gown when I arrived. You also had support stockings on. My turn came. We said prayers and did our cross. We put lotion on your hands, I put moisturizer on your face. We then brushed your teeth. The nice thing was that when I said open your mouth to brush 52 your teeth, you did. When I said lower teeth and then upper you displayed the appropriate teeth. When I said tongue, you opened your mouth so we could do your tongue. You did not bite the toothbrush. You were weighed today and you weigh 110 pounds. Nick and Nina are here. She helped you brush your hair. With little help, you applied chap-stick yourself and made the right lip puckering movement. You are super-responsive today. Your sitter arrived and sat you in your chair for an hour or so. Your sugar levels were very good. Today (I guess it was delivered to the wrong place yesterday), I got a copy of the medical summary from your stay at Suburban. When you are ready, you can read it. Day 48 (Monday, November 29, 2004)—my big metro adventure came out not great but OK. I it took me about 45 minutes from the time I left the house. There is plenty of metro parking at Wheaton but I was surprised it is about a block walk to the actual station. There was no problem with getting a seat on the train as Wheaton is just the second stop. The Red Line is what I take and it only takes 16 minutes to get to Brookland (five stops from Wheaton) which is the Catholic U stop. From there it is a short free shuttle ride to NRH and they run every six to eight minutes at that time in the morning. I hauled my stuff in the green carry-on and it was heavy because this old lap top computer is heavy. Maybe I need a lighter one. You were sleeping when I came. You had a new sitter (Inez). You have three full hours of therapy spread out during the day until 4 PM. The OT (Olivia) came at 8:00 AM and helped you wash your upper body and put on your new top and pants. You did not help her do things the way you did for me yesterday. You didn’t like the fact she woke you up. You are helping brush your teeth. The speech therapist is here and blocking your trach and you were practicing breathing without it. You were breathing at 99% oxygen level and that is very good. We were trying to get you to say hi but I guess this will take time. Liz is reminding you about eating and drinking. She is using some substance that feels good on your 53 tongue. Natalie from PT came and you did a lot of sitting and standing with her. You supported yourself very well. The speech therapist (Liz) is back and again blocking your trach so you breathe on your own. She wants you to say hi or ahh but you are not complying so far. But, you are breathing well on your own. Now she is trying to get you to sign your name but you are not ready yet. I saw Judie the nurse practitioner today and briefly the doctor. You have a new sitter named Elizabeth. They have someone in the room 24/7. When I left this evening, you made me cry—when I said I loved you, you reached down, took my hand and kissed it. My trip home by metro taught me a new trick. When the train says “Silver Spring” they mean it. When we got there, all of a sudden I found myself alone on the train. They closed the doors, we went forward a little and then it started to move backwards. It was now on the other side of the platform after it switched tracks ready to head back where we came from – that is, downtown. Fortunately I figured this out, got out, crossed back over and took the train to Wheaton. I retrieved our car and home I went. When I arrived I found the package mailed from Greece by Gregory. The “Holy OIL from the GROTTO of the NATIVITY BETHLEHEM” leaked a little and got on the envelope. I’m now trying to figure out how to destroy it since placing it the garbage does not seem proper. We also received the water from Aghia Paraskevi’s spring in Hortiati. Day 49 (Tuesday, November 30, 2004)—this is week seven since the accident. I got up early and left the house at about 6:15, drove passed the post office, mailed the voucher and went to the metro parking. I did not like the green carry-on because it was too bulky. I switched to yours and it was still too bulky. I am going to try the roll on bag now. The trip in this morning was smooth but I did not much care for the bag I was using. I have to find something else. In the cafeteria this morning I saw Dr. Rao and later met the President of NRH. He was very nice and expressed interest in you. 54 You just had a nice bath and are dressed in your lavender outfit. I was told that you had a restless night. Olivia the OT was first on tap this morning. She got you up and you helped a tad getting into your chair. Off you went to a “quite room.” I stayed here in your room. Natalie (PT) said you did real well for about 15 minutes standing and sitting and then you got tired. Olivia (OT) came back and you brushed teeth and stuff and helped all the way. She thinks you can see based on your motions while at the sink. Liz (LSP) came and you were sleepy. She covered your trach hole to get you to breathe through nose/mouth. As I mentioned, this is to wean you from the trach. While they do this, they monitor your oxygen level to make sure you get enough and you are doing very well. Now she is putting a lemon taste on your lips and tongue to stimulate swallowing. It is time for Natalie and PT again. She too said you did great. Liz came and we put you back to bed (that is, I did). She is working on your mouth with the lemon stuff again. You are tired right now. Liz is trying to get you to acknowledge the smell and feel of a rose. No action! Now you are out like the proverbial light. Joe and Debbie came and stayed about 45 minutes. They absolutely thought you looked great and showed great progress. We received a beautiful basket of flowers from the ARTPC. It had all sorts of lovely flowers to include a dozen roses. I just got called by Detective Ratnofsky who is the accident scene investigator. Contrary to what he told me before, Purcell (the guy who hit you) only will receive a traffic citation with a fine of $55. Seems like the quirk in MD’s law is that if you were hit in an uncontrolled cross-walk (that is, no light) then he would have to appear before a judge but at a controlled intersection you just get a ticket. I let NBC4 know. When I got to Wheaton, I went to Target to get something lighter to use going back and forth. I found a rolling duffel bag that only cost $12.60 including tax. We’ll see how it works. Niko wanted to lend me his $100 one. When I got home I located the State Senator and delegates for our district 17 (whoops later I found out we are in 18) 55 and emailed them all about the ridiculous law. I also emailed our lawyer. Niko came to deliver some pictures he printed of Greece that I took when we were there so we could show them to you. Day 50 (Wednesday, December 1, 2004)—a new month starts today and it was gloomy and rainy. When I got off the metro at Brookland it was raining with gusto, fortunately the shuttle was waiting. It is supposed to clear this afternoon. You were awake when I arrived and your sitter was cleaning you up. I went to grab some breakfast in the cafeteria. I read the paper while eating. Then I bought parking discount coupons for the weekend—you save over half. I’m learning the ropes. There is no shuttle on Saturday and Sunday hence I will drive those days. I’m getting used to metro and even read one of the free newspapers available at the metro’s entrance while riding. There are plenty of seats. Therapy has begun with the arrival of Olivia the OT. You worked together on getting dressed and are now doing your teeth and brushing of your hair, face washing, etc. in front of the sink. You did a lot of smiling but didn’t seem to want to open your eyes very much. Now it’s Liz’s turn, the speech therapist. We arranged it so she got to you before PT wiped you out. She is trying to get you to say ahhh. No success yet. Then it was time for the lemon thing to help you relearn swallowing. You were reacting to stimuli—you held a pencil and even made a line. You have lots of stomach gas right now and are uncomfortable. Here comes Natalie and PT. You did standing and stuff with her and she tried the walker too for you to stand. You even took about ten steps each for three times with just a little support in shifting your weight. Pretty impressive! Right after PT, Dr. Russell a neuro-psychologist came to do a psych evaluation. She spoke to me and I told her how great you are. It is now afternoon and another round of therapy begins. It’s Olivia and OT used the time to re-introduce you to the toilet. You did not use it but you did help pull down your pants. So again, little baby steps forward! Dr. Makki came and changed your trach to a smaller size so you can breathe better and be more comfortable. This should eliminate air stacking that causes you to belch. The trach change 56 was fast with a little blood since you had a scab. The trach is stainless steel (a size 5) while the older, larger one was plastic. It has a plug that can close the trach to facilitate you breathing through your nose. Also, you no longer need to get humidified air. It’s Liz’s turn now. She is very enthusiastic about the fact that your trach is changed to a smaller size. The sound of your cough is much different with the new trach and thus it should facilitate your talking. She is trying to get you to say hi or ahhh. Still no success! Tomorrow, maybe some eating and drinking, Liz thinks. It’s PT time again and you did walking without the walker with one person on either side of you. You did a really good job of moving one foot after the other. They then took you to the therapy area where you did more walking. They worked with you propelling the wheel chair. Dr. McCarthy came and was his usual enthusiastic self. He insists you will be fine. They had a team meeting and they feel you are making great strides. It appears the consensus is that you may be here for up to three months. I hope it is sooner for my sanity but, of course, you must take the time you need to be well. Pauline, Jackie and Jeff came and so did little Jenna. They had a tough time finding the place because Jeff missed the turn. Now that they are experienced the next time should be easy for them. You slept during most of their 45 minute stay The trip to the metro was not fun. A light was out on the route the shuttle takes and the 10 minute trip took 25 minutes. When I arrived at Wheaton I drove to the Sports Authority on Rockville Pike and bought you two more pairs of workout pants. Later I found another set in you closet. You are well outfitted now and it relieves me of the requirement to wash as frequently. Day 51 (Thursday, December 2, 2004)—I called Gregory after he called me last night to ask if I received the oil and the water. All is OK but Thano just got over a bad cold. When I arrived, I was surprised that you now had a roommate. She too needed a sitter because she tried to get out of her bed. So the sitter now watches and 57 cares for you and her. Miss Winnie can communicate her wishes as she can talk. Niko came last night after I departed and he left a note on the white board that reads “Hi Mary, I hear you are walking. Wow! Love, Niko.” He brought special pens for use on the white board. My table for the computer was gone but they brought me another one after I asked. It took them two hours. Seems like the admin person couldn’t get one until I said I was going to call one of the VPs who said call them when I needed something. I hardly got back to the room to call when the head nurse came and got me a table. We’ll see if it is here in the AM. Your therapists are working on you. Liz still can’t get you to voice anything like ah or hi. You are breathing OK with a plug in your trach. Next week the new one likely will be taken out and you will be on your own. Natalie, the PT is here and you went off to the PT room. You walked well by shifting your own weight this time and you needed a tad less support to stay straight. You’re not great with the walker as you tend to let it drift and then you step on one of the tennis balls. Olivia (OT) is working on you getting on/off the toilet. Olivia is back again and you did the toilet bit again. They are hoping to get you to the point where you actually go. You still close you eyes too much and I am still concerned if you can see with your left eye. I whispered to you earlier that you need to try to communicate and I had you feel my tears. I am dying slowly. The Post had an article that reported on a study that confirmed stress shortens life span. If this is true, my life span has been curtailed a lot. Please, please try to communicate! Liz is back and now you are going to try and eat a little apple sauce. You spit it out but then I got involved and with your hand around the spoon you did take a little taste and swallow. Next came drinking. You resisted until you grabbed the cup and then you did drink a teeny little bit and swallowed. Natalie (PT) came and I took one side and she the other side and you walked very nicely with good steps. We had two walking sessions in the half hour period plus a couple up and down exercises. 58 It really breaks my heart to see you this way and my eyes fill with tears. As I’ve written before, if you realized this you would leap off of the bed and away we would go hand-in-hand. Joe and then Niko came. Niko gave me his carry on to try out. We stayed awhile and then I left with Joe to meet Bob for dinner. We went to a Salvadorian place across the street where I park the car to take the metro in Wheaton. We all had the Salvadorian equivalent of mixed grill. Joe, of course, paid. He said that I am not allowed to pay until you are with us. Bob made me chili. Day 52 (Friday, December 3, 2004)—I got a late start today. I woke up at 4 AM with a headache, took two Tylenol and then slept until 7 AM. This is late for me as you know. I left without eating my FiberOne and when I arrived here from the Metro you were in the shower with Olivia (OT). This is your first shower in almost eight weeks and I missed the whole deal. Liz (LSP) is here now and trying the lemon on the lips bit to stimulate your swallowing action. You still resist in the beginning but eventually open. It is 9 AM but you are sleeping and really did not work well with Liz. I’m told you had a restless night and didn’t really sleep until around 5 AM. With Natalie (PT) and me, you did a lot of nice standing and sitting. Inez, the sitter, took you to the toilet to start giving you the idea of what to do. Liz came and she gave you some thick apple juice to drink. She put the cup in your hand and helped guide to your mouth and you did drink and swallow—a good thing. Liz gave you all sorts of kudos. Now, it’s applesauce’s turn. You did eat and swallow some. You then drank the juice again. You opened your mouth when Liz asked. Inez, the sitter, took you to the toilet and you used the toilet. Inez asked if you were finished and she believes you said “um-huh” and when you asked again she heard the same thing. Later when I rubbed your back and asked you if you liked that, you nodded yes, I do believe. Inez took you to the toilet and you were dry again and used it. Olivia came and you washed your hair (with some help from us) and you combed your hair a couple of strokes on your own. You did really great today. 59 I went to the cafeteria for lunch. I had a salad and a large drink. I guess I’ll eat chili tonight. They put a goals sheet up for you. At the end of the sheet they put the discharge goal that they presently show as February 24, 2005. I think you’re going to beat that date. Dr. Rao came to see you and to say he has a week’s vacation. He gave me the number of his deputy should I need anything. Your new sitter Josephine arrived, you had her before. I will take what you wore today and wash. Tomorrow I drive since they don’t have a shuttle on Saturday or Sunday. I am thinking of driving sometime during the week too if I can leave the house before 7 AM – I want to see what it’s like traffic-wise then. I must admit that I don’t like the shuttle part of the trip at night, it takes longer to get to the metro and is crowded. They sometimes use a van that is not fun getting in and out of. I got discount tickets for the parking. When it snows, I guess metro will be my best bet and safest bet. Niko came and after he stayed awhile we left and met Nina at an Italian restaurant on Connecticut Ave near Chevy Chase Circle. They then took me to my car. Day 53 (Saturday, December 4, 2004)—before I left, I put $40 into our travel bank. I had to fold all of them so more could fit. We now have $360. I drove the car since it is Saturday and I brought a bag of clothes to donate to the hospital. The trip in was OK and when I arrived you were fast asleep and your mouth was open too. You are not using the trach to breathe. They gave you a mild sedative for you to sleep better. Today is a light therapy day (1 ½ hours instead of 3 hours). I just washed your support hose and we are waiting for a second pair for you to put on but since they are not quickly forthcoming we put on other socks that I brought so you can get dressed. Your eyes are wide open and you are staring into space. I wonder what you are thinking. Bethany is your OT for today. You brushed your teeth and your hair today but not with gusto. I took you for a ride around the atrium. Monica came as your weekend LSP. She tried to get you to 60 ID Alec and Maia with yes/no questions but you weren’t quite there. She then worked on your facial muscles and your jaw. You cooperated with opening your mouth with the lemon swab bit. She asked a lot of questions to elicit responses from you but was not successful and she helped you by helping you nod your head. Alison the PT came and she got you up, into the chair and we went outside. You walked with us and sat on a bench together for a couple of minutes. I think that you enjoyed it. Your eyes were open and you were smiling. You did well on the walk back. If it is nice tomorrow, we will try again tomorrow with Niko. I am sitting next to you holding your hand while I write this with my one finger. That’s it today for therapy. You are due back in bed at three but first it’s time on the toilet. You did use the toilet. Great!!! Connie came and we had a nice conversation. You appeared to be listening. Nick and Nina just came and brought you two new tops. Now you are completely outfitted. You are very alert. I think that the sedative at night helped you sleep when you were supposed to and helps you keep alert now. This is the most I’ve seen you keep your eyes open. When I asked if you wanted to be kissed you nodded yes. When I went to kiss your cheek, you turned your head so you could kiss me on the mouth. Day 54 (Sunday, December 5, 2004)—I cut my hair this morning and after reading the paper went to Church. When I went up to kiss the bible, Father John pulled me aside and asked how you were I said you were making progress. He hoped that I was not deluding myself (or words to that affect)—I found this a strange response and I think it bugged me all day. When I got home at night I was completely despondent and cried myself to sleep. I was very depressed, anxious and tormented at the times I prayed to God. When I went to receive communion, I asked God if it could be for both of us even though only my name was mentioned. I am sure he approved. The Gospel reading today spoke of Christ’s visit to a Synagogue on the Sabbath where he cured a women who had been crippled for 17 years. He was criticized by the leader of the Synagogue for “working” on the Sabbath, contrary to the laws. 61 Christ pointed out that even on the Sabbath, people untie their beasts and take them to eat and to drink, should he do any less for a women who has been tormented for 17 years? The moral is that laws are guides that should not stand in the way of doing the right thing. Thus, I believe that God saw my communion as our communion. I left church right after communion as the service was running long as Father Steve was with the children and there were three memorial services. I wanted to see you. The commissary was my next stop, then home to change and eat. I arrived at the hospital about 1:15. You were dressed and in the chair. I kissed and sat by you and then we brushed your hair, brushed teeth, and put on lotion. I sprayed some Clinique on you. Connie came and found us in the cafeteria. I had taken you there for me to get a drink and then to go out to the garden. Connie and I took you there and we (you) went for a walk and you sat on the bench. This was repeated later when Niko and Nina came. This time Niko helped. So, today, you had two outside walks. Vicki and her friend Grant came later. Also today, Bill Torpey came with a beautiful bouquet of flowers. He was very nice and said he and his family have been praying for you and that you were in their special Thanksgiving prayers at Thanksgiving dinner. He kissed you on the cheek when he arrived and departed and said all on his contract with the Missile Defense Agency are praying for you. He wants me to come to their Christmas party lunch on 16 December. Vicki rubbed your back and you leaned your head on her shoulder and gave her a kiss on the cheek. We had a nice visit and I can only hope that you heard. Niko brought me a chicken from that special restaurant. I went home and was pretty miserable. Baby, I love you so very, very, very, very much. Finally, I cleaned the Sharper Image air filters and they were very dirty. I do not understand why they didn’t buzz or display the red light. They cleaned nicely but I need to be more attentive. The house is relatively clean. I do not go into the living room unless to water the plants so I pretty much stay in our 62 bedroom, the kitchen, and downstairs. Good night may sweet – I say goodnight to you every night. Day 55 (Monday, December 06, 2004)—I continue depressed. I need you to communicate with us. It hurts so much that you do not. I am supposed to be patient and strong but I don’t know if I can be strong. It is so painful. I had my bad thoughts this morning where I curl up on the bedroom floor and wither away until I become dust and then a puff of wind comes and blows me away. Before I left home for NRH, I said my prayers and pleaded with God for help. I asked Christ, the God, Mother Mary and Aghia Paraskevi to help. I drove in this morning and it only took me a half hour. The traffic was not bad so I figure if I leave by 6:30 the trip should not be a problem and about twenty minutes faster than the Metro/shuttle combination. With the discount parking the cost is about the same. Hauling my computer and other stuff around is easier with the car. So, unless it snows, I guess I will drive. I just spoke to MD State Delegate Simmons about the email I sent to him (and the other Delegates plus the State Senator) on the law that seems crazy by slapping people on the wrist if they hit people legally crossing an intersection controlled by a light. He received the email I sent on 30 November. He is very interested and is sponsoring a bill on negligent vehicular homicide and now must consider if serious injury should be included. He promises to get back to me. Delegate Barve called me—he is the House Democratic Majority Leader. He promised to have his legislative assistant check on the law that seemed perverse to him too. (As I said above, these people are not our representatives so they never did get back to me.) Liz the SLP is here working on trying to get you to make a sound. You are in your chair. You drank some apple juice and very important, swallowed. We tried to get you to say hi but you are not there yet. You did open your mouth as if (maybe) you wanted to say something but no sound came out. Later I gave you something to drink and you delayed swallowed for me. Natalie (PT) came and you 63 walked with her. She is trying to get you to move backwards but that still seems hard for you. You did do a good job of moving sideways. You went to the toilet and used it. Olivia from OT took you elsewhere to work with you. You opened containers. Now you are brushing hair and teeth. With help you do this but not on your own. You are pretty alert today. I wrote a note on the white board to tell people that I would not be in tomorrow. Miss Winnie your roommate read the board and said she would miss me. She is about 80, I guess, has Parkinson’s and when she had the deep brain stimulation ended up having a stroke too. Since you have been sleeping at night, you have been more alert during the day. Today when I asked “do you love me” you nodded yes. When I asked you if you would say “hi” you shook your head “no.” You also wagged your finger “no.” Liz the SLP came again and worked on your swallowing apple sauce and apple nectar. You swallowed quicker this time. You also sighed with a sound and all were pleased. Liz is working hard to activate your voice. You also mouthed hi. Liz was thrilled. Now it is toilet time. You sat well on the toilet but you had already wet. Natalie (PT) came and we put you into some elaborate harness. It helped you balance while you walked. You did a great job walking forward and turning. You worked on going backward and did better in that department too. I think you are pooped and you are now back in bed. Overall, you did very well indeed today. For the past week your blood sugar has been great too. It was just taken and it is 93. Tomorrow, I will teach and not be able to come. I put a notice on the white board telling the NRH people how to get me if required. I went to Linen and Things to buy you the pillows you. I got one in blue (me) and one in pink (you). Of course I was supposed to pick up my meds from Rite Aide but to hold two things in my mind was too much to expect. Day 56 (Tuesday, December 7, 2004)—this day concludes the eighth week since the accident and I will not be there with you. I feel bad and even as I was teaching, thoughts of you were wandering through 64 my mind. I think I did OK with the teaching. Nobody fell asleep. Tonight I did manage to get my meds. From Rite Aide I went home to eat chicken (again) and then did the usual. I cried when I entered the house because I felt so lonely without you, my dearest person. I only hope that you did as well today as you did yesterday. Day 57 (Wednesday, December 8, 2004)—again I drove in this morning leaving the house at 6:18 AM and arriving ½ hour later at NRH. The drive is OK at that hour in the morning. When I arrived you had already been bathed. I went for a little breakfast. I bring a two slices of low carb bread and a little cheese. I think I wrote this before. I brought the two pillows—one blue to remind you of me and one pink for you. I also brought some thick plastic hangers for the clothes and got rid of the terrible wire hangers. Other stuff included more wipes, moisturizing lotion, and beauty lotion to further enhance your beauty if that is possible. I used a special wipe on your face and used the moisturizing lotion for dry skin because you scratch your nose a lot. We did your hands together with beauty lotion and brushed your hair. You used the toilet. I saw Dr. McCarthy in the cafeteria and he told me he was cautiously optimistic with your complete recovery and he described other cases that he suggested were more severe. I did not ask what he meant by “cautiously optimistic.” Later in the room he told me that they would be doing a CAT scan. Today, the trach and the PIC line that goes into your arm will be removed. Liz the SLP is here. By email, I was told by Dini that I should not call her a speech therapist (ST) even though she does do that she does do more. SLP means Speech Language Pathologist. I sent Dini an email with my journal notes to let her know how you are doing and that is where she saw the ST reference. With Liz this morning you went outside since it was so nice. I stayed so you could work one-on-one with her. You nodded yes and did some swallowing but are still not quite there in voicing something. Natalie came and you worked on your standing to develop your endurance. I wish that you would keep your eyes open when doing this. You did stand well 65 although you tried to sneak some rest by putting your head down on the table in front of you. You would smile when you were trying to get away with that trick. But, we didn’t let you lie down on the job. You stood as much as four minutes during one set of standing exercises. The weather is in the 60s today so we will walk outside later. Olivia came (OT) and the first order of business was the toilet. You used the toilet and when asked are you finished you nodded “no” and then when asked a couple of minutes later you voiced OK, said Olivia. We put you back in bed for an hour before Olivia returns and you are really sleeping. Dr. Makki came and plucked out your trach (time: it took a split second) and covered it with gauze and tape (time: a couple of seconds). Apparently the trach hole heals itself. Olivia took you to the toilet and you did well again. Well, the schedule for the rest of the day in terms of therapy is now all screwed up. They took you away to do the CAT scan. So here I sit all alone. You came back at 3:30 and I had the sitter take you to the toilet and then to bed. I told the sitter to turn on a singing show for you at eight and Barbara Walters at nine. You received a beautiful vase of flowers from the OPSEC Society Board of Directors. The note attached said, “Maria, with our best wishes for a speedy recovery.” I just bought a 30 day parking pass that lets me come and go. I doubt if I will doing much coming and going but who knows. Joe called and I met him and Debbie at Ambrosia. I am glad that I did because I was very depressed. I guess I fear the family conference tomorrow. I’m not sure I can tolerate bad news. After dinner, I went to Barnes and Noble and bought a better map of DC. On the way back to the car I stopped off at Marshal’s to look for shoes that used Velcro. Putting on shoes with laces takes time and they are harder to get on your feet. I found a very cute pair, Polo, Ralph Lauren. Day 58 (Thursday, December 9, 2004)—when I arrived you were in bed and awake. We did our prayers together and then I went to the 66 cafeteria. When I came back, you were on the toilet and you used it. You had your new shoes on. They look great. I got your hair brush and you gave your hair a few strokes on your own. When I put the brush in your left hand and helped you, you decided enough and took the brush in your right hand and placed it on the nearby table. This leads me to believe you can see. You are certainly responding to questions such as do you love me. You nod at the appropriate time. While I am writing you are listening (?) to TV and are smiling. I am so happy to see that you are with it. I was very depressed this morning probably worrying about the CAT scan and the meeting. Natalie (PT) came and we put you into the walking harness. While doing that I hit you head and you clearly said OW and gave me a look. Your walking was terrific, forward and background. Congratulations are in order and you were smiling all over the place. Olivia (OT) did the toilet bit with you and you helped pull your pants up, later you helped wash your face and brush your teeth. Olivia came again and she said that you made some type of sound. When Liz came, you had some gas and you clearly voiced the word “wow,” earlier you did the same thing with the sitter. So, my darling, you are beginning to voice sounds and soon we’ll be talking. We had our first family conference with all of the therapists, Dr. McCarthy, and Amy Bressler Leonard, the case worker who interfaces with Tricare. Dini attended by speaker phone and she was well pleased with the reports as was I. Everybody gave you good marks for progress and all were optimistic. We are really waiting for you to burst out in speech. The CAT scan report is not yet in. You received a beautiful vase of flowers today from Craig Gundry and the S2 Institute – this individual was the instructor at the course I took in February in Florida when we stayed at the local historic hotel. Here is what the card said “Maria, we heard about your unfortunate accident. We are friends and colleagues of Pats. Our prayers and thoughts are with you. Please get well soon.” I was really touched. He sent me a letter and a CD to review a couple of weeks ago and I emailed him that I had not been at work for two 67 months and the reason why. He sent a very nice and supportive email back and now did this too. He is a really good guy. It is raining like crazy now and somehow I don’t think that the drive home will be fun. I left a little earlier than usual so my drive was not bad. Niko returned from San Diego called to invite me to dinner but I had already changed into evening wear so he brought stuff from Mike’s place. We then went on-line with the Exchange and ordered a new Dell notebook computer in silver that is much, much lighter than the black Dell I have, faster, with more memory and with a larger (double) capacity disk drive. I think of it as a Christmas present from you. We boys must have our toys. After Niko left, I sent an email to Howard and Martha Ferrell who sent us a Christmas card. I guess they didn’t get the word from the society about your injury. Day 59 (Friday, December 10, 2004)—today, you celebrated your 32nd year in the US. It is raining again and you are still in the hospital. What a way to celebrate! When I arrived you were still in bed. We said our prayers (we did more later), I went to the cafeteria to eat and read the paper, and came back to find you with Olivia. She was trying to get you to dress yourself. She was not very successful. In fact you took off the shirt she partially helped you put on. She brought you other choices of clothes to select and I commented that I had selected the original set. The look you gave me was something to behold. It was like “big deal, you have got to be kidding.” We all got a good laugh, to include you. You actually laughed out loud. Your behavior this morning was acting like a big tease. Olivia took you to the toilet and you used it. She said you had better everything today. Liz took you off to the atrium to work there. You don’t much like the apple juice and when asked do you want water you nodded yes. You didn’t swallow right away but when you did you did not cough. I suggested we put some sweet and lo in the juice. We’ll try that the next time. When you came back, you mouthed “thank you” to Liz. Is that great or what? Walking with Natalie was about the same. No big event to report. You went to the toilet and used it. I think your stomach is bothering you as 68 you are burping a lot today. You had a replacement SLP called Beth. She gave you stuff to drink—a thick nectar—to help you swallow. You were pretty tired. The CAT scan report is back. The sub-dural hematoma is no longer there. Another yea for today! They took out your PIC line too. That was a sort of long term line access to give you shots and so forth. The scab on the left side of your head also came off. It was still raw underneath so they put a bandage over it. A beautiful basket of flowers arrived when I wasn’t looking. The card said, “Mary. Get well soon. Our thoughts and prayers are with you. Mark Salser and Oracle’s TBU.” I called Niko at work (he was not in) and asked him to thank folks on your behalf. Salser is Niko’s boss. Becky called today. She is the police officer who was first on the scene of your accident. She will try to visit you next week. I left a little early because of the rain. When I got home I decided to finally do the sheets of our bed. So I washed them and some of your workout clothes, towels, etc. When the sheets were dry, I put them right back on the bed. I ate Bob’s chili with some coleslaw that I mixed in with it. I sent some emails to the correct delegates of our district. For some reason I thought we were in District 17 while the fact is we are in 18. The rest of the evening was the usual—lonely. Day 60 (Saturday, December 11, 2004)—Another rainy day! When I arrived you were in bed and alert. I sat on the bed and talked to you and asked you to work hard to talk to me. I must admit to crying. I am a little depressed this morning waiting for you to speak. I said I would die if you didn’t get well and you nodded “no.” The Saturday OT (Carrie) is here. She took you to the toilet, then to the sink, and now you are getting dressed. You are helping a tiny bit and you did pull up your pants. You brushed hair and teeth with help. You applied lotion to your hands. When she left I sat next to you and told you how badly I needed for you to talk. You did say some words. You distinctly said yes, no and nothing. These were 69 said at the right time. I asked if you wanted to do kaka, you said yes, but when you got there you changed your mind. You’re stomach is bothering you. PT (Meredith) came and we went walking using the parallel bars. You did very well. The SLP (Jan) came and you drank some nectar and ate some apple sauce. She gave you a pen and asked you to write Mary. You didn’t quite get there but after she helped you with an M you did write your own M. Also, you clicked open and closed the pen and you initiated that and also did it when asked. So that’s it for the half therapy day. You had lots of visitors today. Dino and Myrna came—she brought you Christmas presents. I will put them in the closet. We’ll open them here on Christmas. Connie and Vicki came. They brought you an 18 inch lighted Christmas tree. They put on gold beaded garland, a variety of colored balls, and bows that they made themselves out of ribbon. It is very cute. They also rearranged your flowers. Nick and Nina came too. Nina did your nails. You are really loved by many, many people. (Of course, I love you more.) I managed to get to the commissary 10 minutes before it closed. I bought a few things and then went home to eat supper. I had coleslaw and a cheese sandwich with Arnold low carb bread. We got some Christmas cards of people who didn’t know about the accident. I wrote them letters in response. Aunt Mary called and said you must get well soon so she can come to visit. She asked that I kiss you. The rest of the evening was spent in loneliness. Day 61 (Sunday, December 12, 2004)—it is two calendar months today since the accident. I gave myself a haircut and missed you. Gregory called this morning (6:30) while I was in the shower. I called him back and he was happy to hear of the improvements you are making. He asked that I kiss you from them. They got the check and they sent us the usual lottery tickets. The only lottery win I want at this point is you getting well. I did go to church and lit the two votive candles. I stayed long enough to kiss the bible and then left for here. It took me about 17 minutes from church and my map recon worked in taking the right streets. Father John, as always, 70 asked about you and also was pleased to hear about your progress. He says he feels guilty that he has seen you at NRH. Apparently, a lot of people are dying and need his services. When I arrived you were sort-of awake, in bed and dressed. We said our prayers and you smiled at me a lot but did not say anything. I really, really need to hear you speak to me. I got you up and we went to the cafeteria area. I got some coffee and we sat near the big Christmas tree they have. I did the talking and you nodded at the right places. You didn’t speak. Back in the room, I put on Thessaloniki songs for you to hear. Later, after you “ate” (through the tube), we went back to the cafeteria area (I got some diet coke to drink) and then when you seemed to feel cold off we went to the 3rd floor atrium for a ride around. It was cold there too. I must admit to being very depressed to the point that I cried. I tried very hard to get you to say at least one word and you wouldn’t say anything. I pray to God that you will speak soon. He has the power and I don’t. We both need Him badly. Niko came and we (meaning you) went walking between the parallel bars. You did well. Going home I went a little nuts. I reached for my cell phone and it wasn’t there. I had planned to go straight to Wheaton Mall to get some stuff but went home instead. I called the cell, no answer, I called the room hoping it was there and Loraine the sitter answered. Sure enough it was there. When I kissed you goodbye, it fell on the bed. You rolled on top of it and Loraine could not find it in time when I called the cell. She has now out it in the drawer and I will get it Tuesday. Relieved, I did go to Wheaton and bought a slotted spoon to dish out Bob’s chili. I looked all over for one the other day and couldn’t find it. Of course, when I got home I saw all the various utensils on the counter top. Oh well, we now have two, one black and one white. Of course, I couldn’t pass up the dollar store and got a small gold wreath to finish decorating the little tree Connie and Vicki got for you. I also bought a Crucifix made from olive wood manufactured in Bethlehem for your hospital room. I plan to get another tomorrow for the house. I also bought a new magnifying glass so I can read the DC map I bought. 71 Home, I loaded the pictures into the computer that I’ve been taking of you and what you have been going through—dear God, you and us have been walking over the hot coals of hell. Sweetheart, I am so sad and I’m crying while I type this. Day 62 (Monday, December 13, 2004) –I’m still crying this morning. I am still sad and depressed. Please, please dear God, help my dearest Mary speak. I went to JCITA all day to work on modifying one of the courses and to teach. Things seemed to go well but I have to work hard in keeping my emotions in-check. I called the hospital three times but couldn’t speak to anybody who knew how you were doing. When I finished teaching, I drove to Wheaton Mall and bought another Crucifix in Olive wood for our home. I bought a nativity scene made from olive wood to put next to your Christmas tree. Niko came to the house and helped me bring up our Christmas tree. I wasn’t going to do that but I figure the little grandkids are coming and should at least have that. Both Niko and Dini have been great through all of this. You should be very proud at how much they show their love for you and recognize what you have done for them throughout their lives. We got a card from Cathy in Florida and I responded by letter to let her know what happened (not too long later, she sent two Mass cards). Day 63 (Tuesday, December 14, 2004)—this day completes your 9th week following the accident. I know it’s been hard for you and it certainly has been the worst period of my life, ever bar none. The trip to NRH was easy today since I left the house at 6:15 AM. I set up the nativity scene and your Crucifix. I bought two little gold wreathes, one for the Christmas tree base and the other I hung on the white board to lend a little festive air. We did our prayers, I read Gregory’s card to you, and pinned his and other cards onto the bulletin board. Then I went to security and retrieved my cell phone. I just reviewed your weekly goals and you are meeting them. Olivia told me you did really well yesterday brushing your teeth on you own. Today I believe you said hello to me. I can’t tell you how great 72 this makes me feel. You are burping a lot today and the nutritionist came in. They changed the formula to give you more calories and maybe that is bothering you. They need to weigh you today and see if you need the more caloric new formula. We took you to the toilet and you used it and said yes when we asked you if you finished. You got up all by yourself using the side bar. We then said that you had to wipe, you sat back down, we gave you paper and you wiped and then got up again after throwing the paper in the toilet. Olivia came and you did a good job with her doing teeth and face, lotion, etc. Natalie came and you walked great to include backward steps. Honey, I am thrilled. I did a lot of smiling and so did you. We went with Olivia to a new area where they have lots of mock ups from kitchens to a grocery store—they call it Independence Square. You practiced getting into and out of a car. Liz is here and she told me that you said several words yesterday and even ate a cracker. Wow! She will try that again today since you are not too keen eating the apple sauce. You ate a cracker and followed commands for setting the table and said “yeah.” You mouthed a “no” when asked if you needed to go to the toilet. Also, from your actions Liz is convinced that you can see. Liz will schedule a swallowing study for you tomorrow at 0830. We walked with Natalie and you used the parallel bars that have a little incline on and off. You negotiated this well. You went forward, sidestepped back and went forward again. Outside of the bars, we walked back to your chair. A great job! I just put you back in bed to wait for Liz. You said “the hand” to me in Greek. I think it might have been hurting you as before the accident you were complaining that the edge of your hand bothered you. Later you said something else that I thought was Greek and when I asked you if it was Greek and said the words I thought you said you looked at me as if I was nuts. As I was driving home, it struck me that maybe you were saying “I love you.” I am trying to get somebody to trim your hair. I am having a problem. Half of the numbers in the patient handbook for “hairstylists” are disconnected. I went to the front desk on this floor, the security desk at the entrance, and the volunteer office. They know nothing. I have a call in to three others in the book. 73 Maybe Nina can do it. This week she is all stressed out because of exams and projects. This is the final academic bit for her being a teacher. Next, is her practice teaching semester. I left early to get to Shady Grove for a flu shot. The traffic was light so I got there early and they took me early. I got an ornament for the tree as we usually do each year. I will put one on the mini-tree in the hospital room. Niko called from NY to see how you are doing. Day 64 (Wednesday, December 15, 2004)—Liz and I took you to radiology where you took and passed your swallowing test today. You now can eat some real food starting today. Also, you walked using the walker while Natalie and I helped you just a little. You are not doing to well with the toilet bit and I am trying to convince you to tell us that you have to go. Your stomach is still bothering you and you burp. I called the VA and there is a person who does hair there and I am trying to convince her to come on Friday. She is hesitant because she does not want to leave her vets – I explained that I was a 30 year vet and that you were a hero. She will come. You did your teeth nicely for Olivia (OT) and other personnel care stuff. We went walking together with Natalie. You used the parallel bars and you went back and forth and then sidestepped back to your chair. You held on the bars and moved your hands on your own. The bars were cold and you didn’t much like that but you did well. You are making progress. When you were with Olivia the second time she typified your behavior as purposefully uncooperative. She actually liked that. However, when asked to hand her stuff you did. When she asked you to let go of her, you did. You even said a couple yes and no responses at appropriate places. I missed your first meal today. I went to BAI for their party and was back by 1:30 PM. The sitter told me that you ate most of your mashed potatoes, three spoonfuls of mixed vegetables, two of turkey, two cobbler and four sips of iced tea. Not bad for a first time at a meal with real food. I ate chicken wings, meatballs, and green beans 74 at BAI. You are in everybody’s prayers. The trip there and back took me about ½ hour each way. Pauline, Jackie and Jeff visited you today and they brought Christmas presents which I put in the closet so we can open them here. They were impressed by your progress. They especially liked the way you got up and stood to be weighed. You weigh 103 ½. I’ve a lot of laundry to do so I will leave at 4 PM. Leaving then it is still light out and so is the traffic. I love to see you making progress. Day 65 (Thursday, December 16, 2004)—your stomach is still bothering you as it did during the night. I spoke to Dr. McCarthy and he said he would get the GI doctor to see you. Dr. Brashears came almost immediately and wrote a bunch of orders that hopefully will relieve you. Olivia from OT came and worked with you on morning personal care. You are doing more and more on your own. The only glitch is the toilet bit. You did say “good” to her and “maybe.” Liz said you did well responding to requests and you said a couple of words. Niko called and spoke to you on the phone. You smiled all over the place but you didn’t say hi to him. Natalie came and we went walking with the walker and your stride was very, very nice. You walked smoothly and took many more steps before you had to rest. When I asked if you wanted my hands on the walker handles you said “no.” You’re walking better and better. Today you are wearing a top with some yellow in it and it looks very nice on you. I left for the Missile Defense Agency party and all the people were asking about you. They were very pleased with the great news that I gave them. They continue to say prayers for you. I went home from there and ran a bunch of errands to include buying a Victoria Secrets fragrance for you, a sports bra, and Pond’s face cleaning wipes. I also bought push-pins for the Hospital’s bulletin board. Niko called and said my new laptop computer was in and that he would come to set it up. He did come but we are having trouble connecting to the internet. We’ll have to 75 work on that later. I washed the stair runners and put them back on the stairs (so, OK, I am not up to your standards). I can’t seem to keep them smooth on the stairs. The rest of the night was the usual. Day 66 (Friday, December 17, 2004)--I got up early and did some email. When I arrived you were bathed, been dressed but still in bed. I showed you what I bought and you said “thank you.” That alone made my day. You went for a tummy test first thing this AM to make sure the gas is not being caused by something specific such as gall stones. We went walking with Natalie and you did very well both forward and side-step. You have been using the toilet more consistently starting yesterday afternoon. Michelle filled in for Olivia to do OT. Olivia was taking NRH patients on a field trip. You did a good job at the sink with your grooming. The VA hair dresser, Ms. Annie, came and cut/shaped your hair. She did a nice job of blending with the side that you had your operation. Natalie came and she did walker work with you. She will leave the walker so we can use it on Sunday. You were not cooperative with the fillin speech therapists. I think you wanted Liz. When I came back from lunch, I cuddled and kissed you and asked if you love me. You shook your head yes. I asked if you can say, “I love you” and you shook your head yes. I said you will make my heart sing if you say it aloud and you said “I love you.” They are withholding your food pending the GI doctor reading your test. They have paged him but no response. They are trying to find a vein to hydrate you but are not being successful given your small veins. Finally, they managed to find a vein but not until you said “ow” a few times. Joe came and showed me the pictures of his Vietnam trip. Debbie was to come but the curtains were being hung in their house and as all these people do, they were hours behind on the job. When I left you, I said that I loved you and your response was “good.” Joe and I went to the Chicken-on-the-Run place in Bethesda. 76 I received a TRICARE form to fill out about your NRH stay and they are seeking reimbursement from the auto insurance companies. I already did this once for USFHP but I guess another is required now that you are at NRH. I will complete the forms tomorrow and send them to the lawyer for review. I plan to send them to TRICARE on 5 January 2005. Day 67 (Saturday, December 18, 2004)—one of the first things I did this morning was to put $40 into our travel bank. I found you in bed when I arrived. Your first therapy was not scheduled until 11:30. You were sleepy but soon had your eyes wide open and the sitter then dressed you. We went out together and I took you to the ground floor atrium where I got coffee and we then sat and talked. You did respond with a word here and there. You are saying words more often now. We looked at the big Christmas tree for a little. When we came back to your room, we sat facing each other. You like to take off the seat belt. You did standing in place a few times and the then you decided to nap with your head on my lap. When the Saturday PT fill-in came we went to the atrium and you walked with the walker. You did great walking and maintained it for some time around the whole atrium. Your stride was very good and you did not pause much. You clearly are gaining strength. Then you walked between the parallel bars and walked forward and then sideways. Backward walking still needs some work. OT came and you brushed hair and teeth. We tried a transfer to a car from the walker but that did not go well because you were not comfortable stepping backwards to get close to the seat. After we returned you went back to bed for relaxation and some Greek music. Andrea another PT came and did leg exercises with you. Jennifer the fill-in SLP is with you now across the hall. When I asked if you wanted to walk there, you said “yeh.” I left you alone with the SLP so I wouldn’t interfere with what she planned to do. You wrote your name Mary using the Greek letter for “r” and a Greek “e” for the letter “y”—not bad. Nick and Nina came and you impressed them by unlocking your seat belt and getting up on your own. I then walked with you to the 77 toilet (more work needed there). You are now changed and in bed to relax for the rest of the day. Day 68 (Sunday, December 19, 2004)—I prayed at home, ate and went to the Orthos and lit candles there to include the ones in front (votive candles). Father John told me that Father Steve visited you and gave you communion and you smiled at him. You were dressed when I arrived at 9:45 AM but did not have your compression stockings on. I had the sitter do that. We then went to the atrium where you sat with me while I drank coffee. You took off your seat belt and wanted to get up so we did that and we took a walk. You are saying more and more words. I brought you fresh clothes today that I washed last night. You have plenty of outfits, however, about six of them. Bob and Kathy came and we walked around the entire atrium and then sat and talked. You said lots of words and kissed Bob a lot. I asked if I should be jealous and you said “no.” They brought me food to take home. Connie and Vicki came just after we put you back to bed. Connie had a slight cold so did not come close but Vickie sat with you. She asked if you had a good day and you responded, “so far so good.” I walked you to the toilet and the girls were very impressed. After some coaching you did use the toilet. Good, this is something we have to work more on. When I left I went to Bed, Bath and Beyond to get a new shower radio since the old one was misbehaving. I found a nice one. I went home, ate and started to watch TV when Niko came to the house to work on hooking up my laptop to the wireless network and to get my printer attached too. The poor guy worked hard and didn’t leave until 9 PM making sure all worked as it should. While he was at the house, Barbara from Ocean Pines called. Apparently Kathy had called her to advise of your stellar activities while they were with us at NRH. I guess she wanted to get the info directly from me and was thrilled when I mentioned your progress. She keeps you in her prayers and can’t wait for us to drive there and see them. Day 69 (Monday, December 20, 2004)—I woke up early today and finally had to get up at 4:45 AM. While driving the car, I noted the 78 thermometer indicated it was nine degrees outside. I can believe it because it felt cold and was probably zero with the wind chill. I arrived earlier than usual and went to the cafeteria, I thought it opened at 6:30 but it opens at seven. I came to the room and you were cozy in bed. We cuddled a little and then I went to the cafeteria for coffee. I chatted with the President/CEO for NRH, Mr. Ed Eckenhoff. He has been confined to a wheel chair for 19 years following an auto accident. He is a very powerful and positive personality. He founded NRH. Paul Rao, PhD (a colleague of Dini’s) joined us. Both were happy to hear about your progress. You have been talking to me this morning. No sentences yet but a word here and there. You are certainly aware and responding. For example, you took the pillow from behind your head and were lying flat. I said, “Honey, you look very uncomfortable that way, you should put the pillow behind your head,” and you did. Olivia came and you walked with her to the toilet and you used it. You did other positive OT things too. Natalie came and you used the walker with very little help making a complete turn around the atrium. Natalie and I are very pleased with your progress. You are responding more with words now rather than nods. When I said, “I love you,” you responded, “I love you too.” You really do not like being held onto and want to do stuff on your own. The sitter fed you your real lunch but I think you are supposed to try on your own, I’ll check. At any rate, you ate all of your fish, stewed tomatoes, and rice, finished your chicken soup and drank some ice tea by sucking it through a straw (and you did not bite the straw as you had in the past). In other words you did a good job eating, drinking, and thus swallowing. Liz worked with you in identifying objects and you did well at that but you were restless. With Natalie we went walking again and you showed her how you can now take steps backward. We tried a cane but you like the walker better. We went to see Oscar Cowan the marine wounded in Iraq. He leaves today for Christmas leave and won’t be back until March. We will be gone from here by then but I gave him a business card so he can contact us if he wants to. 79 Day 70 (Tuesday, December 21, 2004)—this is your 10th week since the accident and boy were you restless when I got to NRH. You were taking your socks off and fidgeting all over the place. You would constantly take the pillow from behind your head and move it to between your knees. I said you looked uncomfortable with no pillow behind your head and you would move it back. A few minutes later the same thing. When Natalie came you did the faux stairs up and down. Another wow for you! I left at 11 AM to pick up Dini, Will, and the grandchildren. They arrived right on time and so was I (of course). I even had time to find a new cell phone holster at a reasonable price. I had been hunting for one to replace the one I had ever since the old one kept falling off of my belt or the phone out of the holster. We returned to the hospital but I had trouble finding the way from route 395 when we got to DC. I wasn’t sure where to turn off. With Will reading the map I had, we did find the right road. When we arrived, Olivia was there to help you eat but you had attention problems when trying to eat on your own. The kids all loved seeing you. Dini and Will were most impressed with your progress. We walked to the Atrium and sat there and talked to you. You gave kisses to Dini; we did not let Maia come close because she has a cold. Natalie found us and you did the stairs again. You did well and you showed how you do the parallel bars both forward and sideways. Liz came and you worked on identifying objects but attention problems interfered, you kept moving to get up. One time you did get up and stepped on Liz’s foot and you looked at Liz and said “I stepped on your foot?” It’s nice to hear full sentences from you. Dini feels we need to concentrate on focusing your attention and she and Liz will discuss strategies for doing so tomorrow. When we left we went to the commissary to buy a few things and then home to unload. We went to the new original Ambrosia and had a nice meal. Next, Rite Aide to pick up my meds and finally home. Guess what we are watching with Maia and Alec. Yes, we are watching Law and Order. Soon it will be bed time. All seem to be tired. 80 Day 71 (Wednesday, December 22, 2004)—Will was already up when I came out of the bedroom to eat breakfast and get ready to leave. He was working on his computer and got notice he had another client. When I left, I went for gas and that traveled to NRH. Traffic was light. When I arrived you were fast asleep because you did not sleep well. You were awake until 4:30 AM. I went to the cafeteria for breakfast and when I came back your eyes were wide open. I’m not certain that you really know who I am and our relationship. I told you my name and the fact that we were married for 23 years. You do respond to me when I say I love you with “good.” You did repeat after I said it, “Arion, I love you.” We worked on your breakfast together. I led you to the spoon or fork and then you raised it to your mouth and ate the food on the utensil. You ate all of your scrambled eggs, all of your Rice Krispies. You worked well with Liz by naming things and communicating appropriate responses. You read words like cup and ball. You did ID Nadine by name with Liz but later said you didn’t know who your daughter was. This type of awareness seems sketchy. You were tired with Natalie and hot too. You did the parallel bars but not with enthusiasm. Dini is trying to get you to hum and you say OK but don’t do it. The sitter said you did not do lunch with Olivia too well. With Liz and Dini, you made Christmas cards for the kids by gluing some decorations to white paper. You are saying more and more now and not just nodding your head. You had a full house of visitors from the Doukas family. Harry, Michael, David, Jeannie, Caitlin, Alexander, and Christina were all here. They brought presents for us to open on Christmas. One was a nice picture of Christina, our Godchild who grows taller and more beautiful each year. When it was time to go to therapy you refused. Dini asked what you wanted, you said, ‘kisses’ and when Dini asked from whom you said ‘everybody.’ After everybody kissed you, you were ready to go. So, today was better than yesterday. Everyday and a little better, praise our Lord that it continues that way. 81 It was funny when I introduced the Doukas family to the staff. This is “Dr. Doukas, and this is Dr. Doukas, and this is Dr. Doukas,” I said. It sounded like the movie with Chevy Chase and Dan Akroyd Spy’s Like Us–Dr., Dr., Dr., etc. We went home and Joe and Debbie came. They know Dini’s love for crab cakes and they brought them for us to eat. We had a nice time conversing with them. Later Dini made dough so you could make koulourakia tomorrow at OT. She also wrapped Christmas presents. Super-mom in action! Day 72 (Thursday, December 23, 2004)—it is raining today. I helped dress you and you went to the toilet. Your breakfast came and you did very well eating. You ate a biscuit, most of your cereal, some eggs, and a few sips of grape juice. You had Trazedone last night to help you sleep better. Dini came and you all went off to work with Liz. They made a memory book for you. You read numbers and other things and told Dini not to sing. When she responded that Maia tells her the same thing, you said, “she’s right.” Earlier when I was trying to clue you to a turn, you said in Greek, “Don’t pull me.” When I asked how you were today, you said “I’m in trouble.” I tried to encourage you by saying your strength will get you well and you had the discipline to work hard and get out of trouble. I too feel very sad today. As I wrote, it is a rainy sad day and I guess your condition and the weather has me down. I do love you so very much that it hurts me terribly to see you this way. My eyes are full of tears for the third time today. I hope you get much better soon because I don’t know how long I can make it. Liz commented that you had the best day ever. You made a peanut butter sandwich and sat still for the full half hour. Oh, yes, you ate most of the peanut butter. With Olivia we tried to make the koulourakia but you were more into eating the dough—ummm good. She tried to get you to go to the oven but you resisted. Overall, Olivia was very pleased with your performance. Lunch was great. You did the eating again with little cuing. I did help by piercing the 82 chicken and green beans for you but you did all the rest. You ate all of your green beans, all you chicken and a sip or two of your soup. Mary Haziannis came today to visit. She was most impressed with how much you improved since the last time she saw you. I gave back her book Middlesex. It was not my cup of tea or book, that is. You had lots of visitors. Dino and Myrna came and she brought a poinsettia. Connie and Vicki came too and Michael all the way from California. We all ate in the atrium and you seemed to enjoy all the conversation. We also did a complete walk around the atrium and everybody was very impressed. After we left you we went home and then we went to Maria Joyce’s home. She had all the relatives for finger food and drinks. I left early because I really missed you being there and got sad. Our kids came home at 10 PM. Day 73 (Friday, December 24, 2004)—this is Christmas Eve and it is also Alec’s birthday. I left a birthday card for him with $40 and I also put $40 into our travel bank. You were awake when I arrived but the outgoing sitter had not dressed you. I got your toothbrush and put some paste on it and you brushed your teeth all on your own. Then you got into a chair and we dressed you. You’ve been doing a good job on the toilet so far this AM. You did a terrific job eating. Good job! We walked to the atrium where you decided to rest on one of the green platforms for about ½ hour. I finally convinced you to go back to the room after you spanked me a bit and gave me a couple of karate chops because by golly you wanted to lie down on the mat. You were sitting in a high backed chair when Dini arrived and you got up and walked with her to the toilet. You did OK for lunch but you didn’t appear hungry. While you were eating, Mary Anna, Harry, Maria, Michael, and his daughter Elizabeth came to see you. After eating, we walked to the atrium and sat and talked. When they left, we did parallel bars and stairs. You did very well, indeed. 83 You received more Christmas flowers today, this time from Paul and Tula Pattakos and the card read, “Dear Maria we wish you a very Merry Christmas. We think of you each day, With all our LOVE, Paul, Tula, and family.” Nick and Nina came on their way to Roanoke. They were closely followed by a group of carolers who came by and sang Christmas songs to us. They were great and you enjoyed them as indicated by the fact you were keeping time with your finger. I could not help myself but I cried. Your Canadian cousin called to wish you a Merry Christmas and to find out how you are. Bill and Priscilla Torpey came and brought you some delicious chocolate chip cookies. I had a meeting with Alec and Maia and said that dropping towels on the floor and using many towels was not acceptable behavior here or in Wisconsin. I told them their parents worked very hard and did not need extra things to do. I told Dini I was going to do this and she did not object. Alec wanted to celebrate his birthday at Popeye’s so that is where we went. His eyes were bigger than his stomach and thus we took chicken home that we will probably throw away. Next stop was the Mountain Creamery for ice cream. The server was not happy being there but the kids managed to get what they wanted. The adults were good and had nothing. They all went to the movies to see Meet the Fockers. I went home and was sad by myself. Day 74 (Saturday, December 25, 2004)—this is Christmas day and I cried as I drove here this morning. When I arrived you were being fed by the sitter. I told her you were to eat on your own with a little guidance. You were dressed but I put on your socks and you helped by lifting your feet. I reminded you where you were, why you were here and who I am. We smooched a little. You did a great job eating lunch with me just helping put food on your fork. You ate all of your mashed potatoes, green beans and Salisbury steak. You had some soup and ice tea too. The kids came and we opened presents. 84 They got you a very nice peach shawl, Pauline got you lotion and an angel as did Jenna. Dino and Myrna got you a holiday decorating cookbook, and Nick and Nina a very beautiful warm up suit. We ordered Chinese food. We all went to the cafeteria where others were celebrating too. They gave us some cake, fruit salad, and most important cups so we could pour our Pepsi. We didn’t think of that. We stayed and chatted quite awhile. I think you enjoyed it. You even had more to eat and to drink. You did get tired, however, and when I asked if you wanted to go for a walk or bed you said bed. For the second time today you asked to go to the toilet and that is wonderful. You are making progress. You do like to spank me when I bother you. Then you kiss me. So far it has been a very nice day given the circumstances. Niko called from Roanoke and spoke to you on the phone. You smiled but you didn’t speak to him. I called Greece before I left home. I spoke to John and Roula first since the village phone was busy. John answered and he sounded good. I gave him and then Roula the news on how you are improving. They are thrilled and will continue prayers for you. I called the village. I wished all Merry Christmas and told them how you’re doing. Gregory says he lights a candle for you every night. He said Thano was not only walking but running. All are well. Your new roommate since Miss Winnie Herd left is Sandy Self. She has big problems. Yesterday her husband David and son (5 years old) were here to visit with their minister. As of 3:30 PM no one has come today. She seems sad. She is a teacher’s aide but I think she is not much over 30 years old. The kids left to see some Washington sights. I left later and saw them when they came home. Before they came I opened Niko’s and Nina’s present to me. It was a new combination pully/backpack for my computer for use in coming to the hospital. They also got me rechargeable batteries for our digital camera and some writable CDs. I cried since I was alone and without you. I truly am miserable without you. Later, with the kids, we saw the movie “Elf” 85 that we bought Maia for Christmas. They ate left over Chinese food and I had a couple of pieces of chicken from the day before. Day 75 (Sunday, December 26, 2004)—I went to the Orthos and Father John asked about you. After I kissed the bible, I came to you. Will is working hard to fill the cracks in the wall we have near the front door, in back of our bed and the beam in our bedroom. He is even taking chips of paint to Hardware City to match the paint. The sitter said you did not eat well this morning. You did well with Olivia, she told me you said things in context and really were looking at her. When I saw you, you were doing very well with the fill-in PT. You did the walker, parallel bars forward and backward and walked the stairs up and down very well. We went to the ground floor atrium and we had coffee and cake together. You enjoyed the amaretto coffee I bought and drank about ¾ of a cup with some cake. When we came upstairs, you were ready for a rest in bed. Dini, Will and the kids came and we went to the atrium cafeteria where I had some McNuggets that they brought for me. You joined me in drinking my diet soda and the kids played the game “CSI.” We went for a walk in the dining room and you sat and spoke with Dini. Dini brought you all sorts of t-shirts from your closet that I missed. I’ll take the old back home and put it into your work-out basket. I took you back to your bed and a fill-in PT aide came and we went walking. She wanted to manipulate your legs and I told her you have no such problems and that walking would be better. You used the walker—you still need to learn to steer better —all the way to the atrium where you did the parallel bars forward and sidestep with a few backward steps. Next, you did a good job on the parallel bars. Today has not been a good toilet day. The kids went to visit with Celia. She and Carl are getting a divorce. I went to White Flint Mall to return a t-shirt. They forgot to remove the security tag. I did not buy another one because Dini found so many. 86 Day 76 (Monday, December 27, 2004)—I took a slightly different route here this morning. Rather than going across Georgia Avenue and then going south on North Capital Street, I went south on Georgia until tuning left on Irving where the hospital is located. I think the trip was faster and almost a mile shorter. Not only that, North Capital is a mess and the traffic jams up at a couple of points. You are taking the lowest dose Trazodone to sleep because you have been very restless at night. Today you were supposed to get Ritalin (5 mg—a low dose) at 8 AM to get you moving and to be more responsive during therapy. Staying focused is very important. The Dr. had not written the order and thus you didn’t get it until noon. I’m not sure I see any big changes. But with Natalie you did walk with a cane and you had good balance. Dini and Will came late as they had lunch at the Cheese Cake Factory with Monica and Conrad Grant they send you love and get well thoughts. The grand kids stayed a little and off they went with Will to shop and to wash Nina’s car which they used all week. You had a fill-in SLP named Amy who is married to a Greek named Gioriades. You did great eating for both breakfast and lunch – I don’t know how well you do during dinner since I am not here. At 4 PM, Dini and I left for home and did some phoning—she to a friend and I to Sprint. We went to Ambrosia where we met Niko and Nina. A little later Will and the kids showed up. We had a nice meal all together, Niko paid half and we went home so N+N could open presents. We bought a nice light weight coat for Nina that she had admired on Dini. We had given Niko money for combined birthday and Christmas and he bought himself a very, very expensive pair of shoes. They stayed a couple of hours. I sort-of kicked them out so Dini, Will and kids could pack. Day 77 (Tuesday, December 28, 2004)--this completes week 11 and was a busy morning. The people at 4216 woke up at 3:30 AM and we actually left when we said we would at 4:30 AM. I drove to Reagan National Airport and dropped them off at 5 AM for their 6:30 flight. I got home by 5:30 AM and put out lots of recycling, to 87 include paper, boxes, and cans. The garbage can was full –I say this because by myself I don’t generate very much and usually put out the can every two weeks. I did a load of sheets and put them in the dryer and started washing towels. I’ll dry them later. I started the dish washer too and I’ll empty it later. I wrote some charity checks. There was a 9.0 earthquake yesterday that generated several tsunamis that hit the coasts of many surrounding nations and drowned maybe 40,000 people. What a disaster that is. You did a good job eating breakfast but I don’t think you did as well with the fill in speech therapist named “Brownrigg,” a very unusual first name. You rather eat the peanut butter than make a sandwich. You said you did not know this was December and that we just celebrated Christmas. You walked with a cane twice today and Natalie only monitored. She did not hold or even touch you. She said your balance was “fabulous.” Olivia showed you how to get in and out of a shower. You walked a long way with the walker to Independence Square. This is a specially constructed area for occupational therapy. It has a kitchen, a store, a car, a shower stall, and all manner of things to help people relearn how to do the chores of everyday living. During OT with Olivia, you did some washing and then you decided to sit on the floor. We let you do that until you thought it would be nice to lie down. We helped you get up. Nurse Judy came and we discussed your Ritalin intake. We think that giving you one dose at 6 AM and another at noon might be best for you to keep up and focused. When I left, I went to the post office to mail several letters overseas in response to Christmas cards. Then to the PX and commissary and finally to Target where I bought a soft pillow for you to sit on when in the wheel chair. At home, I put away purchases, did some cleaning, finished and put away the wash and emptied the the dishwasher. I sent an email to our State Senator in response to a letter. I told her that I thought the law screwy that gives an individual a traffic citation and $55 fine for hitting a pedestrian in a crosswalk legally crossing at a light. If you had been crossing where 88 there was no light then the penalty would be more severe. Dini called to hear how you were and to report that they got home safely. Earlier Maia had called to tell me the same thing. She asked how you were and I said you were doing well. We discussed the drug Trazedone they are giving you which is an anti-depressant that acts like a sedative. Niko called earlier to see how you were. Day 78 (Wednesday, December 29, 2004)—so here I am bright and early. You were curled up in your bed, dressed but without shoes on. I went to breakfast since yours was not here yet and when I got back, it had arrived. You got up and with a little help, you ate everything. I tried to get you to tell the difference between a spoon and a fork but I don’t think I was successful. However, it just might be that you find it easier to eat with a spoon. After breakfast you wanted to go for a walk so we used the walker around the atrium. They gave you the Ritalin at 6 AM but I didn’t see you much more alert when I arrived at 6:45 AM. Maybe they need to take you off of the Trazodone. I discussed that with them but they want to wait and not put you on something and take you off too rapidly. You got a second dose of Ritalin at noon. Natalie came and you walked well with the cane but you really wanted to get back in bed, it seemed to me. Olivia said you were not cooperating too well until I got involved. We tried to go outside because people said it was warm. Well, it wasn’t that warm and we came back in. You did well getting into the passenger side of the car. You are saying more things now in English and when I speak Greek you reply in Greek. You were in bed waiting for lunch and had one foot in the air. I waved at you and said can you wave at me and you waved your foot. You are cute and when I said that you said, a cutie patooty. You did well eating. You did most of the work yourself until you got tired. An important milestone was that you asked to go to the toilet—you said tsis. You have been very good on the toilet. With Natalie we did stairs – you were great and fast. Natalie was working on getting your left knee stronger. I took some pictures of you resting between therapies. I asked you to smile and may have gotten one that way. After I put the camera 89 away you stuck your right foot up in the air. I got the camera out again and asked you to stick your foot up again—you did. I hope one of these comes out. The news from the areas hit by the tsunami is terrible. Now they estimate 58,000 people killed. The big fear now is from disease from decaying bodies, inadequate sanitation, inadequate sources of water, etc. I sent a check to the Red Cross for relief activities. Apparently there has already been some medical billing confusion. I received a letter from TRICARE North telling me to fill out some forms that I already filled out for USFHP. It appears that NRH billed TRICARE North when they should have billed USFHP. Hopefully things are on track now. On the way home, I went to the Navy Exchange and bought you a pair of New Balance walking shoes with Velcro. I also got you three light weight shirts. At home, I sent David Lease our lawyer a fax about the TRICARE situation and emailed Amy Bressler Leanord the NRH case manager. She told me not to respond to TRICARE North because all was straightened out. I exercised on the treadmill for the first time in many weeks. I only did ½ hour at three miles per hour but it is a start. I gave Pauline some food left over from the kids visit (cereal, bread, broth, and heavy cream). She begins work soon. The rest of the evening was pretty much the same. Day 79 (Thursday, December 30, 2004)—this morning you were much more alert. You even repeated the Lord’s Prayer after me, first in Greek, then in English. For the first time on your own you held your fingers correctly for the cross. Way to go gal! You ate all of your food again. You mostly fed yourself. You also swallowed your pills after a little convincing. You had a different SLP in the morning called Monica. I don’t know what happened to the Brownrigg gal. You made some tea and had a sip or two. They are working on focus and concentration. You are being assertive i.e., when you want to do something like sit, you take action to sit to include spanking my hand. Katie was your PT person today and she tried to get you to play some ball. You cooperated until it hit 90 you and then you got angry. You did catch and throw it a few times. You really crack Olivia (the OT) up. She finds you very amusing the way you act and react. With her you played with a balloon. You are speaking sentences, when you are in the mood, and always in context. For sure you recognize me now and you do use my name. Brownrigg did show up and you looked at Star magazine together. Connie, Niko and Nina arrived and went with us when it was time for PT. We went to the gym where you exercised on a recumbent stepper for about four minutes. You went to the training staircase with six steps for you to show your expertise. You went up two steps and turned around as if to come down. We asked that you go to the top and you did—backwards. You then went down the other flight in a more conventional manner. Niko was very sweet to you and enjoyed seeing you with eyes wide open. In fact, he wrote on your white board, “I love seeing your big brown eyes! Love Niko.” Somebody in the elevator asked if anybody mentioned to me that I resemble Anthony Hopkins. I said yes and when I was much younger it was Steve McQueen, then Bob Newhart and now Hopkins. He laughed. I went home after stopping at CVS for more Coricidin HBP. It is good for colds and those who have high blood pressure (HBP). Susan brought me roast lamb and green beans for dinner. It was good. The rest of the evening was the usual and I went to bed a little after 9 PM but not before Myrna called to ask how you were. She told me they were going to leave tomorrow. Meanwhile Dino was looking for his keys and Myrna opened a pair of scissors to help. Day 80 (Friday, December 31, 2004)—this is New Year’s Eve day and finally what has turned out to be a lousy year for us will draw to a close. May God bless us with your renewed health in 2005. There is no therapy today or tomorrow. There will be on Sunday. You were dressed when I came and we did our prayers. You made your cross and then you got up with me to eat breakfast. You like to stand part way through and tire about half way but you do eat pretty much everything. You did good work toilet-wise. We did some walking and stairs but you did what has become your usual 91 thing of wanting to sit on the padded platforms they have and then, of course, lie down. Since I don’t know the cleanliness of these flat surfaces I try to dissuade you but you are certainly assertive. For my trouble I got slapped (not hard), pinched, a little love bite, and a punch or two. You finally got your way. Bob came and found us on the second floor. I said, “look who’s here, Bob” and he said “hi Maria” and you replied “Hi Bobby.” Your language skills are improving. I said, “I love my girl” and you replied, “I love my boy.” Focus is still a bit of a problem but I’m sure that will come soon. You are restless even in bed. Cynthia and George Contis came. Cynthia brought chocolates from Switzerland and a poinsettia. George brought you an icon from Russia of Ahgios Pantelemonas. He is noted for healing powers. Lunch came, Cynthia and George left, Bobby stayed. Again, you ate all of your food but had to stand several times. Once, you said you needed tsis and we went to the toilet. We went outside today and while not particularly warm it was pleasant. You wore the shawl that Dini got for you. You walked from bench to bench and pushed your wheel chair. You had good exercise. We then went to the cafeteria for some coffee to warm up. You had a couple of sips and then you were ready to go. Connie came and brought magazines and different colors of nail polish for you to select. She filed and polished your nails. Nick and Nina called and cannot come today. The down news of the day is the death toll in S. Asia and Africa is now estimated at 137,000 people spread throughout 12 countries and may still go higher. Apparently, there are some 3000 Americans missing there. The force of the tsunami swept the sea to the foot of mountains more than a mile away destroying everything in its way. Canadian Evangelia called to hear how you are and to wish us a great 2005. You are in her prayers and her sister informed the priest there who said a prayer for you. Dini called to wish us a Happy New Year. Harry called too. 92 Day 81 (Saturday, January 1, 2005)—Dear God, please let 2005 be a good year for us. I love my Maria so much and I need her back home. She is my panapola (my everything). I put $40 in the travel bank and I want to go on record for the new year that I am still making our bed. I try to leave the house at least Arion neat. This continues to be a very emotional day for me and I am a little weepy. I hold great hopes for a wonderful 2005 but I am still afraid and anxious even as you progress to be better. In fact, I called Dini to tell her that when I asked you for your daughter’s name you said Nadine and when I asked about your son you said Niko and further said Nina for your daughter-in-law. You even had a conversation on the phone with Dini. Roula called from Greece this morning and said she would call around noon to speak with you. After your breakfast, we went across the hall to look at Star magazine. Then you went to a platform to relax. Later when we returned to your room, you repeated the Lord’s Prayer and did your cross on-your-own—you held your fingers properly. Nick and Nina came and we went outside. You did a lot of walking and a lot of bench sitting. We were out for one hour and the kids loved to see you alert. You liked walking holding Niko’s hand. We waited for Roula’s call but none came. Perhaps they can’t call a mobile phone here. We came upstairs to find lunch and you ate everything but the desert. We went out again and you walked and sat your way around the garden. In one of the chairs with the sun shining on you, you decided it was hot and said so. Let this beautiful day of 1 January be an omen from God that 2005 will be a wonderful year for us. Day 82 (Sunday, January 2, 2005)—before I left for church today, I spoke to Litsa and Gregory and told them about your progress. They were pleased to hear about it and said Glory to God. Gregory continues to light a candle for you. Litsa thanked me for our Christmas gift and expense money. I fasted from meat, eggs and 93 seafood yesterday and ate nothing in the morning before leaving for church at about 8:35 AM. I was there for the Orthos. You really love the Orthos because much of it is singing. I stayed until I took communion. If my prayers are effective, the communion was for us both. Father John is on vacation so Father Steve performed the whole service. When I arrived, Connie and Vickie were already here and you had done some therapy. Soon after, Niko and Nina arrived. It was not warm enough to go outside so we all went to the atrium where you did some very nice walking to include the stairs. Then you got very tired. Jan the fill-in SLP came to work with you and I was concerned that you were too tired but you did well. You even wrote numbers that she dictated to you up to and including the number 15. You batted the balloon back and forth with her. We are working hard on your focus and attention. Every morning when I arrive, we do prayers (you repeat the Lord’s Prayer with me), I tell you who I am, who you are, the fact that you had a brain injury and are now in the hospital to get well. You are working hard to do that —get well. You have a little sniffle and I think that I might have given you that. You do blow your nose on your own and select the tissue too. You have been much better on the toilet too. When I left, I drove to Trader Joe’s to get you some of that dark chocolate you like. At home, I wrote an email to the Maryland Attorney General about the crazy law when vehicles hit pedestrians in a crosswalk. I called you on the phone at 7 PM (our first phone call) and in response to my hello, you said “Hi Hubby.” I exercised for 30 minutes on the treadmill, ate something, watched TV, said prayers and went to bed at 9:45 PM. Day 83 (Monday, January 03, 2005)—when I arrived at 7 AM you were awake but not dressed. Your food tray was here and you ate in your own. I even gave you a piece of chocolate after the food. You ate all of your food and drank your OJ too and about half your milk and your coffee. I walked you to the toilet where you did tsiss. Following that the sitter dressed you while I went to the cafeteria for cheese eggs, lo-carb bread from home and coffee. When I returned you were dressed and resting in bed. I was told that you had a good night’s sleep. Liz was supposed to do your SLP therapy today but 94 she came in with a cold and they sent her home. Melissa took over for her and said she had the best session ever with you. You wrote your name and those of the kids. You had the right letters in the right sequence. Olivia said you did very well attending her eating club. You ate all of your lunch after which we took a walk around the atrium. While you were eating in your group I went on-line in their computer center and found a manual on counterintelligence that I am using to do some work. I put in three hours. Your afternoon PT is leg exercises. You only had an aide and that is really all they can do. Kate was called away to do an evaluation. Tomorrow, Natalie will be back. You gave Olivia a hard time getting you out of bed and while helping put on your shoes. You have more work to do in that area. With the fill-in SLP you did some writing of names. She said you worked hard for the first ten minutes and then rested and did some more. Mary Haziannis came today. She thought you looked absolutely great. She had been away with her family and she saw big, positive differences with you. When I left, I did many errands. I ordered Szechwan Green Beans for dinner. I called you at 7 PM and you said a few words to me. Niko called to see how you were doing. Day 84 (Tuesday, January 04, 2005)—this completes week number 12 since your accident. You have come a long way from that day. You were bright eyed when I arrived and starting to dress. You pulled on your shirt and your pants too. Breakfast came and you ate and drank everything much of it on your own. Olivia came and you did a good job taking a shower. Melissa (fill-in SLP—Liz is still sick) said she had another great session with you. This time you spelled your name in Greek and Melissa was not sure what you wrote. You told Melissa it was Greek. Later, the SLP fill-in Kristen said you wrote numbers and were very attentive for 25 minutes before you had to stand up. Roula called from Greece on my cell and you spoke to her both in Greek and English. You asked how she was and you told her to have a good year. She was thrilled. After the call, you went to the dining group. You liked the spaghetti today but yesterday you did not like 95 the fish. You didn’t care much for the sponge cake. You seem to prefer lemonade over ice tea. We went outside today with Natalie. They expected it to be 67 degrees. I think it was warmer. You walked absolutely beautifully with a cane on your own. Your stride and balance were great and you walked a long distance. Getting to the outside you pushed the wheelchair. After we got inside again, you continued to use your cane and then pushed the wheelchair when we arrived at the 1st floor atrium. You pushed all the way back to the room and you went and did tsis. You are very alert and focused today. Sandy left today for a nursing home. She has not been with it for several days probably because of the pain medicine she was given. She is in much pain due to extra bone growth on her right leg. According to her husband, Dave, this should stop and then they can operate to remove that bone. Because of her weakness in that leg, she took a bad fall home down a flight of stairs and hit her head. She speaks with difficulty but cannot walk and is incontinent. She is still being fed through her PEGG. We said goodbye to her and told her husband that she is in our prayers. He works for a contractor supporting the Army at Ft. Belvoir. They live in Laurel and the nursing home is near where he lives. I went home and read The Orthodox Observer and you led off the “People” column. Here is what it said, Hero in DC. Maria Pattakos of Washington saved the life of an 18-month old granddaughter of a neighbor in October, and sustained serious injury. While the grandmother, the child and Mrs. Pattakos were attempting to cross a neighborhood street, a pickup truck turned abruptly toward them. Mrs. Pattakos thrust the stroller out of the way and the baby sustained only a minor bruise but Mrs. Pattakos received traumatic injuries and barely survived. She has been in the Brain Injury Unit of the National Rehabilitation Hospital in Washington where she is expected to remain for months. Mrs. Pattakos is a member of St. Sophia Cathedral and the wife of Col. Arion Pattakos (US Army ret). Her family asks for everyone’s prayers.” 96 Niko came to our home, we covered the Christmas tree and put it back to storage. We called you and spoke to you on the phone. Day 85 (January 5, 2005)—Roula called just as I was leaving. She wanted to know about your reaction to her call. I said I couldn’t guarantee that you would remember it today but yesterday you seemed to be with it. It is raining hard today. When I arrived you were dressed. You slept well and got up twice to go to the toilet. You ate all of your food. Yesterday I spoke to Dr. Choltis (she’s married to a Greek) and a resident at Johns Hopkins on rotation here about the removal of your PEGG. She will raise the issue with Dr. McCarthy. It is wonderful to see you with your eyes open and alert. God is smiling on us. We went for a walk around the atrium before your therapy started today. You walked using your cane, unassisted, and did not sit quite as often. We threw a ball slightly smaller back and forth and you counted the tosses. We stopped at ten. Liz (the SLP) is back from vacation and her cold. Your walk with Natalie went well and she feels that you soon will not need the cane. Concentration still needs work to develop more of an awareness of your environment. You are more verbal and express what you want to do. You are following directions much better. You were social with your dining group but not much interested in eating. They brought you back to the room and I tried to get you to eat with me but you were restless. We went for a walk. After returning to the room you sat on the bed and ate more as long as I fed you. I probably should not have done that but I wanted you to have your nutrition. Afternoon therapy came with the arrival of Liz. You went across the hall for a one-on-one. You identified numbers and wrote Happy New (using Greek letters for this word) Year, Love ya.” You sat for about 20 minutes and then got up and went to the mat to lie down. Natalie came and you played a game like horseshoes. She said you did well. Next you sat and then down on the platform you went taking off your shoes. It was hard work to get you up and to put on your shoes. You walked nicely without the cane. Focus, focus, focus is the big issue. 97 I left for Harry and Mary Anna’s house and from there to the new, original Ambrosia where they treated me to dinner. Day 86 (Thursday, January 06, 2005)—you were in bed when I arrived on this gloomy day—it’s another day of drizzle. You looked good—let me say, GREAT. When I asked you my name, you responded “Arion Pattakos.” You did a good job eating breakfast and then Olivia came to supervise your dressing. You did a good job of putting on your bra and a sweat suit. You were not too cooperative with Liz. She wanted to take you to make tea, you wanted to take off your top. You were hot. We convinced you to change into something a little less warm. When Natalie came for PT you were on-the-ball. We went to the atrium where it is cooler. You did the stairs a couple of times, the parallel bars and a lot of walking. You are speaking in more complete sentences. Your second session with Liz was not too successful. You were restless and did not want to stay focused. You are not on the Trazedone now and perhaps taking the Ritalin is too much. You walked with Natalie and even pushed open doors. You worked on turning left since you have been favoring right turns. I spoke to Dr. McCarthy and he’s taking you of the Ritalin. We’ll see how that goes. Lou Thompson came and brought you a very pretty plant. You also received a vase of very nice roses from Nina’s family. Joe and Debbie came and found you great. They had not seen you for two weeks because they went to Florida. They saw you as dramatically better. When we went to Chicken-on-the-Run and ate their delicious chicken. I can’t wait to take you to this little hole in the wall place. Maia called to tell me that she spoke to you on the telephone. She remembered every word and was thrilled that you had a conversation. Dini called you too and so did I. Day 87 (Friday, January 07, 2005)—when I came, you were being made ready for PEGG removal and off you went to the Washington Hospital Center. Apparently they tried to remove it last night but you were not cooperative and agitated. Thus, you had to go to a more formal setting and be sedated. It’s a good thing I was here 98 because they needed consent. I gave consent over the phone to the Dr. and then two different nurses. You are back now and really out of it. You need to sleep it off and we’ll see if you get any therapy today. Removing the PEGG is another milestone towards success. After you awakened, clear fluid was the word for lunch. I was disappointed with NRH as it took over an hour to react. We went for a walk around the atrium. You went around three times, did parallel bars, and stairs too. I wanted to throw the ball with you but you did not. You kept handing it back to me and then to stop this activity, you put the ball to your side. Later, you ate some soup. Bisi a PT fill-in came to work with you and you had no part of it. A few minutes later Olivia came and you were completely uncooperative. You said NO to everything. She wanted to take you to the toilet— NO. You wanted us to take off your shoes and we said no. You then took them off. Next you wanted us to take off your socks and again we said if you want them off you do it. You took them off. Our lawyer called today and gave me an update. State is ready to settle but wants us to give up our right to go after Purcell, the guy who hit you. According to USAA, he has no assets anyway. USAA wants an idea of how much the tab will be between Suburban and NRH. The lawyer is also trying to sort out with the government what percent of the insurance should be considered medical payments and what for pain and suffering. I asked Amy (the NRH Social Worker) to find out who I should call to determine what Suburban and their associates have billed. When I left NRH I went directly home and did some organizing for income tax. I called you and we said the Lord’s Prayer. Your Canadian cousin called and I gave her your number at NRH. I told her of your progress. Harry called too. They are going to the beach house this weekend. They have a leak in the roof of their sun room. By the way, when I saw Mary Anna the other day, she was walking very nicely and looked good. Harry’s brother needed a stint for one of his arteries. 99 Day 88 (Saturday, January 08, 2005)—it is raining again today and cool. I put our $40 in our travel bank and had to consolidate what we had there so far so that new money would fit. When I arrived you were dressed and still in bed. I went and got your food but you were not ready to get up to eat. Your tummy is bothering you where they removed the tube. You brushed your teeth and went to the toilet. The underpants I brought from home were tight so we changed those. I have to get you others. We did the atrium a turn or two and with Marlena the fill-in PT you did a little time on a machine. You are full of “no” today. I’m told that you slept well last night but you still get tired easily this morning. You and I did a lot of atrium walking in the afternoon. You were getting out of bed often. Your endurance is improving. You are very restless. Your eating was OK. Breakfast was good but you really weren’t cooperating with Olivia for lunch or the SLP. During their visits you were in your “no” mode. We made several telephone calls. We left a message on Dini’s cell (she called back later and spoke with you), you spoke with: Arti, Aunt Mary, Barbara, and Myrna. All of these people were thrilled to hear from you. When I left, I went to the Navy Exchange and bought you new panties. I also bought you some socks. When I got home Susan called and insisted that she give me food—she brought me half a chicken and some vegetables. Day 89 (Sunday, January 09, 2005)—I got up at 6:15, cut my hair, ate, read the paper, went to the bank and then to Church for the Orthos. They had Holy Water so I took some to bless NRH and for home. You drank some and I sprinkled some on your bed. We said our prayers and we changed your underwear to the new ones. We then went walking. A walking milestone was set in the gym where you went up stairs using each foot in the normal way (i.e., not one step with one foot and a pause at each step). Very good! We still need to work on memory and focus. We walked a lot today. You were constantly getting out of bed to either walk or to sit in the chair near your bed. During one of our 100 walks, I commented to one of the staff that we needed to work more on your memory. As we walked away you commented that you remember more than I think you do. I certainly hope that is true. We went to Independence Square and you got into and out of the passenger side of the display car without assistance. Maia called and you spoke to her. Later Dini called too and you chatted with her. Connie who was going to come to color your hair has a cold. So, maybe next week will be the week for hair coloring. Today, you wanted to eat what was in the facial cleansing box. You put a bit on a spoon even after I tried to dissuade you. You didn’t like it. You uncapped the mineral oil and wanted to drink it. You poured it into a cup notwithstanding my objections. You took a sip, said “oil” and stopped. You also poured water into your apple sauce cup. I guess you have to do these things to relearn what is acceptable. A few times when you got up, you pulled down your pants and once your underpants before you sat in a chair. Again, I tried to dissuade you but you persisted. You only stayed that way moments when I pointed out that a stranger might see you. You were weighed today and are 100.3 pounds. When I left, I went to Target to buy a new basting utensil so I can add oil easier to the candela. I also bought a measuring cup to put the oil in. I got you three new t-shirt with long sleeves in pretty colors. I bought myself some nice shelves to use in my computer area for my scanner and my color printer to have them both easily available. Assembly of the shelves was a pain as usual but it worked out. The 3-tier shelves are very sturdy and my set up looks neat. I called you at the hospital and we talked a little. Day 90 (Monday, January 10, 2005)—I arrived at 6:45 and you were dressed and in bed. The sitter said you slept well and that you went to the toilet a couple of times. Your food arrived and you ate corn flakes, eggs, one and a half slices of French toast, a glass of OJ with apple juice mixed, some milk, a few sips of coffee. Yesterday, I prepared a memo for Liz M. (the SLP), Natalie B (PT), and Olivia G (the OT) commending them as a Class Act—Partners-in-Excellence. 101 I gave each an individual copy and took the rest to the Human Resource Office. The women really liked that I did that for them. Olivia came and you were off to shower and to wash your hair. Olivia said you did great washing and helping dress yourself. It’s Liz’s turn. She said you were right on the ball. You worked on pictures together to determine their contents. While you were not perfect you were much advanced from other days. You got tired at your dining group and they brought you back to me where you ate all of the rest of your food. Given that you only weigh 100 pounds I asked the nutritionist to supplement your food. Your work with Natalie was rewarding. You were cooperative notwithstanding we had done a lot of atrium walking prior to your session with her. You counted, threw things etc. Pauline and Jackie came and walked with us. They were impressed on how you looked and behaved. Earlier when I was speaking with you and telling you what you meant to me, I asked you the word I used in Greek and you responded “panapola” which is Greek for “my everything,” the correct answer. Latter when I asked you something similar you responded in English “you’re my everything.” Your second session with Liz you flipped through pages to identifiy pictures and talk about them, you sorted cards into red and black. You are still inconsistent in naming the number of children we have but you did name them (Niko and Dini, you said). Day 91 (Tuesday, January 11, 2005)—this is your thirteenth week in hospitals recovering from your traumatic injuries. I was not with you the first thing in the morning because I went to teach. I set up and my three students came at 8:30. The seminar went well and we will reconvene on Thursday of this week. I do not want to be without you for two days in a row. Actually, I did go to NRH after the class arriving about 4:15 PM. We spoke and walked together . I saw Natalie who said you did particularly well with her. Tanya came to see you as did Niko. Maia called and you spoke to her and then to Dini. Food arrived and you ate your dinner. You did a good job but did get tired about half-way through but did eat everything. 102 Dino called from Florida to ask how you were while I was on the treadmill. I told him about your progress. Day 92 (Wednesday, January 12, 2005)—I arrived at 6:50 AM and found you in bed. We said prayers and then your breakfast came. You ate all of your food but they did not bring the can of Ensure they were supposed to as a supplement. I asked for it and you drank most of it later. Olivia came to supervise your shower and your dressing. She reported that you initiated washing with a washcloth on your own. You also brushed your hair and your teeth. The nurse came to give you your medicines and you swallowed whole pills for the first time. Before you would spit them out and then they’d grind them up and put them into applesauce and feed them to you. Now, you are taking them with water and swallowing them. Another milestone! I went with you and Natalie for PT. You did a great job in leading us to the elevator and then you walked up a ramp and down stairs. Later, you kicked a ball very nicely and followed this with rolling a ball back and forth on a table with Natalie. You counted as you kicked and rolled the ball. Right after PT you went off with Liz to a quite place. My sensing from Liz was that while you are improving in your attention, you still need more work and on memory. She is doing high/low with cards, asking you to describe pictures and complete sentences. She believes that you are progressing well. I am praying to God for improvements in those areas. Liz thinks your memory is OK but that you are having trouble relating words to that memory. For example, you look at a tooth brush and don’t know what to call it but when cued by saying br.. you say brush and then when asked what kind of brush and cued again with something like tuh you say tooth brush. So, Liz (and I) will work on relating your memory of objects to being able to articulate them. We had a family conference today with me attending, the therapists, Doctor Cholis and Amy your NRH Social Services Case Worker. They all agreed that you were progressing very, very well. On a scale to measure progress, the Rancho Scale, you are now a solid 103 five (out of eight) the therapists all agreed. A five is described as, Person is alert and can respond to simple commands on a more consistent basis. Highly distractible and needs constant cueing to attend to an activity. Memory is impaired with confusion regarding past and present. The person can perform self-care activities with assistance. May wander and needs to be watched carefully. I really think you are close to a level six which is: Person shows goal directed behavior, but still needs direction from staff. Follows simple tasks consistently and shows carryover for relearned tasks. The person is more aware of his/her deficits and has increased awareness of self, family and basic needs. Considering you were at a level two when you got to NRH (Person reacts inconsistently and non-purposefully to stimuli. Responses are limited and often delayed.) You are really are doing fabulously well in getting better. Day 93 (Thursday, January 13, 2005)—today I went to BAI to teach the second half of my course. The course went well. I managed to finish by 3 PM and was able to come to you by 4PM. When I arrived you had just finished PT and were very, very tired and went to bed to relax. The day was warm (up to 73 degrees) so they were able to take you outside. I didn’t see the other therapists so I don’t know how well you did with them. After you rested for about a half hour you were ready to go walking with me. We toured the atrium. We sat and talked and worked on your ability to name objects. You did well. Niko came and joined us on our walk. You recognized him right away and called him Niko then Nicholas. After our walk we went back to the room because dinner had arrived. You ate well. When Niko and I left, we went to “Chicken-on-the-Run.” The power in that area of Bethesda went out but we were lucky enough to get our chicken. It was so warm, we ate outside. Day 94 (Friday, January 14, 2005)—wow, it was raining all night with gusto and this morning too. The radio reported that there was flooding in many areas. My trip to NRH, however, was uneventful and I arrived at 6:50 AM. You were in bed and the sitter said you slept well only getting up when you had to go to the toilet. You were not dressed since Olivia is going to come to supervise you doing bathing and dressing. You came back from your shower wrapped in 104 a towel—you looked very cute. Olivia said you did a great job of bathing. You did a good job of dressing putting on panties and pants with no trouble. You had a little difficulty putting on your bra because it was new, I think, and the clips weren’t broken in. You had no problem putting on your shirt and then brushing your teeth. Joe came at 10 AM and took me to lunch and a lecture on the Middle East. The meeting was at the Tyson’s Holiday Inn and run by the Association of Former Intelligence Officers. Joe is really something because he drove all the way from Columbia to pick me up and then to return me before off to Columbia again. Quite a trip! The talks were interesting, the meal roast pork I was back by 2 PM. The rain has stopped but as predicted, it is getting cold. It is expected to drop into the twenties. One of the speakers we heard believes that Osama lost the war he envisioned would occur after 9/11. According to the speaker, he didn’t believe the US would react with such determination and that the people of Islamic nations would rise up to throw out their governments to form a new Caliphate. He said, the Islamic nations are cooperating more than ever with the US in pursuit of terrorists. Upon my return you were with Liz. She said you did well. You did well with me identifying black and red cards. When I pointed to the clock you properly identified it as a clock. I called you but you did not feel like talking much—the night before we had a nice conversation. You’ll never guess who called me—Nick and Aresti Vourlos. They live in Maryland but winter in Naples, Florida. They found about you from reading the Orthodox Observer where there was a short article about you. We chatted about old times. They have two girls, one who lives in Maryland and the other in New York. Day 95 (Saturday, January 15, 2005)—when I left home I went by the Post Office to mail our estimated taxes. I arrived at NRH at 7 AM. The food came and you did a good job eating your breakfast and then we went for you to shower even though you didn’t really want to because you felt it was cold. You washed your body but 105 were not very cooperative about rinsing your hair after I put soap on your head. I laid out your clothes for the fill-in OT, Dorothy, came to help you dress. You did a good job of putting on socks but did not do as well with shoes. You got one on and promptly took it off. PT (Rebecca) took you walking and you did not sit on every seat you saw. Inbal (an Israeli name she said) came as the fill-in SLP. You did well with her to include writing your first name in beautiful script. She was very impressed and so was I. That was it for official therapy today. It was concentrated in the first two hours in the morning. I would have preferred it spread out. We went for a walk around the atrium and the outside halls of the atrium. We sat and then you said to me in Greek, let’s go, and shortly after you said the same thing in Japanese, something Bob taught you many years ago. I liked that. You were not good in recognizing the treadmill, computer, etc. today. We did card recognition and you were so-so. You went off with Reann (a student PT) for some walking. By way of news-of-the-day, I read that the death toll from the Tsunami is now estimated at 157,000 souls. Most of the deaths (over 100,000) are in one province of Indonesia called Aceh. The good news is that the response to this catastrophe from here and around the world is wonderful. So far support from the Moslem nations is not great given that Indonesia is predominately Moslem. Here in the US, good old California has had lots of rain and mud slides. Ten people died in those. Why people love CA so much surprises me given the catastrophes they have on a regular basis. I went to Trader Joe’s to buy a few things to include more chocolate for you. Eating-wise I was bad tonight—I ate pasta with cheese. Allday, however, I ate no meat. I did some desk work again and then tried to call you. The line was busy so I called the front desk and they checked and found the phone was under your pillow. Pauline had called earlier and I guess you put it under your pillow when you finished. Pauline called me to ask if I thought you knew who she was and I said yes. She mentioned that she told you too bad that they went out the day you were hit and you responded in a rather philosophical way. You said, “If not then some other time.” The other impressive thing was that you had the sitter dial our number 106 so you could talk to me. That was great. Harry called and he has such a bad cold I couldn’t even recognize his voice. Of course, Mary Anna caught the cold too. Day 96 (Sunday, January 16, 2005)—I put $40 in our travel bank. I called Greece. All are fine and thankful you are getting better. The village priest asks about you and includes your name in his prayers. Voula asks about you as do all the other relatives. Marianna and Apostalos keep up with the news. Gregory says Thano is a delightful child. All, especially Litsa and Ellie, send kisses. Later, when we went walking around the atrium I gave you the kisses. I left the house about 8:25 AM and went to the bank to deposit my BAI check and then to our church where I lit candles for you and then attended the Orthos. The singing was beautiful and we will go when you get better—you will really enjoy Stelios, the chanter. I am emotional when I attend church. I cry with my prayers and ask that you continue to get well. I left after I kissed the bible. I arrived at NRH at 10:50 AM. We went to the cafeteria and got coffee from the vending machine and shared the amaretto latte. Your leg is hurting you—the nurse checked and saw no visual problems. She gave you some Tylenol. Maybe this is arthritic as predicted by the orthopedic doctor from Suburban. The right side is where you damaged your hip socket. We went back to your room and to bed to listen to Eleftheri’s CD Filakia (Kisses). Niko, Nina and Connie came. After your lunch we all went down to the dining room area. Niko brought food for us to eat—barbecue brisket, barbecue pork and chicken, potato salad, green beans and coleslaw. We bought cokes and one of the hospital food workers was kind enough to give us plates. It was quite a feast. When we came upstairs, the girls streaked your hair. You were very patient with the whole thing and stayed seated until everything was done. I think they did an OK job but since your hair is still wet, I can’t tell. You did a lot of walking with me but you are still having trouble remembering the names for keys and computer. You want to call everything a treadmill. You did well naming the various fruit 107 in the Independence Hall market. You got right four of the five objects that I showed you. You seemed to enjoy the company and your sense of humor is really back too. You are fun to talk too. They stayed with us for about three hours. It is cold out—in the low thirties and it may flurry tonight. They do not expect a significant snow fall. I called you three times in the evening but you kept giving away the phone and hanging up. I was very disappointed because the night before we had such a good time talking. Day 97 (Monday, January 17, 2005)—it did not snow last night but it is very cold. When I arrived at 6:50 AM the car recorded a temperature of 23 degrees. Brrrr! You were in bed when I arrived. Breakfast came early and you ate it all. After that, you took a shower and you pretty much dressed yourself. I went for coffee and you went to lie down again. When I returned you were with Sarah the fill-in OT (today is a holiday—Martin Luther King). You were giving her a hard time putting on your socks and shoes. This morning is not one of your more cooperative mornings. I must admit to being concerned that you are not getting with the daily living actions you need to relearn. While your language skills are great, you are still having problems matching words to things. The memory connections are not quite there. I pray to God that they will soon improve. Janella the fill-in PT came and you put on your socks and shoes and went for a walk with her. You practiced changing directions. We continued the walk and worked on identifying things. You did well identifying the color of cards and their numbers. You also identified which card was higher. We played kickball and catch with a balloon. You did well with both. Dini called just before your lunch and you had a brief conversation with her. She thinks you are doing great. When you had enough you said, “Here talk to your Dad.” This use of language and relationships impressed her. You ate all of your food. The main course was fried fish, mashed potatoes, and green beans. 108 I left early to take the car to the dealership for an oil change. They told me that we needed a new air cleaner so I did that too. They also told me that they should check the brakes and measure them for $45 —I said OK to that too. When they did check the brakes, it was found that they were only down 25%. They did not charge me for checking. After I left there, I went to the Navy Exchange. I bought you two short flannel nightgowns. I also bought some Aramis Cologne for me—I made believe that you bought it for me as you usually do. I called you (we had a nice talk). Day 98(Tuesday, January 18, 2005)—while driving to NRH this morning the temperature gauge read 15 degrees and it felt it—I even wore a scarf. Tomorrow afternoon it may snow. You were in bed when I arrived but got up to eat breakfast. You did a good job feeding yourself. You went back into bed to wait for Olivia who came to supervise bathing, dressing, and grooming. Again, a great job on your own. Olivia said your personality is really emerging now. All the therapists are pleased with your progress. They are all concentrating on developing your cognitive skills. You ate half of your lunch with OT supervision and they (not Olivia—others) gave up on you. I came back and with a little encouragement from me you ate the rest. Olivia said you did well in the baking class but your ability to focus was limited to about 15 minutes at a time. So, again, maintaining focus for an extended period is still an issue. The interesting thing was that when Olivia asked how the group could promote the bake sale, you responded, “signs.” She said you did it with the look that suggested “duh.” Liz worked with you in the afternoon. Inbal handled the morning but I missed her to ask how you did. Liz said you recognized items and were able to write what most were. She is working on the memory-word connection. Your right thigh muscle is still bothering you. I spoke with the doctor and they will x-ray the joint to see how it healed. The right hip joint was hurt badly in the accident but the orthopedics doctor that looked at it while you were at Suburban thought it better for it to heal on its own. He did caution that you might get some arthritis in the joint. But he reminded me that if it was severe, hip replacements are rather routine these days. Dr. McCarthy ordered 109 the nurse to give you Tylenol and they ordered a cream to rub on the muscle. I will bring some rub from home too. I went to the PX and then to the commissary. I bought you some more nightgowns, this time a little longer. I bought a cream to rub on your right leg. At the commissary, I bought a few items. coleslaw and at least that was good. I called you and we had a very nice conversation. Day 99 (Wednesday, January 19, 2005)—I arrived at my usual time —7:00 AM. You were dressed and waiting for me. I massaged your leg with Theragesic cream and you said it helped. I rubbed several times during the day. You ate your breakfast and then we went walking. You are still having trouble identifying a computer but did identify the mirror when I asked. Your name for the computer today was “tram.” Where did you get that? You went with Olivia (OT) to make muffins. She said you mixed and sat for about 10 minutes at a time. You helped make a sign advertising a bake sale with mixed English and Greek letters. The sign showed that you are still displaying what they call “left neglect.” She was pleased with your overall progress. Liz worked with you and you named clothing in Vogue and read some. Later you recalled daily events, named items needed to complete daily tasks and answered environmental questions. Before you worked with Liz, I spoke with her and suggested that asking you to spell words might be contra-productive since you have a thing about spelling. Perhaps reading a word and matching it to an object would be a better approach. Starting at 9 AM it began to snow. The weather people said only one to two inches of snow would fall but it is really coming down. Hopefully the storm will blow through quickly since they called this a “clipper” storm. In spite of the snow, Pauline, Jackie, Jeff and baby Jenna came to see you. They went with you to watch as you went with Natalie to work out. Before they came, we went to radiology to get an x-ray of your right hip. They were here when we came back to the room. 110 I left a few minutes early tonight to go home and shovel snow. The trip home took me longer than usual because of the snow. Shoveling the driveway was pretty easy because it was so cold the snow was very powdery. I was done in a half hour. We had a nice conversation on the phone. You remembered that Pauline called you earlier. Day 100 (Thursday, January 20, 2005)—the trip to NRH was uneventful. I got out of bed at about 5:10 AM and thus left home for NRH a few minutes early. When I arrived you were still in bed wearing one of your new night gowns. The sitter got you up and you took a shower and then came back and dressed yourself. The food came and you ate it all. You relaxed in bed and I went to the cafeteria for a bite. While there the President of NRH saw me and wanted to visit you. We came upstairs together and he spoke to you a couple of minutes. He was very gracious and so were you. Natalie felt you were a little agitated today and somewhat uncooperative. Later as the “greeter” of the bake sale under the supervision of Olivia, you did OK but not great as you distracted easily. You walked the atrium about three times but managed to stay the entire hour of the sale and helped in the clean-up. You attended the diner’s club and ate all of your food. Father Steve came and I took a picture of you with him. After that you got very tired and while we talked you ended up sleeping. Father Steve blessed you and used the Holy Oil from Bethlehem that came to us via Gregory in Greece. Father Steve was very impressed by your progress and kept saying “Glory to God,” in Greek. You did well with Liz. She said that you responded correctly to about 60 percent of the questions dealing with your personnel history. Walking is of course not really a problem for you. Joe came to say hi and we chatted a little. When we left, he took me to dinner at Ambrosia in the Montrose Crossing shopping center. I ate chicken livers. He had his favorite, roast lamb. Day 101 (Friday, January 21, 2005)—you were in bed when I arrived. You were wearing their hospital gown. Before I leave in the 111 afternoon, I must lay out one of the gowns that I bought for your hospital stay. You ate breakfast and the sitter then supervised your shower which you did on your own. Natalie came and you did great with her to include working out on the recumbent stepper machine. You also did different leg exercises such as side kicks, back kicks, toe lifts and so forth. You walked up one whole flight of real stairs from the second to the third floor, one step after the other. Later with Olivia, you continued to have a focus problem—you found it hard to sit for any length of time. You were OK when I came in to observe you and the group you were with but the minute I stepped out to take a call, you lost interest and had to get out of the room to find me. We then went walking to get rid of your frustration (your word). As we were walking the atrium, you did name the computer, the treadmill and the parallel bars when we passed. You wrote your name (self initiated) in Greek on your room’s white board. You only had one “t” in Pattakos but when I asked you, you did know there were two of them in Pattakos. When I ask you what a word meant in Greek or English you freely and without hesitation translated back and forth. With Olivia’s return, you still had focus problems. Speech was late in the afternoon and you started with Melissa and later with Liz. They both said you did great. When I left I went to the PX gas station and the commissary. It seemed that everybody was there in anticipation of the expected snow storm tomorrow. Fortunately the express check-out line wasn’t bad. I bought some frozen. Niko called to find out how you are. He and Nina plan to come on Sunday and to bring some food for us to eat since the cafeteria is closed. When I got home there was a letter from TRICARE North disallowing an NRH charge of $30,000 because your sponsor wasn’t registered in TRICARE (DEERS). They told you that you had to pay. Seems as if the NRH used your Social Security number instead of mine as the sponsor and you, of course, are the dependent. Oh, well! Day 102 (Saturday, January 22, 2005)—I arrived at 6:50 to beat the anticipated snow. You were in bed but dressed. Your breakfast arrived and you ate it all. The sitter told me that you were very restless last night and did not sleep well. The snow did start at nine 112 as advertised but it was not very heavy. We’ll see as time goes by. All of the snow crews are on alert and ready to salt and plow. Unfortunately, they will not be doing our driveway so I hope it doesn’t snow the six to eight inches that they predict. I spoke to Litsa this morning in case I get snowed in here tonight. I asked that Gregory call Aunt Maria. I did not want to go through that emotion. She wrote me a note as she was worried that she did not hear from us this Christmas. I guess I should have sent her a card with a check but I was not with it to that degree. Litsa sends lots of love and many kisses. She told me sad news. Apparently your cousin Chrisanthi committed suicide. She went to the seaside village of Mihaniona to a church to light a candle for her late husband Angelos and then threw herself into the sea and drowned. I did not tell you this—we can discuss it later, or you can read it here. I told Litsa that I could understand what Chrisanthi did because the first two months of your accident, I had very similar feelings. I was devastated that my soul mate was so damaged she might not be with me into the future. I was so concerned that you would not recover and that our lives were destroyed, I did not want to live. In fact, I accumulated 85 sleeping tablets they prescribed to help me sleep at night to help me sleep permanently. I even found an internet site that recommended painless methods for suicide. I still have the pills and the site so you better get better and come home to me soon. I decided not to tell you about her death right now or my possible plans. I’ll wait until I think it is appropriate. Dini called and spoke to you for a few of minutes. I called Litras’ in Florida and then Lackey to tell them how you were doing. They were pleased to hear of your progress and send you lots of love. You did OK with Natalie and Olivia but when the fill-in SLP came back with you, she said you were too tired to do anything. Another PT person came and I suggested that she reschedule and she said OK. I asked the doctor to give you a mild sedative so that you sleep tonight and he said he would. You thought you might also need a laxative but things turned out OK. You did a very good job eating 113 your lunch. You really are tired today but not so tired that you couldn’t give me sweet kisses. The snow was pretty intense so I left at 2:30 PM. I took me an hour to get home, not bad as things go. Some people going the other way had trouble getting up the hills. Fortunately, that did not happen to me. When I got home, I waited awhile and luckily the snow stopped. I used the electric snow shovel to shovel the snow. Tanya frustrated me first though. I had lent her the blower and the electric cord on the reel and somehow she tangled it badly that it took me a half hour to get it off of the reel. I was not happy. Barbara from Ocean Pines called to get an update on how you were. I gave her the current news. She sent her love to you. You remain in her prayers. Niko called to say he and Nina would come on Sunday and bring food again. I put $40 into our travel bank. Day 103 (Sunday, January 23, 2005)—this Sunday I get to sleep an hour more since I go to church and that doesn’t start until 9 AM. I gave myself a haircut and it came out OK, I think. When I left home I went to the bank for cash, and finally to church. There were a bunch of people visiting from Chicago during the Orthos. Father John made excuses why he has been unable to come to NRH. I said I understood. He said he loves you and will try to see you soon. I stayed in church until I kissed the bible. Of course, earlier I lit two votive candles and four regular candles. I asked our Lord to bless you and to help increase your cognitive and daily living skills. You need to be blessed with more focus and concentration. By the way, Stelios was not there because he was in an automobile accident. His car was rear-ended on the beltway. He was not seriously hurt but because of the weather, Father J suggested he stay home. Christina who sings as part of the choir was there and she really has a beautiful voice—it reminds me of the singer Charlotte. I was worried about the trip to NRH from church but there was no problem. When I arrived at 10 AM you were sitting up in a chair. You had your shoes on but only one sock. I convinced you to put on the other sock and you removed the shoe, put on the sock and then 114 the shoe doing the Velcro too. We then went to the vending machines got coffee and sat in the dining room. You liked the coffee so much so that I got a second cup. Connie and then Niko and Nina came with food from Moby Dick the Persian restaurant. Earlier you ate all of your food consisting of fish, carrots and peas, and pasta. You ate it all plus a can and ½ of Ensure and peach cobbler. You did well indeed as I did with the souvlaki that Niko bought for me. You really were fun today, you amused us all with your witty talk. You impressed them playing hand-ball and then kick-ball too. The breaking news today was that Johnny Carson died at age 79 from emphysema. CNN had a long piece about him and his career. The trip home was uneventful. When I got home I worked at figuring out my final Keogh contribution and doing some tax organizing while I was doing that. I called you as I now do every night and we had a satisfactory conversation (meaning you didn’t keep handing the phone to the sitter). Day 104 (Monday, January 24, 2005)—I left here about 6:45 AM after clearing the windshield from ice. Next stop was the post office and I mailed the Keogh check. The trip to JCITA was easy as the road crews did a good job. The teaching seemed to go well and I managed to get to NRH at about 12:45 PM. Finding parking was a pain and I had to park in the open part of the garage which meant that I had snow on the car when I left because of some flurries. An advantage of getting there early (in addition to seeing you) is getting a nearby, covered parking space. You had on your short nightgown on and your warm-up pants. The sitter told me that you were trying to take off your clothes, often. I changed you into a t-shirt and sure enough you kept trying to remove it. I worked hard to have you understand that this was not the modest thing to do. You finally cooperated. Natalie told me that she had some problems with getting you to participate in group PT so she went back to one-on-one with you. You did OK. With Liz, you did very well when asked to tell her the opposite of words e.g., 115 when she said cold, you did say hot. I did not see Olivia so I don’t know how you did with her. I guess I will find out tomorrow. When I left at 4 PM, I went to Target to find you v-neck t-shirts since the other shirts close to your neck were bothering you. The mall was closed. They had a fire sprinkler problem and the Fire Marshall said they must stay closed until fixed. It was frozen pipes. Our call was not satisfactory as you did not wish to stay on the line. You even had the sitter Titi call me back but then again you didn’t want to stay on the line. Oh, well! Day 105 (Tuesday, January 25, 2005)--this is the 15th week since the accident. You have come a long way baby but there is still much to do. Mostly, you need to work on focus, concentration, and memory skills. You are restless. When I arrived you were sitting up in the chair and the sitter said that you had a shower. You ate all of your breakfast and then I went for breakfast. Olivia came early and off you went with her. Then came April who filled in for Natalie and you did some leg exercises with her. You did well. Liz came and went to make a peanut butter sandwich. She said you did a terrific job, did not need any cues and didn’t eat the peanut butter on the way to putting it on the bread as you did in the past. Next you went for your Cogs-skills group with Olivia. You were not too attentive so I ended up involved and you did very well with me there. Later, when I spoke to Olivia, she was nice but implied that I was distracting. I don’t understand that since you seemed more attentive when I was guiding you than with her assistant Amanda. Well, tomorrow in the AM she has you all to herself since I will be teaching. You went with Liz after that and then to your diner’s group where I was told and later shown the evidence that you ate well. They know that I like to make sure you’ve eaten. Your time with Natalie was the best ever, she said. You were responsive with good balance and walking skills. Liz said you did very well in completing sentences. This was the last therapy of the day and I am proud that you are concentrating better now. 116 Paul and Tula called from Florida to ask how you were and I filled them in. Next they spoke with you and you had a nice although brief conversation. It was nice that they called. Day 106 (Wednesday, January 26, 2005)—this morning I went to teach at JCITA for four hours. The class went well and I managed to leave right at 12 PM. I arrived at NRH about 45 minutes latter. I was told that you did good work with the therapists but that you are still restless. We are working on relaxing. For example you sat with me for about thirty minutes. When you wanted to get up and walk around I said “no, we need to relax” and you did. So, we need to work on decreasing your restlessness. We spoke on the phone and it was satisfying. Your Canadian cousin called to find out how you are. She said she called you at the hospital but you were sleeping. Day 107 (Thursday, January 27, 2005)—the big event of the day was a visit to an Ophthalmologist. We saw Anna Park, MD, who gave you a series of tests. Some were dependent on your cognitive skills and I’m not sure you did great with those. The upside was that you were very patient and cooperative. The downside is that you did have the optic nerve of your good eye (the left one) permanently damaged. You can see at about 20/100. An upside is that it is unlikely to get worse. I thank God that you can see. When we returned you went to group OT and did better in terms of not being restless but you did not participate very much in the group I was told. Liz said you did OK but you get tired when you have her late in the afternoon. The big challenge is that you control your restlessness and stay focused. We are working on that. Dini called to tell me about the CAT scan you had on 8 Dec. As we knew it would, it showed you have a brain injury that will take time to heal. I feel so bad, I could cry right now. What did we do to have this happen? OK, maybe we weren’t great in all we did in our lives but were we that bad? My heart aches! You called me (the sitter did the dialing but you did the talking). We had a nice conversation and you even spoke to Debbie. Joe and 117 Debbie picked me up. Joe and I went to a meeting which by coincidence was near a mall and Debbie went mall shopping. Prior to that, they took me to dinner at Bennigans. We all had the same— a grilled sea food platter. Day 108 (Friday, January 28, 2005)—today is your official birthday. You are 60 years old and people can’t believe you are that age but think you are much younger. I got you a sweet card and last night bought you a cute peanut butter cake. I remembered to bring you the card but since the cake was in the refrigerator, I forgot the cake. What do you expect from a guy? Hopefully, I’ll remember to bring it Sunday. I had trouble reading the card to you because I got emotional. The card shows two cute bears on the front hugging each other on a cloud with many hearts over their heads. It reads, For My Wife, Maria, Whenever we’re together… and then inside, I’m in Hug Heaven! Happy Birthday with All My Love and I wrote that outnumbers the stars in heaven and the grains of sand on earth. Get better and come home with me soon. Your very own forever, Arion. The temperature was 11 degrees and you were bright eyed when I arrived. You said you were cold so did not want a shower and the sitter gave you a sponge bath. I offered to take you to the shower but you said no for the same reason. I helped you dress yourself. Breakfast came and you ate everything. Later when I weighed you (clothes on) you were 112 pounds. I went for breakfast and when I got back, we went for a walk. Your endurance is getting good, so is your stride and pace you set for the walk. After about the fourth turn around the outside atrium corridors, you told me you were huffing and puffing so we sat down. We practiced staying seated. You managed to stay in place for 15 minutes although you did want to get up. You went off with April who was filling-in for Natalie. When you returned April said that you would start the exercises she asked you to do but you did not finish doing the requested ten repetitions but would quit at eight reps. You did OK with the OT group but needed to get up once and awhile. At the end of the session, you did not help with the clean-up. When asked if you were supervising, you said Yes, I’m the boss. 118 While you were in therapy, I went to the cafeteria. I got something to eat and arranged to buy carrot cake for you and the dining group. After everybody ate their food, we sang Happy Birthday to you (my eyes filled with tears as they are doing now as I am typing this) and you ate a little bit of cake as did I and the others. Liz said you worked well with her ten minutes at a time as did Natalie. We received beautiful flowers from Dr. Barnett (our dentist) and his staff. That was very thoughtful of them. I will call on Monday and thank them. Mary Haziannis came and spent about an hour. She said you looked fabulous and there was a big positive change from the last time she visited. When I left, I went to the Commissary where I bought a few things. Arriving home, there was a message on my machine from a Mike Ruane who is with the Washington Post. He wants to do a feature article about you. I said yes but am having some doubts now because I am concerned that it might be stressful for you. He seemed like a nice guy when he called me back. Pauline called me up and told me that she was in Suburban Hospital with pneumonia. She wanted to make sure you understood that she would not be able to visit you next week. Day 109 (Saturday, January 29, 2005)—I arrived at the usual time just before 7 PM. You were happy to see me as I was to see you. You were dressed and you had showered. The food came soon thereafter and you did a good job eating. Today is a light therapy day and fillins are doing the job. You are doing so-so. I did show you some words and you read them all to include a long word—toothbrush. When I asked “how old are you,” you responded 26. You may look as if you are 26 but in reality you are a few years older. You also like to call strangers Pauline—everybody but me is a universal Pauline. As you can see, we’ve got a lot of work yet in helping you to connect the dots. We do a lot of walking together and that is a good thing. You really enjoyed your Greek music today and would repeat some the lyrics to me as you were listening. Every once and awhile you handed me the earphones so I could get the direct flavor. While your memory might not be great, you are fun to be with. 119 We spoke to Dini and Maia today. Dini really did not have an opinion if we should do the Post thing should they continue to be interested. Myrna and Dino called today and you spoke to Myrna. You knew they were in Florida. We called Aunt Mary, Mrs. Lackey and the Litras’ in Florida. They were all thrilled to hear from you. Since I planned to take your smelly slippers on Sunday, I went to buy you new slippers. I went home and washed lots of laundry and worked on our checkbook. You asked the sitter to call me and we spoke on the phone. You wanted me back there NOW. I explained that I had been there with you but you really wanted me. You thought that the sitter was mean because she would not permit you to take off your clothes and wander around. You were a little agitated. Day 110 (Sunday, January 30, 2005)—I awakened to snow falling. It wasn’t much but it did require I clean the car before I ventured out. Not many people were on the road. After I ate cereal and said my prayers off I went into the snow for Church. When I arrived, I was the only one there. I lit candles for you and sat to await the start of the Orthos. When it didn’t start at 9 AM, I asked the candelonafti if any of the priests had arrived. Father John stepped out at about 9:10 (I was still the only parishioner there) and Father J. said they would be off to a slow start so he gave me a blessing and off I went to see you. When I arrived, I was told you had not spent a restful night even though you had been given Trazedone. We went to the vending machines and bought coffee. I left you for a second cup and while out of sight, you decided to put pepper into your coffee. You didn’t like it much. I managed to get it out and you enjoyed some. At about noon, just when you finished eating, the kids came—Niko, Nina, Vicki, and Connie. You like to call everybody Pauline. We drilled you a little until you seemed to remember everybody’s name. We went to the cafeteria dining room to eat the food that Niko brought—barbecue stuff. You were really the life of the party. You spoke a lot and made many joking comments that were on subject. You even blew my punch line when I was describing to two Greeks going to Paris and being concerned with ordering food and not 120 being understood. About half way, you chimed in with the punch line, “La skata.” You really were very cute and it showed that you remembered. I wonder why names are a problem. After an hour plus, we returned to your room. You were not restless sitting with us. When we arrived, the ladies gave you a manicure and they all left soon thereafter. Niko was going to see Maryland basketball. I stayed a couple more hours sitting next to you and holding your hand. When I left, I went to get you another pair of slippers. The first pair I got you are too small. I found some that look as if they will fit better. I also bought you a pair of shower flip-flops. I hated going home to our lonely home. You initiated a call to me because you missed me and you said you wanted me there next to you. We had a nice conversation. I called you back later and we had another nice talk. I washed your slippers and a couple other things and then went into the usual routine. I always say goodnight to you and somehow I feel you must hear me even though you are miles away. Day 111 (Monday, January 31, 2005)—you looked very well today when I arrived and the sitter said you had a good evening. I arrived at 6:45 and you were dressed and had bathed. I did your face with a Ponds wipe and put on some moisturizer. You used the lotion I put on your hands to moisturize them. You did an excellent job in eating your breakfast. I called Paul Rao to see if it would be alright to have the Washington Post do a feature story about you here on Thursday. I called our lawyer and left him a voicemail to make sure no problems from a legal standpoint. You first therapy today was with April from PT. You next followed up with Liz and speech therapy. You did NOT do well with Liz. You wanted to get up and take off your clothes. I am very disappointed and told you that you must work with your therapists or that would delay your departure from here to home. I walked you down to your cognitive skills group and admonished you to pay attention and do what Olivia instructed. You did OK for awhile making a milk shake but needed to wander. I intervened with tough love and you seemed to pay better attention. Your second session with Olivia went well she said and later at dining group you participated and ate well too, 121 reported Dorothy. Natalie said that you did great with her and did things you wouldn’t try last week such as walking along a straight line, one foot in front of the other. During the second session with Liz you did well using a check list and observing your environment. I spoke to members of the team to include Dr. McCarthy for the development of a joint strategy for improving your focus and attention. I believe they all need to work in an integrated fashion and not let you walk around when you want to after a short time sitting. They are happy if you sit for ten minutes in one place before moving. I think you need to be “trained” to sit longer by insisting that you do sit longer. Dini returned the CD with the CAT scan and a very beautiful music CD that she made for us. We started to listen to the CD together as I bought an attachment that lets us hear what’s playing with two sets of ear phones on the one CD player. The songs are beautiful and made me cry once again. It seems that a day does not pass that I don’t cry a little and sometimes a lot. Day 112 (Tuesday, February 01, 2005)--this is week 16 and I went to JCITA to teach. It was a whole day affair and things appeared to go well. I got a lot of class participation. I left there at 4:00 PM and arrived at NRH to be with you at 4:45. I saw Natalie and she said that you were very agitated and did not do well with her. When I saw Noa (one of the OT people) she said you did very well in the cogskills group. I spoke to Judy the nurse practitioner and she said that Dr. McCarthy has changed your medication from Ritalin to Dexedrine to see if that works better in keeping you alert but not agitated. Quite frankly, I don’t think they are being strict enough with you. They should insist you follow instructions and not permit you to wander. There is to be a meeting on Thursday to discuss these issues. Your dinner came and you did a very good job in eating. I stayed with you until 6:30. Day 113 (Wednesday, February 02, 2005) –I got up early today and did some on-line research about amino acids and if they might help you recover your memory sooner. I sent the info to Dini and asked 122 her to ask her TBI (traumatic brain injury) friend. I arrived at the usual time and you were in bed waiting for food and OT to come and supervise your bathing. The food was late but when it did arrive you did a great job of eating completely on your own. You cut your pancakes and ate them plus your eggs. Olivia came and you did a great job bathing and dressing yourself to include washing your hair. Later you went off with April to do PT and I observed half of your session. You cooperated well, walking a line, doing toe lifts, sidekicks, marching and side steps, etc. In cognitive skills group you did well. You paid attention and were there for the entire group activity. You did well with Becky, a fill-in SLP, getting 100% on identifying objects and listing things such as what you need to make a bed. You did not do quite as well on answering questions dealing with the month and where you are. You only got a 60% rating and at times you would be as high as 90%. I’m told you did well with your eating group. I came back just a few minutes too late to verify that on my own. By the way, you are now doing a great job of putting on your socks and shoes. I brought a long shoehorn in and you are expert at using it. We spoke on the phone three times—twice initiated by you. Day 114 (Thursday, February 03, 2005)—you were dressed and showered when I arrived. We kissed and talked until the food tray came. You did well eating and then I went off to the cafeteria to eat my usual. They told me you were a little restless last night and did not sleep until about 2:30 AM. You did not seem sleepy to me when I arrived. Daryl, from housekeeping, said you were feisty last night. Olivia said you did well with her. Later you did OK with the cogskills group. April from PT said you did not do as well as you did yesterday. With Becky, the fill-in SLP, you were rather feisty. You told her you were angry and when she asked why you said, Because you keep asking me stupid questions? Becky recovered well by saying that if you answered them correctly, she would not ask again. You then cooperated. In the afternoon, Natalie said you did great. Liz followed and you did great with her for about 15 minutes before you tired. Thinking is hard work. 123 It is interesting the problems people have. I met a nice couple named Heinrich and Ruth Rosenleher. They are from Garmish, Germany. They are in the US to assist in caring for their son (a lawyer) who lives here in the US. He had a stroke and is now rehabilitating at NRH. The father (also a lawyer) is retired but was very prominent in both German and US government circles. We share many mutual acquaintances. Since 9/11, however, our law is very strict on how long foreigners can stay in this country and they have been in a constant battle to remain in the US. Laws need to make sense. We had a team meeting today with Natalie, Olivia, and Liz. Dr. Russell the neuro-psychologist also attended. The meeting’s purpose was to coordinate therapy in an integrated way when you are feeling restless or agitated. The conclusion was that they needed to let you rest when it was perceived that you were being mentally overloaded. They also needed to regulate better the meds you were being given. I also suggested they needed to control your restlessness better when it did not appear to be related to mental overload i.e., keep you seated and focused. They told me that I should not be troubled if they return her early in a session because she would have really worked hard during the earlier part of the session. The Washington Post people came right on time. The staff writer’s name is Mike Ruane and the staff photographer is Susan Biddle. I prepared a packet for them and they stayed for two hours asking questions and taking pictures. We sat in the kitchen and because of the sloppy weather outside, they took off their shoes. I gave Susan some pictures of you in Suburban Hospital and one from Greece to show what you looked like before the accident. I was pooped when they left. Barbara called from Ocean Pines to find out how you are doing and so did Niko. Day 115 (Friday, February 04, 2005)—you were all dressed and freshly showered. You told me that you had brushed your teeth but I didn’t think so and we did mouthwash. The Washington Post people arrived at 7:30 AM. They spoke to you and took pictures. 124 You then ate while they watched. You did an overall good job. After you ate, Mike and I went to the cafeteria for coffee where we met Paul Rao and then James their public affairs guy. When we arrived back on the 3rd floor you were already working with April. You did fantastically well with all of the exercises. As it was pointed out to Mike, the exercises are important for connecting the dots in the brain (as I put it). I gave Mike a tour of Independence Square and the garden. He sat in on your cog-skills group. I did not since I didn’t want to distract you. Both really followed you and the therapist around. They even had a meeting with Judy (the nurse practitioner) and Dr. Russell (the neuropsychologist) to get a better understanding of brain injury. The bottom line is that the professionals really don’t know much about brain injury other than therapy appears beneficial for recovery by reopening the connections or establishing new ones. They have general knowledge of what portions of the brain controls what but they added that this is not precise as there are slight differences in all people. The Washington Post people seem to be very nice and I hope this translates into a wonderful article about you. Reports back from all the therapists: you did well with them all. Liz said she took you to the vending machines and you showed her how to operate one. She also noted that you found it strange that she did not know how to do the job and relied on you. I watched you work with April (the assistant PT) and you were fabulous. You did all of the various exercises to include walking a straight line heel to toe. Many people came to see you today. Harry and Mary Anna brought you a very cute stuffed dog that they found you at Bloomingdales that you call “Curley.” Bob came and so did Joe. Later when I left, Joe took me to dinner at the chicken place. As usual it was good and he bought a whole chicken to take home to Debbie. At home I did the usual to include calling you. We had a nice conversation. Gingie my boyhood friend called from Florida to ask about you. Day 116 (Saturday, February 05, 2005)—boy, are you on the ball today. You are working very well with your therapists. You did 125 great PT and then followed up with a wonderful session with Liz. You completed sentences and responded to questions. For example, when asked if you could fix one thing in the world, you responded, Iraq. When asked where you would like to vacation, you said Greece. You did equally as well with other questions and maintained focus for 15 minutes before needing a short break. When you came back, instead of wanting to pop back into bed, you sat in the chair. We talked and looked at some pictures and you identified everybody with minimum coaching Dini called and you had a very nice conversation with her and then with Maia and Alec. You told them you were in a hospital bed but were ready to go home. We then called Aunt Mary, Arti, Barbara, and Mary Anna (to thank her for the stuffed dog). From listening to your side you seemed to have good conversations with all of them. Your OT work was supervised eating. I could have done that and in fact you did not eat everything with them. After eating, we went for a walk in the garden area. It was pleasant but then the wind picked up and we went in after about five minutes. Father John called. He did come yesterday after I left. You know, you told me that he came but I wasn’t sure that you remembered correctly but obviously you did. You said he said that he loved you and said prayers and he did do all of those things. So, my sweet girl, another important thing happened in terms of your memory improving. We went to the supermarket in Independence Square. I asked you to hand me different fruit: you got 100%. When I arrived home I sent an email to Mike Ruane the Washington Post writer with my redacted journal attached. You called me twice from the hospital and you were very upset with the sitter because you felt she was mean to you. In fact, you called her a witch. I tried to calm you but you were quite agitated. Later when I called, you had not calmed down. You are, however, handling a phone conversation much better now. I thanked God for the good day he gave you with the therapists. 126 Day 117 (Sunday, February 06, 2005)—I slept well—I took some pills and managed to stay in bed, asleep until 0635. It was very restful. Instead of showering immediately the way I usually do, I called Greece. I spoke to Gregory, Litsa and Marianna. I told them how great you were doing and they were very happy and praised God for his help. Gregory told me there was about three feet of snow on the ground. They are OK and little Thano is thriving. He likes to mimic what his parents are doing—when Apostalos does the computer, he wants to; when Marianna takes a cloth to wipe, so does he. They all send you their love and many kisses. I arrived a church just before 9 AM. I lit two regular and two votive candles. Stelios was there as the psalti (chanter) and in fine voice. He and Christina really sing beautifully. Stelios, by the way, is now sporting a beard. I stayed for the liturgy but left right after I received communion. As usual, I asked God to consider this a communion for both of us. I brought you two pieces of aghiasmo (Holy Bread). Just before I started the car, I called to tell you I was coming. You told me to be careful but to hurry since you missed me. I arrived at 11:50 and shortly thereafter so did your lunch. You did a very good job eating. You weigh 110 pounds today and thus are maintaining your weight. After eating, Niko, Nina, and Vicki arrived. I found out that Nina called you the night before and had a nice chat with you. We all went to the cafeteria dining room to wait for Connie who was buying the lunch for us today. She brought Lebanese food. Niko brought drinks (I did too, but we will save them). Again, you were the life of the party. You were cute, made us laugh, and stayed seated a good hour until you had to go to the toilet. When I described your unhappiness with the sitter last night and that you called her a witch you followed on to say it was another word that rhymes with witch. At 2 PM Nick and Nina went to look at a house (their Sunday sport). Connie and Vicki stayed until 4 PM and you really loved interacting with them. You laughed very hard at what you guys were talking about and you made them laugh too. You pretty much kept their names straight too. Connie shaved your 127 legs with one of little electric shavers and put lotion on them too. As I said, you really seemed to have a great time this afternoon. I left carrying the usual evening laundry. When I arrived home, I found a message on the answering machine from you telling me to come soon but to be careful. You called right after I had left for church at about 8:30 AM. I called you and we had a very nice talk. Day 118 (Monday, February 07, 2005)—I came earlier than usual this morning and had to wait in the hall while the sitter was washing you and your roommate. I was told that you slept OK. You did a good job when your breakfast came and then I went to eat mine. They now have lo-carb bread based on my suggestion. I guess I don’t have to bring mine anymore. You took a nap until April came for your first therapy of the day. You did great with her and later you stayed for the full hour with Cog-skills group and participated. Liz said she had the best time with you ever. You were responsive and answered questions very well and again didn’t feel compelled to wander. You went to diners group and did a great job with them. You did not get up until you ate everything. You are beginning to stay in place. You still aren’t doing well with names but it seems as if that too will come soon. You beat Natalie in throwing horseshoes and you did five minutes on the recumbent stepper. Liz said you did wonderfully well looking at pictures with safety implications. For example, one picture showed a boy with a knife and in response to Liz’s query of what you would do, you said take away the knife as the boy might hurt himself. You also stayed in place during the whole session. Dr. Todd Bernstein who is filling in for Dr. McCarthy while he is on vacation came to talk to me about your meds. He suggested that we take you off of the Prozac and the Trazedone and substitute Remeron for both. It seems that Remeron is a sedative and an antidepressant. Given that you are working so well with your therapists right now, I did not want to change at this time but this is a good idea if things don’t go as well in the future. 128 The Washington Post staff writer Mike Ruane called. He did not receive the email I sent to him on Saturday with my journal attached. I went to James, the NRH Public Affairs guy and used his computer. Fortunately I had the file on the flash drive that I carry. He called me to say that he received it. We spoke on the phone four times and Maia called and spoke to you too. Day 119 (Tuesday, February 08, 2005)—I went to sleep right away but awoke at 2:30 AM and couldn’t fall asleep again. I got up and checked email and checked to see if I had all the info needed for our income tax. I have not yet received reports from one bank account (Wachovia) and MetLife (dividends). Apparently, we did not get the check they sent and we did not get one that they sent in 2002 either. They will send both. I called from your hospital room to put things back on track. After you ate your breakfast you joined me in the cafeteria. You had coffee and half of my egg/cheese on a slice of lo-carb bread. You were very patient and greeted all who said hi to you. You are doing well with the therapists today. You were a little mean to April during PT but when I joined, you were great and did all exercises. You went to Rahsaan’s cog-skills group for one hour and were really with it. You folded clothes like an expert and importantly, stayed attentive. The same was true with Olivia and Liz. The lunch was late and you had to wait ½ hour and you chatted with Olivia during the wait. When the meal came, you ate everything on your own with very little supervision. Liz feels you are doing so well that you should start attending a speech group. This is an absolutely beautiful day. It has to be in the 60s and the sun is out with no wind. We went outside to the garden and sat on a park bench in the sun. We both enjoyed the relaxation time. Somebody made a decision to move your current roommate out and another person in. The new person was someone who needs a sitter and they said your current roommate doesn’t need one. The trouble with doing that is the new person liked to cry and scream and I said 129 “no way” do you need that type of roommate to interfere with you getting better. I must admit to threatening the floor staff by suggesting I call one of the NRH VPs. At any rate, the decision was reversed. You kept the same roommate, Jean. She is a very quite person. This is another reason why people in a hospital environment need advocates no matter how good the facility might be. At home, I watered the plants and then did nothing special other than speak to you on the phone. Susan called to ask how you are. Aunt Mary sent a nice gift for your birthday. Day 120 (Wednesday, February 09, 2005)—Aunt Maria called me from Crete just as I was finishing my prayers and about to leave. She asked how you were and blessed you. I told her that as soon as you came home, we would call her. When I arrived, I was told that they came to draw blood from you at 4:30 AM and they had to wake you to do so. To add insult, the phlebotomist had trouble finding your vein. I let people know that taking blood at such an hour was not the greatest therapeutic approach. Later the Dr. told me that you had elevated liver levels. They will check this later. You are very alert. For the first time you are listening to the TV (Good Morning America) and commenting to me about what you hear. This is another milestone, to my thinking. You ate your breakfast and then we went off to the cafeteria together for coffee. Later, April from PT took over and you did your different exercises. You did not much like your fill-in OT but did great in your cogskills group. Liz said you did very well conversing with her and responding to open-ended questions. Lunch went well and it looks as if you will be graduating from your diners club very soon. I spoke with Amy, the case worker: you are on schedule for release on 24 February. Then you would return for out-patient therapy for as long as required to connect your memory dots. I can’t wait for you to come home and you are looking forward to that too. We also discussed sitters which generated yesterday’s potential problem of switching roommates. I suggested that you two only need a sitter in 130 the evening (to make sure you both ate) and at night to make sure you did not wander. They thought this a good idea. Before I left, Mary a sitter who likes you very much came and said a lovely get well prayer for you. Joe came and we went for an OPSEC Society Standards Committee meeting at the Hamburger Hamlet in Crystal City. The meeting went well and accomplished a lot. Day 121 (Thursday, February 10, 2005)—no more daytime sitter for you guys. Your nighttime sitter said you slept OK and did your hair with the gel that I brought based on her recommendation. She said I bought the right stuff and you hair looks much better now. You waited for me to come to brush your teeth and you did a good job to include your tongue and you used mouthwash. Brenda the head nurse came to apologize for people coming to draw blood the day before at 4:30 AM. I emphasized that this was NOT good procedure for brain injury people who need their sleep to maximize the effectiveness of their therapy. They cannot afford to be tired if the therapy is to work. I also suggested that they have individual earphones to the TV in the brain injury rooms so there are not conflicting sensory noises i.e., two TVs playing different programs. You did a great job eating breakfast. We went down to the cafeteria for coffee. You even wanted a doughnut. I bought two coffees and a doughnut and we sat in the dining room to sip the coffee and you ate ¾ of the doughnut (I ate the other ¼). When we returned to the room, you rested awhile and watched TV. We learned that Prince Charles is to marry Camilla. You did not remember that Princess Dianna died in an auto accident in a Paris tunnel. You did track what was being said on the TV. Then you went off with April and did all of the PT exercises. Liz took you next and you discussed what you would take on different types of trips. You responses were appropriate. In the Cog-skills group with Rahsaan you were put in a situation where a lot was going on and Rahsaan said you coped well. Lunch with the diners group was uneventful. 131 Mike Ruane the Wash Post staff writer called me a couple of times to check on spelling from Greek to English. He also wanted to know your maiden name. Hopefully, he is close to finishing the article. When I left, I went directly to the dentist. My teeth were cleaned and the dentist gave me a clean bill of teeth health. They were very sweet inquiring about you and gave me a goody bag to deliver to you. I’ll do that on Sunday when we party in celebration of your birthday. You called me twice—once while I was at the dentist and once at home. You thought Mary Anna and Harry were to visit you. I tried to dissuade you but you insisted. There is nothing more to report after I got home as I did the usual boring stuff. Day 122 (Friday, February 11, 2005)—it is a new day and we are approaching the time when you will be discharged. You still have some memory dots to connect but you are getting there. Breakfast went well and then Olivia came and supervised your showering and dressing activities. She was followed by April who supervised your morning athletic activities. She reported that you were responsive. A continuing point of interest is your responsiveness to what is being said on TV. This shows progress. You made me a very nice valentine in cog-skills group using the Greek “B” (beta) for the v in valentine. I loved it and I love you. Natalie came and took you to group PT. I observed and you did well although you did seem to get bored when there was waiting while others caught up or finished their set of what was being done. You attended diner’s club and had a conversation with one of the other diners, Justin, a wounded Marine. You ate all of your food and even remembered Lori’s name (you didn’t call her Polly) who was the club supervisor. We sat together and finished our soft drinks. We played catch and you caught everything I threw and you threw the ball back like an expert. Later you went to a speech group where you did ‘fabulously’ (that is a quote). You participated well and contributed to the conversation. Reportedly, you were the star. The group is run by Emily who came to tell me how well you did. 132 When I left here I went to a party shop to buy some things for Sunday when we party with you. I got some desert plates and cups with happy faces as well as a plastic tablecloth in the same motif. I put $40 in our travel bank, wrapped your present and called you. Pauline called to tell me about your marvelous conversation with her. She said that you made her day. Day 123 (Saturday, February 12, 2005) I arrived at the usual time and you were still in bed. You took a shower, washed your hair and I added moisturizing gel. You did a good job of eating your breakfast after which we went to the ground floor vending machines for an amoretto coffee. You did not have a very restful evening so we went back to the room so that you could nap a little. You really only rested ½ hour when you wanted to go for a walk. On the way to the atrium, we saw Dr. Bernstein who congratulated me for staying informed. I mentioned to him the other day that perhaps you should get a flu shot preparatory to discharge. He didn’t think it necessary because flu season is normally over by now. Of course, yesterday the Wash Post advised the CDC said the season was running late this year. I admired the fact that he admitted I was ahead of him on this issue. He gave you a flu shot yesterday. Reann found us touring the atrium and she took over. When she returned you to the room she told me you did everything asked of you. Beth, the fill-in SLP came and said that she hadn’t seen you for a couple of months and was amazed how you were speaking to Aunt Mary on the telephone. Beth said while you did have some attention lapses, you still did respond well overall. We also called and spoke to Dini today. She loved speaking to you. We spoke to Arti, Barbara, and left a message on Mary Anna’s answering machine. You did a lot of walking with me today. You showed me your different exercises such as sidestepping, marching, butt kicking, backwards walking, and stair climbing and so forth. We also played a great game of catch. 133 Day 124 (Sunday, February 13, 2005) –what a day today! It was party day for you to celebrate your unofficial birthday of 15 February. I went to church first and lit candles. I waited to kiss the bible and when I arrived at NRH, there you were sitting in the chair waiting for me. As usual, you were cute. You wanted to get out walking and we did. We went for coffee and then did walk. You waited for the kids to come. Nick, Nina, Connie, and Vicki all showed up at about 12:30 and we went to the cafeteria dining room. What a spread Niko had for us from the Rio Grande—it was TexMex. You ate some steak, grilled chicken, tortia chips, sour cream with cheese, salsa, and tortias. This was after you had your regular meal where you ate everything. I had a smiley face table cloth for you and smiley face cups and plates for use during desert. I bought a Mrs. Smith Cream-Oreo Pie. It was delicious. Nina had a cupcake with a candle and you blew out the flame. Nina also had a little gadget that played Happy Birthday and we sang to you. You received many presents. Mary Anna called and you chatted with her. Today, you are doing much better with remembering names of relatives here and in Greece. You also were on the ball with calling Connie and Vicki by their names. After the party, we went to your room. You have no roommate right now so it was a good place to be. You were tired so you rested in bed but were nonetheless the life of the party. You made people laugh and they made you laugh. You hit balloons back and forth with everybody displaying very good coordination. Bob and Kathy came too and you remembered Bob’s name. Again you had a good time but by 4 PM you were pretty much ready for all to go. I left at five and went directly home. You called me four times and the sitter said you were restless and did not want to eat. I said OK because you had a lot of food at lunch time. You wanted me to come back right away but I convinced you that I would be there by 7 AM and you thought that OK. I guess because we had such a high at your party it turned into a low in the evening for me. I cried for us—that we had to go through such a trying time. 134 Day 125 (Monday, February 14, 2005) –Happy Valentines Day!!! I brought you two balloons, a box of candy—in a heart box, off course —a heart shaped pillow and a bear with a heart and flowers on its chest. The card that I got for you said: My Wife, My Forever Love: I love you for all you’ve been, for all that you are, for all you’ll ever be to me…I’m so glad we’re spending our lifetime together! Happy Valentine’s Day. I then wrote, I love now and ever unto ages of ages, I drew lots of kisses and hugs followed by “Your Arion.” When I arrived, the security people asked if I had seen the paper yet. I had not and they gave me one and there we were on page one of the Washington Post. Our picture and story was above the fold, a very prestigious location. The headline read Love’s Long Road to Recovery: Md. Man Chronicles Wife’s ‘Miraculous’ Path From Brain Injury. The Washington Post Staff writer, Mike Ruane, did a wonderful job. I must admit to crying when I read the article. Everyone here at NRH agrees the article is beautiful and many of them cried too. While you did not read the article, many told you about it and called you a celebrity (you agreed). We certainly were the center of attention today. In the spirit of the day, we put on a dark pink shirt on you. The nutrition lady brought coffee around and then breakfast came. You ate it all and then we went to the cafeteria and bought a doughnut, coffee, and cheese-egg scrambled with low-carb bread—all for $2.58. We sat and while I went for napkins, you proceeded to eat a slice of the bread and some eggs. You enjoyed the coffee and a little doughnut too. When we arrived back at the room you went off with April and did well. Next came Liz and you had a great session with her. You made me another Valentine and wrote a lot in Greek and English telling me how much you loved me and may I live long. You are mixing the two languages when you write and do so even within words. The words, however, are in context and are coherent. In Cog-skills you made cookies and when I kissed you upon your return, the cookies 135 were clearly chocolate. Shame on you, you didn’t bring one back for me to eat. Next was Olivia’s turn for you and right on time, came the Martha Stewart flowers that Dini sent requiring assembly. Olivia said you did well and self initiated a lot of the assembly activities. We called Dini to thank her and were told that Will had broken his arm. He slipped and fell down the cellar stairs. He is in a lot of pain. You got on the phone and wished him a rapid recovery. Your luncheon session was so-so until I pushed you to eat more. I bought you a treat from the cafeteria—sliced strawberries. My meal at the cafeteria was pretty good. The special today was Chicken Cordon Bleau and I ate that with a double serving of broccoli. When Emily came for you to attend speech group. Nurse Judy suggested that you go home with me on Sunday, for the day, on a pass. I said certainly I would pick you up at 8:30, take you to church to hear the Orthos and then to home for our weekly lunch with the kids. Sounds like fun to me. I have been getting calls and emails from many. The Today Show and GMA called because they want to do a piece. I called Charley at NBC since he has been so interested and supportive. They plan to come to NRH on Wednesday and Wendy Reiger will do the reporting. If the networks want to do a piece later, they may. I called you twice and you called me once. You don’t appear to be too pleasant to your sitters because you don’t want to be there anymore. You want to be home. Susan called to tell me that Mati called from Israel to say that the Washington Post article appeared there. So, my sweet you are getting world coverage too. Here is the article that appeared in the Washington Post starting on page one and in the prestigious above the fold position. The date was February 14, 2005, Valentine’s Day. There were many pictures too, including a picture on page one. Love's Long Road to Recovery By Michael E. Ruane 136 Maria Pattakos doesn't remember the walk she took that morning in October. She cannot recall crossing the street in the bright sunshine, or seeing the big, white pickup truck that suddenly seemed to loom from out of nowhere. She doesn't recollect pushing the baby stroller from the truck's path at the last second, and has no memory of being flung into the air, losing her hat and sunglasses, and smashing down to the macadam, splintering her ribs and collarbone and fracturing her skull. Four months later, she has trouble remembering what day of the week it is. So her husband has been writing it all down. The first days after the accident were a blur of pain, tears and prayer as his wife lay unconscious in intensive care at Suburban Hospital. On the fifth day after the accident, Arion Pattakos, 71, started writing. His story opens on Sunday, Oct. 17. "This is day five," he begins. "I decided to keep a log starting today to, well, record your status and mine. . . . I am proud of your deed but devastated emotionally, given what happened to you." Arion Pattakos's "log" is an account of his wife's accident, and all that has happened since, with the hope that someday she might know what she has missed, 137 and what both of them have endured. As he writes, seasons change, holidays and birthdays come and go, world events unfold. "We are all waiting for you to join us," he notes. It is a chronicle of one couple's encounter with a catastrophe: "Sweetheart, I am scared," he writes on a bleak day in late October. "Why have our lives turned to such a horrible path? . . . I sometimes see myself curled into a little ball in our bedroom on the rug. I . . . wither away and decompose into a pile of dust. A puff of wind comes and just . . . blows me away." And it is a love letter, written over more than 120 days, by a retired Army colonel to his wife of 23 years. He is bereft, and helpless. "Mary . . . you are everything to me and my ability to survive without you is not very good. So, help me live by coming back to me." Maria Pattakos, 60, known as Mary, remains in the brain injury program of National Rehabilitation Hospital in Northwest Washington, where she was transferred from Suburban Hospital. She has made what her husband calls a "miraculous" return from the twilight state in which she lived for weeks after the accident -- attached to hospital life-support systems, unable to walk, or talk, or even squeeze his hand. 138 She walks on her own, if unsteadily at times. She breathes and eats on her own, engages in conversation and shows sparks of humor. Yet she has trouble focusing, remembering people's names and recalling where she is. Her brain still is struggling to handle the avalanche of data that a healthy brain can process daily, and it might be many months before her recovery is finished. But she can take her time. Almost every morning, her husband arrives at the hospital by 7. He hails nurses, doctors, therapists and aides en route to the third-floor room where "panapola mou" -- "my everything" in Greek -- is getting ready for breakfast. They kiss, they pray, and she begins another day on her road back, which includes physical therapy, speech therapy and occupational therapy. When she does well, he will gently say, "Bravo, baby, bravo." Nanny, Caregiver, Wife He was married when they first met. Arion Pattakos was a U.S. Army officer who had been sent to study in his father's homeland at the Greek War College in 1962. Just before heading across the Atlantic, his then-wife, Thalia, received a 139 diagnosis of multiple sclerosis, a debilitating disease of the central nervous system. After they arrived in Greece, he realized they would need help caring for their two children, Nadine, then 3, and Nicholas, only a few months old. It happened that there was a 17-year-old girl from a poor farming family who worked as a nanny in Thessaloniki. Her name was Maria Koukounari. She looked after his wife and children during their two years in Greece, saying goodbye when they headed home. Back in the United States, Thalia Pattakos's illness worsened. Paralysis set in. She was confined to a wheelchair and had brain surgery. "She just disintegrated before my eyes," Arion Pattakos said. In need of help again, the family asked Maria to come from Greece. She arrived in 1972, by then a 27-year-old woman. She cooked, shuttled the children around and essentially "raised the kids," Arion Pattakos said. And she cared for Thalia until her death in February 1981. "She saved my life," Arion Pattakos said. They were married in Northwest Washington's St. Sophia Greek Orthodox Cathedral on July 26, 1981, and have been inseparable since. 'She Put Down Her Life' 140 Last Oct. 12, Maria Pattakos was out for a sunny morning walk with her neighbor, Pauline Londeree, along Beach Drive in Rock Creek Park, just off Rockville Pike, near their Kensington home. Maria pushed Londeree's granddaughter, Jenna Sauber, who was not quite 2, in a stroller. At Beach Drive and Cedar Lane, Londeree pressed the pedestrian crossing button on the traffic light pole. When the "walk" signal started to flash, the women began to cross. Maria and the baby were a few steps ahead. At that moment, a pickup, which had slowed at the light on Beach Drive, began to turn right onto Cedar. The driver, John Paul Purcell, 54, who lived about four blocks from Pattakos, told police that the sun was in his eyes and that he didn't see the women. Maria must have seen him, because police said she shoved the stroller out of the way an instant before the truck hit her. The stroller overturned, but Jenna suffered only a few scrapes. Police reported that Purcell didn't seem to be going fast -- there were only smudges on the truck's paint, and smears that were most likely "skin and other biological matter" on the grille where Maria was hit. 141 But the impact tossed her into the air. She crashed to the middle of the street. She suffered broken ribs on both sides of her body, two punctured lungs, a broken pelvis, eye and hip injuries, a broken collarbone and a fractured skull. Londeree told police it looked as if Maria's head had "opened up" on the pavement. "She put her life down for Jenna," Londeree said. When Arion Pattakos reached the hospital, she was unconscious, in critical condition, and her survival was in doubt. Doctors operated on her brain to remove blood clots and installed a temporary catheter to prevent pressure, her husband said. She had another operation on her shattered ribs. Slowly, she emerged from danger and began to heal. But her psychic recovery was different. She did not open her eyes until more than a week later. She was unresponsive for almost three weeks. She could not speak for 58 days. As time passed, her anguished husband waited, sat with her, exercised her limbs and talked to her through his diary. "It is raining and will probably rain all day," he wrote Nov. 4. "You seem so tired and still no hello to me." A devout Greek Orthodox Christian, he set up a small shrine to her, with a 142 candle and an icon of their patron saint, Paraskevi. He kept the candle in the kitchen sink. This was the easternmost spot in their home -- the closest to the Holy Land -- and also would not catch the house on fire. "I've been crying this morning because I feel so sad," he wrote Nov. 5. "Everyone says that you are standing in the door. Please step through it soon and say hi." He tried to keep the house tidy, making the bed, doing the laundry, taking out the trash. "I'm even shutting closet doors," he wrote. He brought in the plants when it got cold, but he couldn't find the watering can. He ate cereal and canned chili for dinner. He wrote to her about the presidential election and the tsunami and Johnny Carson's death. He told her stories. "I came in bright and early and had a little run-in with the nurse," he wrote one Sunday. "She reminded me that visiting hours did not begin until 11 a.m. I replied that visiting hours begin when I arrive. She said I was rude. . . . We later made up and she has been sweet." On Nov. 8, his wife kissed him on the cheek. "Wow," he wrote. He washed her hair, rubbed lotion on her hands, played her CDs of Greek music 143 and the Beatles. He bought her hiking boots at the military PX to support her feet. He bought himself cologne, and pretended it was from her. On Dec. 3, she took her first shower, helped by a therapist. "You did great today," he wrote. But her progress was slow. She still couldn't talk. And his moods went up and down. Monday, Dec. 6, was a bad day. "I continued to be depressed today," he wrote. "I need you to communicate with us. It hurts so much that you do not do that yet. I'm supposed to be patient and strong but I don't know if I can be strong. It is so painful. I had my bad thoughts this morning. . . . " On Dec. 9, she finally spoke. He accidentally bumped her head while getting her ready for physical therapy. "Ow," she said. The next day, she laughed for the first time since the accident. On Dec. 17, he asked her whether she could say out loud that she loved him. It would "make my heart sing," he recorded. She nodded yes, and said, "I love you." But five days later, he wrote that he was not sure she really knew who he was. "I told you my name and the fact that we were married for 23 years," he wrote. "Good," she responded. 144 Weeks passed. Christmas and New Year's came, and he said good riddance to a "lousy" year. She could now write her name and talk to him on the phone. On Jan. 6, he asked whether she knew his name. "Arion Pattakos," she said. Nearing Discharge Day One Friday this month, he arrived at the hospital, early as usual, and made his way to the third floor. She was dressed in a pink shirt and black exercise pants but was still in bed and looked groggy. Her bulletin board was filled with cards and letters from wellwishers. Large photographs of family members hung near her bed, to help her remember who was who. The hospital had set a possible discharge day for this month. But she still had work to do. "My pretty girl," he said. "You're still tired?" She needed to be peppy and cooperative for the day's therapy, he said. "Yep," she said. She understood. Breakfast arrived. He helped prepare her cereal. Eat, he told her. "I'm eating," she replied. When she was finished, he remembered that they had not yet prayed. "Let's do that really quick," he said. He leaned over and held her hands. "Ready?" 145 "Our Father," he said, beginning the Lord's Prayer. She stumbled, and he prompted her. Then they made the sign of the cross together as he recited: "In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, now and ever unto ages and ages. Amen." "Amen," she said. Happy Valentine’s Day, my sweetheart! I have read this article many times and still can’t get through it without crying. [I read it at different times—e.g., today is February 23, 2005 and I still cry. You wanted me to read the article to you on December 11, 2006 and I did. Yes, I still cry. And, now (September 22, 2007) as I am once again reading and editing my “log” I read the article and yes cried.] Day 126 (Tuesday, February 15, 2005)—this is week 18 for you in a hospital. When I got up in the morning, I noted that I forgot to take my blood pressure, etc pills the night before. See, still another reason for needing you home. Today I taught at the Missile Defense Agency. My subject was Analytical Risk Management and Program Protection Planning. I had 18 students. Part two is on Thursday. It seemed to go well and many asked how you were doing and were most impressed by the article. I got a lot of student participation and that is a good thing. Today is your unofficial birthday—the day you believe you were born because an old village neighbor said so. So far we’ve had three celebrations. One for your official birthday (28 Jan), one on Sunday with our relatives and of course one on Valentine’s day. Niko called you and he told me later that it was one of the best conversations he has had with you on the phone since your accident. It reminded him how you were before that fateful day of 12 October. 146 I arrived at 4 PM. You were scheduled to go to the eye doctor earlier but refused to go without me. We are now scheduled for Friday. All your therapists said you did great today and you affirmed that you were a “star.” I am sure you were. You still recount events that I don’t think really happened but hopefully that will soon stop. I was reflecting that not too long ago you felt you had to chew on a sheet or something/anything and how hard it was for the nurse to take your temperature because you would bite the thermometer. Thank God those days are behind us. There is still much work to do but you have come very far. Tomorrow NBC4 news and the Today show people come to talk to us. Again, you will be a star. I left about 6 PM after I sat with you while you ate your dinner. I laid out two outfits for you to wear tomorrow, and then did the usual. We spoke on the phone after you got back to the room from a walk with the sitter, her name is Mary. I will conclude this day with quotes from the birthday card that I bought for you. As you know, we make a great effort to buy cards that really express our sentiments. Here is what the card said: People Like You Are Heaven Sent (with a birthday thought by Helen Steiner Rice) The years go by, and as they do They only pause to smile on you For you hold together in happy thought All the richness that life has brought, And you give so freely to all you meet The wisdom that makes your life complete. You’ll never grow old, For you’ve so much to give, 147 And you’ll always be young, For you’ve learned how to live. Inside the card I wrote, My very dearest Maria, I am” (their text follows) Thinking of you With life today And searching for caring ways to say How special you are, How much you’ve always meant— With generous heart and ways so wise, It’s easy enough to realize Someone special like you is surely heaven-sent. I added, With all my very love for you, Your Arion followed by many Xs and Os. Day 127 (Wednesday, February 16, 2005)--another day and I arrived at my usual time before 7 AM. You had showered but were not dressed because you were to do that with the supervision of Olivia due at 8 AM. You had your breakfast and Olivia came early to supervise your selection of an outfit—you selected the new brown outfit that Nick and Nina bought for you. The NBC people arrived on time. NBC4 with Wendy Reiger had the first turn followed by the Today folks. We were interviewed for a significant period of time and you stuck with it. Things started about 11 AM and continued on to 2 PM. As I type this they are shooting what I am typing. They also asked that I read from this journal and I decided to read something from Valentine’s Day. I read from the card that I brought to commemorate the day. It really has a beautiful sentiment and I worked hard at not crying. As it was, some tears did sneak out of the corner of my eyes. During this period, you were supposed to be at speech group. I guess that this whole day filled the bill for group speech. You had a lot of 148 people talking to you and asking you questions. You did very well in responding. People were very impressed on how far you’ve come in the period you’ve been here. I asked that during their editing that they keep the part in which I mentioned NRH. I thought this was important to the work they do. They said they would try and I certainly hope they will. Since I will not be able to see the show tomorrow, they said they would send us a tape. So, now our story is on national TV. I hope people admire you as much as I do. Joe and Debbie came and they really were amazed how far you’ve come in one week. You talk up a storm and interact close to the way you were. When we left, we went to our home to watch the NBC4 news and they truly did a wonderful job. Wendy Rieger was simply terrific and you were simply GREAT. As for me, I was the beast to your beauty. Boy, my nose is getting longer with each passing year. Thank goodness love is blind and you don’t seem to mind. Joe and Debbie took me out to eat and we went to Ambrosia. Day 128 (Thursday, February 17, 2005)—I was up at the usual early time and off I went to teach the final piece of the course I presented. It went well but I feel almost guilty that I am not at NRH with you. We have been contacted by Jane Podesta of People Magazine and they want to do a story about you. I said OK. I think that your story needs to be told. You are a hero and have been fighting back from the trauma that befell you as a result of that heroism. I got to you at 3:45 PM. It took me 45 minutes to drive so few miles. Traffic is a pain. You were resting and greeted me with the usual love and affection and then wanted to get out of there. We walked until your dinner came. You did a great job of feeding yourself. When I left you, I went to a laundry to turn in five shirts. This was a new experience for me as you will know when you read this. You’ve never let anybody else do my shirts. When I arrived home, I sent Jane Podesta a version of this journal and a few pictures. I received a surprise phone call. Heidi Blaker called me. She saw the Today show. Apparently, they never went to California as they were supposed to. The reason they didn’t call us was that they thought we 149 were angry because of some couple they had at a dinner I barely remember. I assured her this was not so and that we thought their move to California broke-up the friendship. Miscommunication can cause misconceptions. Barbara called and we spoke for some time. Day 129 (Friday, February 18, 2005)—good morning my love! You know, every night when I get in bed I say “goodnight my sweet Mary.” Or, I may use some variation such as “goodnight my soul.” I so miss you being near to me. When you were asked by an interviewer why you love me you responded because he is he. And, I guess I have the same answer because you are you. This does seem like the complete thing to say about anyone you love. Remember how we smile when we hear young couples respond to that question with “He (she) makes me laugh.” Trying to parse what love means seems to diminish the emotion of love. One thing though, to me love does mean wanting your love near so you can “feel” your lover’s presence—his or her aura. Some people don’t seem to understand our desire to be close most of the time during the day or night. I was in your room by 6:50 AM and I am pleased to hear you say, “you’re here.” After a kiss and a nuzzle, I do my small chores and then breakfast comes. Today, we went on an outing with a group. We visited Union Station. You did very well. I sensed no sensory overload on your part. Quite the contrary, you took everything very calmly. You ate a sesame pretzel and later a Hagen Daz Rum-raison ice cream. You got the hiccups and attributed them to the rum. One of the other patients bought a milkshake to the tune of $6.50. I guess I am sheltered because I thought that a ridiculous price. You negotiated stairs easily but the big deal was you doing well on the up and the down escalators. You got on and off without problem. When we returned we had lunch. You had fish and I had shrimp. I stayed with you until time for you to go to the ophthalmologist. I then went to the motor vehicle admin office in Gaithersburg. To get a disability placard for our car. When I got to the window, the lady said, I recognize this name. You were on TV. God bless your wife for the wonderful thing she did. If you need anything here is my phone number. After leaving, I went to the commissary for gas and a few 150 items. At home, I got a phone call, this time from Fox, A Current Affair. They want to interview us. I told them what jerks the local affiliate was for not sending me a tape they made when you had the accident. They apologized and they too (ABC said the same thing) said they were not associated with the affiliate. They would show good faith by getting the tape. I told them I would think about it. Later when Charlie from channel 4 called, he said we should consider doing it. At home there were several cards and notes. One of these was from Michael Connor, Dini’s ex. In the letter he said how proud he was of us and gave us his best wishes and prayers that all would come out all-right. While he did not come out and say it, it was clear that his physical condition continues to deteriorate with the disease he inherited from his mother. This is too bad as he is a really nice guy. I sent a bunch of pictures to People magazine. I picked up my shirts and put $40 into our travel bank. The other news of the day is that Kathy (Seeger) Dayton, Dini’s childhood friend, called to wish you well. She lives in Rehoboth. Her mother sent her the article and will go to Madison in the morning to see her sister. She will call Dini. Love ya, goodnight my love. Day 130 (Saturday, February 19, 2005)—I arrived and you had breakfast and then we went to the vending machines for some coffee. We did some walking and you went off with the PT fill-in person and of course were excellent. Dr. McCarthy came and pretty much confirmed that you will be leaving next Thursday the 24th of February. The thing we need to do is put in place the where and what of the follow-on therapy. I confirmed that you are scheduled for a one day pass tomorrow. The People magazine writer came. You were terrific in responding to her questions. She seemed sympathetic and hopefully will write a nice article. She thought it was a wonderful love story and I should write a book. The magazine will come out next Friday. Jane Podesta promised me lots of copies. The photographer will come tomorrow and Monday to shoot pictures. You said, It’s amazing people’s 151 interest. This statement certainly shows more dot connections. Sara your fill-in SLP came and took you away for therapy. Upon your return she said you did well responding to open ended questions and interpreting the pictures she showed to you. We spoke to a lot of people today. We talked to Will and wished him a get well quick. He said that Dini was out with a friend shopping. We called her cell and spoke with her. Later the People magazine person spoke to her too. We spoke to Aunt Mary and Barbara. We had a lengthy conversation with Myrna and Dino. He said your voice is getting much stronger. Heidi Blaker came to visit you today. She stayed about two hours and was very sweet to you. I went home and did chores and I went to the Blaker’s for dinner. I had a glass of sherry and the meal was those corkscrew-type spaghetti. They served ice cream for desert with fruit salad on top. They were very, very nice and we all felt foolish that we somehow let five years go bye without contact. I stayed about two hours and Heidi said she would come visit you again on Tuesday and Jim probably this weekend when you are going to be home (yea). Day 131 (Sunday, February 20, 2005)—this was certainly a “WOW” day. It started normally enough, that is I got up, ate, prayed, and got to the hospital by 7 AM. When I arrived you were bathed and dressed but in the wrong outfit. The night before I laid out what you were to wear and somehow the clothes ended up thrown on the bottom of the closet. So, you had to dress again. I helped you with some makeup and we left for church. Upon our arrival, we parked right in front and the People magazine photographer arrived at the same time. Her name is Danuta Otfinowski (unusual first name— it’s Polish), and she is a freelancer. Her assistant’s name is Earl. She took pictures of you lighting a candle and kissing an Icon. We were told to sit in the first pew. Shortly before the Orthos began, the Fathers John and Steve came and hugged and kissed you. They called you a miracle. They saw you through each of the steps of your recovery from Suburban Hospital to NRH. You loved the chanting, it was beautiful. You kissed the bible when presented and then we 152 sat in the back so we could leave and not be disruptive when the Liturgy began. When we left Chris gave us agiasmo to take with us. We went home and Nouni and Susan saw our arrival. They rushed over to embrace you. Susan was crying, a lot. They were thrilled to see you and the progress you’ve made. When we went inside, the first thing we did was call Greece. You spoke to Litsa and to Gregory. They were truly thrilled to hear your voice. You were thrilled to speak to them. Danuta took many more pictures and then the unthinkable happened—both her batteries went dead and she had to leave to get more. She was gone for some time and that was about to screw up our time-table. While she was gone, Connie and Vicki came and did your face and improved upon my make-up efforts. Nick and Nina came about noon. Finally, Danuta and Earl returned and it was decided we would go eat before we resumed our photography session. We went to Ambrosia.. You and I hosted the lunch. You had Lemon-Chicken soup (avgolemano), a salad, taramosalata, and spanokopita. You enjoyed the meal but above all the company. We went home: it was picture taking time again. You got tired and announced you were going to bed and you did. The photographer left and soon after, channel 4 people came and interviewed us. I was told later that it aired on the 11 PM news but I did not see it, of course, I was in bed. The news 4 people were great. I took you back to the hospital. You really did not want to go back but I convinced you that soon, on Thursday you would be home and then to outpatient therapy. Day 132 (Monday, February 21, 2005)—When I arrived you were showered and dressed. We talked and then your breakfast came. You popped back into bed and I went for coffee. We walked and observed Olivia and another therapist putting up some flags. She will do occupational therapy with you today. Since this is a holiday, 153 the staffing is light but Olivia has the duty for OT. Diane filled in for Natalie in physical therapy. She reported that you did well but needed more memory work to remember patterns of requested activity. Speaking of memory, you didn’t like the idea that your parents had died. You keep saying we are going to see them when we go Greece. When you asked your sister about them on the phone yesterday, she said they were “ekie,” (“there”) which, of course meant the cemetery. The good thing is that you correctly interpreted what “ekie” meant. You were not happy with this confirmation. I mentioned that my parents passed away too. I think that you have now accepted the fact that they are all dead. I emphasize they live on in our memories and the pictures we have. Danuta arrived and took pictures in the room and while you were with Olivia. With Olivia you led us to the atrium and then got cards to play the game “war.” You won the game. More pictures were taken and we were off to the cafeteria. I had a steak sandwich and you ate the French fries—still more pictures. I took them to see Independence Square and the exercise room. You showed them how you do the recumbent stepper. We returned to your room for your lunch. It was a very hardy meal. You ate most of it—I was satisfied. This concluded the photo session. We went strolling after you rested. The place is pretty quite today because it is President’s Day. Luckily, it did not snow last night as predicted so I had an easy way to the hospital. At home, I scanned and emailed a wedding picture to People magazine. I also prepared the Post article for mailing. While looking at the wedding pictures, I once again noted what beautiful bride you were. Of course, I cried and cried still again when I re-read the Valentine’s Day article. When I called you, you drove me a little nuts by having the phone off the hook. You have a tendency to not push the red button when it is lighted thus effectively keeping the phone on and causing a busy signal. I called the front desk a couple of times until somebody went to your room and called me. We had a nice conversation and when 154 we finished, I reminded you to push the red button and you did. I went to bed at 9:30 PM. Day 133 (Tuesday, February 22, 2005)—this is week 19 since the accident and this is the week you leave NRH. On my way here I mailed a copy of the Post article to Dini. She was unable to get a copy of the original in Madison. I also mailed a copy of the text to Barbara in Ocean Pines since she missed it too. I arrived earlier than usual but you still wanted to know where I was. You were bathed and your hair was washed. Once again, they came early to take blood (5 AM). You very much want to go home but also want to very much to go to Greece. I told you that hopefully we can go in June. I think that you have come to understand that your mother, father, and brother have passed away. It does make you sad. You ate breakfast and we went to the dining room for coffee. April took you for PT and you did well. You did well in the cog-skills group planning the ingredients for making a pizza. When Liz came, you described your Sunday activities to her with a little cuing. Heidi Blaker came to visit. You chatted with her for a few minutes before Olivia came to whisk you off to Independence Square and tea making. Heidi and Jim will try to see you this week. I missed Olivia on how well you did. You went off with Amy. She was taking Liz’s place to teach them Greek dancing. Reportedly you did show them some steps. Amy is now Greek by marriage and was married at St. Sophia by Father John as we were many years earlier. We went to the cafeteria for lunch and ate the same thing, the combo which consisted of meatball stroganoff, cauliflower with carrots, and squash. It also came with a soft drink. There was entertainment too. This week they are celebrating “team work around the world.” Africa was the theme for this day and there were musicians playing deafening drums. Three of the staff performed African dancing and others a parade of costumes from different parts of Africa. Notwithstanding the rather intense drumbeat, you sat and ate very nicely. We sat with Heinrich and Ruth Rosenlehner and their son Marcus who had a stroke and was 155 fighting his way back to health. The parents are from Garmisch, Germany, and the son lives here in the US (Gaithersburg) and is a practicing lawyer, at least when well. He believes the Vioxx he was using on a daily basis is what did him in. Vioxx was removed from the market because of the significant increases in heart attack and stroke. An FDA panel recently said taking the drug carefully was OK but required that it have a “black box” label. The Rosenlehners are all very nice people. The father took some pictures of us yesterday and he gave me prints today. The father, as a civilian, was in my line of work. I spoke to Anna Park, MD (Ophthalmology) who saw you on 1/27/05 and again on 2/18/05. You were much more cooperative but there is definitely damage to your left eye. She suggests you to go to a lowvision specialist. As things now stand, your distance sight is not good and you can’t see well peripherally on the left. Off the shelf glasses you need are plus 3 (not the 2.25 strength I bought). I should hold off on any prescription glasses until we see the low vision doctor. I will buy you stronger glasses today. I spoke to Charley Bragale the NBC4 News Assignment Manager to tell him you will be leaving here on Thursday. He wants to do a follow-up so he asked I call him when I find out the time. I called and told him 11 AM. Charley has been very interested in you and your story and they ran many pieces on your heroism and survival. He asked jokingly what I plan to do when asked about movie rights. I replied that we have selected who should play us. Given we are Greek we thought we should be played by Greeks. Melina Kanakarides seemed like a good fix for my Maria—she’s beautiful and has the black hair that you sported when younger (she has a role on CSI New York). As for me, I thought I’d go for hair and thus John Stamos seemed like the right guy. If one pushed for the folecularly deprived, Michael Chiklis is the perfect selection. Well, we’re still waiting to be contacted for the book and movie rights. At home, I had several calls from Jane Podesta, the People magazine writer and the New York based photo editor Lynn. They needed 156 some added info or clarifications. Jenna’s mom was concerned about sending a photo of Jenna. Given the kooks of the world she felt it an invitation to kidnap the baby. She relented but too late to meet the deadline. It is now anticipated that the story will be in the March 4th edition. The photo editor told me that they would not be able to use the 1947 photo of you and your family with the US donated cow. Apparently, black and white of that vintage looks like mud when reproduced in the magazine. It is too bad as it certainly illustrates the difficulties you overcame during your early years. Your Canadian cousin called. She plans to call again on Thursday when you are home. I wrote an email to all interested people that you would be discharged tomorrow. Before I knew it, it was time to call you and you had the phone off the hook again. I got help from the front desk. We had a nice conversation. Dino called. He asked how you were doing and I gave you a good report. Day 134 (Wednesday, February 23, 2005)—I don’t know if what I am about to recount has some specific symbolism, but it does seem to be beyond coincidence. It was your habit to fill a rather large glass (32 oz.) with water before you left for a walk. It was filled on the 12th of October, 2004 before your departure on that fateful day. I did not touch it. Somehow it felt wrong for me to pour the water down the drain--it would have felt like I was pouring you away. Well, today the last drop of water evaporated and tomorrow you are coming home. It does seem sort of mystical, at least to me. I arrived early, about 6:40 AM. You were dressed and bathed. I started packing your stuff, taking down pictures and cards from the bulletin boards and so forth. I won’t have as much to do tomorrow and maybe we can get out of here earlier. The weatherman says it will snow anywhere from three to six inches tomorrow. I hope he is wrong. I’ve already made a couple of trips to the car. I dread unloading and trying to figure out where to put everything. You are doing the last hoorah of therapy today and I am taking pictures of the people who worked with you most. As usual you are 157 doing great during the therapeutic sessions. Your OT session today was to make a pizza. The ladies said you did each task flawlessly. You determined the ingredients which included feta and olives, rolled out the dough, pre-heated the oven, knew enough to use a pot holder, etc. I ate a slice of your pizza and it really, really was delicious. Oh, baby, another step out of the abyss. Abyss is the word that now comes to mind of where we have been and the journey out and up the slope to wellness. It will be forever difficult to describe this abyss in more than a superficial way. That old adage of words being inadequate certainly is a truism in this case. You suffered and I suffered. I’m not sure any scale could measure who suffered more. You were physically traumatized and I was emotionally traumatized. As I’ve said elsewhere in this journal, life without you by my side would be no life at all. Literally, I would have not survived. You continue to heal and will do so per the doctor for at least a year or more to come. But as our priests noted, you have come a miraculous way from that deep, black hole—the abyss—you were in. I add here what our prayers always include: Glory to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, both now and ever unto ages of ages. God bless your medical teams and therapy teams. They have the skills that helped you as endowed and guided by God. God bless that you had the spunk and drive to participate in what was demanded of you to get better. I like that you think of me as your main therapist and that you can’t wait to go home with me. I do love you with all of my heart panapola mou. We went to the cafeteria to eat. You had meatloaf, collard greens and pasta. You particularly liked the roll. I ate fried chicken. Today, they celebrated the 19th birthday of the NRH. Happy Birthday to them from us! Earlier I took a picture of you with your three principal therapists (Olivia, Liz, and Natalie). At the birthday I took a picture of the NRH senior staff. I plan to make an album of this difficult adventure we’ve been through to go along with this journal. Nurse Judy came in with your prescriptions so we would be ready tomorrow. We have three of them. One is to help you sleep, the 158 other is thiamin (helps the brain), and lastly an anti-depressant. I will get them filled tonight. Day 135 (Thursday, February 24, 2005)—I arrived at the usual time and you were dressed and waiting. I did the final packing of your stuff. Surprisingly, it was a lot given I took a bunch home last night. Everybody came to the room to say goodbye and to give you a hug. We left at 10:20 and it was great to know you were discharged and well on the way to recovery. Next week we start your outpatient therapy at the Adventist Rehab (formerly Kessler). It is located off Shady Grove Road in Gaithersburg right next to the Adventist Hospital which in turn is near our primary care physician’s office. It was snowing but really not a big deal as they weather people implied. It wasn’t minutes after we arrived that Senior Police Officer Becky MiCozzi arrived. She was cruising and saw us. Becky is the one who first responded to the scene when you were hit and rode in the ambulance to Suburban Hospital. She was truly amazed on how far you’ve come. You could see tears welling up in her eyes. She really thinks a lot of you and your deed. I invited her to go to lunch with us after she stayed about a half hour but then you announced you had to rest and you wanted me to hold you. Becky got the message and left. After your rest we went to lunch at Ambrosia. You very much wanted the avgolemano (egg-lemon) soup and the taramosalata (fish-roe salad). We enjoyed the meal very much and then went to White Flint Mall for a walk. We did a turn of the first and second floors. I offered to get you some frozen custard, you declined. When we arrived home, you put on your night gown and rested in bed. It is wonderful having you in the house with me that once again words fail me. Just the nearness of you fills me with joy. I got you up and convinced you to go downstairs where we watched TV. You observed that TV was for morons. At any rate, you did get some laughs from watching Everybody Loves Raymond and Friends. It is nice to hear and see you laugh. We had several phone calls during 159 the day and evening--Dino and Myrna, Heidi, Pauline, Niko, and Dini. All are thrilled that you are home. Day 136 (Friday, February 25, 2005)—this is your first full day home and we slept late, until 7:30 AM. I got up and took a shower and then it was your turn. You did well but I kept a close eye on you. We went to the kitchen for breakfast. You had two types of cereal with raisons and nuts added. I used “Ensure” as the liquid to make sure you got added calories. You took your morning pills. After you finished you were ready to lie down again. I did some crying this morning. I read your NRH discharge summary which recapped all of what you’ve been through. It was very painful to read about your traumas and their aftermath. Reading that you needed 24 transfusions, that you were treated for pneumonia, that your chest needed reconstruction, multiple surgeries were required to repair your lungs, that you had multiple respiratory failures, and of course, the brain injuries, all these things (and I mention only some of what happened to you) made me very sad and as I said, I cried. I wonder if there is something to that old adage of ignorance truly being bliss. Having been involved on a daily basis and reading the discharge summaries I can say I am far from ignorant and it hurts. Please dear God, have mercy on us and bring her back to a full recovery. Luckily, you remember nothing. You came back to the kitchen wondering where I was. You said you were cold and wanted to cuddle. You looked through a magazine and then we did our morning prayer together. I got a little frustrated today with what looked like a screw up with USFHP and a potential refusal to pay for follow-up therapy. Earlier they had insisted that we use a network provider of theirs, Adventist Rehabilitation (formerly Kessler). A case manager at Adventist, Denise Johnson, called USFHP Customer Service to pin down reimbursement and that started the confusion. She called me and further confusion was kicked off. I left messages with everyone to include Amy (your in-patient case manager) at NRH and Sheree 160 Gordon the USFHP outpatient rehab coordinator. Sheree called me back later in the day and told me not to worry, everything was on track. She plans to meet us on Tuesday when we go for our appointment with Dr. Lee. Stacy Hill from the USFHP Program Office also called me and I told her about the run-around that I got from customer service i.e., their refusal to let me speak with a supervisor (the customer service rep said she would fill out a “supervisor slip” and I would get a call within 48 hours). She also refused to let me speak to the case manager “Foyra” that Denise Johnson spoke to—another slip to write and a 48 hour wait. Stacy told me she would have a chat with the director of customer service and that I should call on her should any further problems arise. I opined that Sheree seemed to be on top of the situation. We went to the White Flint Mall with the first stop the Post Office to mail the letter of thanks I wrote to the President/CEO of the NRH, Ed Ekenhoff. I named all of the people that had a key role in your recovery, and then mentioned the support staff from the special police officers that greet people as they enter to the nutrition and cafeteria people. I emphasized how important their people centered therapy was in helping people come back to the world. Here is what I wrote: Mr. Edward A. Eckenhoff President and Chief Executive Officer National Rehabilitation Hospital (NRH) 102 Irving Street, NW Washington, DC 20010-2949 February 25, 2005 Dear Mr. Eckenhoff: Yesterday, my wife Maria was discharged from the Brain Injury Unit of the NRH. I certainly would be remiss if I did not write to you promptly to tell you how much I appreciate the wonderful work of 161 your staff. She left walking on her own but when she came to the unit she barely was able to sit in a chair. Now she walks and talks and displays many of the occupational skills she once had. We are not finished with the therapy and will continue to be part of the NRH family for some time to come, but she has come a miraculous way. I attribute much of this progress to the people of this fine institution. After coming to NRH and being here daily from November 24th, I noted three prongs to the healing process—medical, therapeutic, and family. Concerning the medical prong, Dr. Andrew McCarthy and Nurse Practitioner Judy Gray were excellent in providing medical support, advice, and council. The second prong executed by the therapeutic team they lead and the team approach they developed is truly outstanding. The principal therapists for Maria, Natalie Blonien (PT), Liz McNulty (SLP), and Olivia Glover (OT) were individually and collectively terrific. On January 11, 2005, I recommended each of these therapists be recognized as Class-Act-Performers-In-Excellence. I thought your form was insufficient space-wise to get across my assessment of their contribution and attached a letter to make my points (see the attached). I hope that they will be publicly recognized and I would appreciate your taking the time to see that they are so recognized. Additionally, PT Aide April Phillips and Rahsann Holley (OT) in his CogSkills group have significantly contributed to my Maria’s continuing recovery. Family is the third prong supporting healing. The aforementioned staff as well as Amy Leonard (Maria’s Case Manger), Paul Rao and Rosemary Welch worked with me to maximize my contribution to healing my wife. There are many others that contribute to the smooth running of NRH. These include the Special Police Officers at the entrance who greet all with courtesy, housekeeping who keeps the facility clean, and the nurses and sitters who continually interact in a positive way with the patients and family. Add to this list Annie Lopez the nutritionist and the others from food service such as Anne and Deborah who are responsive to patient needs. Given that I frequently ate in your dining 162 facility, James Conley, Director, Food and Nutrition Services, and his staff should be recognized for their efforts in developing menus and an environment pleasing to its patrons. His efforts to provide some form of weekend food service should be supported. Eating from what is provided in the vending machines is not too pleasant. I have observed that coming back from a brain injury is very dependent on the people involved in helping the patient gain back what they had lost and you have great people. Given the present state of ignorance on how the brain reconnects the cognitive dots, I see that your program—people centered therapy—is working. It would be manifestly the wrong way to go if the tendency found in many organizations to “bean-count” determined otherwise. Given my time with the Department of Defense, so-called metrics can and often do lead to poor decisions when based on faulty premises. The current approach used at NRH of establishing weekly goals and supplemented by team and family meetings seems the way to go when dealing with the imprecise nature of healing the brain. I urge you to continue this productive approach until science catches up with the art of healing the brain. Before closing, I would like to highlight what I think are the most important personal traits of the staff. These traits are compassion, patience, and energy. They are compassionate with the patient and with the family—displaying a wonderful interest in them. They display a high degree of patience as they apply therapeutic approaches leading to patient success. The energy they exude in going about their tasks is marvelous and clearly is transmitted to the patient. Each of these traits has a positive impact on the patients they treat and is seminal to a patient’s recovery. When my wife and I were recently interviewed by “People” magazine I emailed the writer the following: “Suburban Hospital of Bethesda Maryland saved my wife’s life. The National Rehabilitation Hospital of Washington, DC is saving my wife’s future.” I hope they use this statement in the article they are writing. As I wrote to the writer, I feel passionate in its truth. 163 I wish you and your staff continued success in helping others. You have helped us in an immeasurable and certainly in a significant positive way. Sincerely, After mailing the letter, we went to the beauty parlor where you got your hair trimmed and styled. They did a good job to my eye but again this is a first since we were married as you always did your own hair. I can remember the many times women stopped to ask you where they could go to have their hair look like yours. They were amazed when you told them you did your hair yourself. We went to the White Flint Mall food court for lunch. You had lentil soup and a vegetable platter with Greek-style vegetables. I had blackened chicken with broccoli and green beans. We then walked the mall, got some coffee, and intended to go to the movie. You got tired and actually so did I so we went home and rested. Tonya came over and trimmed your nails and put polish on them— a very nice neighbor. Initially, she had planned to trim your hair too until I told her we went to the beauty shop. Next to visit was Noonie. She brought you sugar cookies. You chatted with each of them but the conversation showed you still needed follow on therapy. You had a tendency to say some things that really didn’t make sense or was not on target with the conversation. I guess this is what the discharge summary meant when they used the term confabulation. This is what the dictionary says: to give fictitious accounts of past events, believing they are true, in order to cover a gap in the memory caused by a medical condition. Day 137 (Saturday, February 26, 2005)—we awakened at 7 AM. Wow, I guess I am catching up with my sleep deprivation of the past 4½ months. You did eat all of the super cereal I made for you. You did drink a full glass of orange and grape juice mixed. 164 We seem to have had another symbolic event during the night. For the first time ever since I’ve been keeping the candela lighted 24/7, the cup ran out of oil and of course the wick extinguished. I take this to mean that I no longer have to do burn the candela on a daily basis now that you are home. In fact, yesterday, you blew the flame out yourself. That caused me a clean up job as soot got all over the place. Well, I had the same problem cleaning up the cup this morning. We’ll light the candela on Sundays and other special days from now on. I showered, you washed and popped back in bed. We went to the commissary and shopped a few items for you. We bought some Ensure to supplement your diet and fruit among other things. We returned home and after I put things away I grilled a porterhouse steak on our outside grill. You ate the fillet of the porterhouse while I ate the rest. You loved the meat and coleslaw I made. Following the meal, I asked you to show me how to wash the dishes (my turn at being an OT person) and you did a great job. We went to Montgomery Mall for a walk. You were not much interested in going but I insisted (now I was the PT person) and we circled both floors. Interestingly, you have no urge to go into a store and shop. I guess that will come too. As a reward for walking, I bought you some soft ice cream with hot fudge and nuts. We had two sets of visitors today. In the morning, the Blakers came and in the afternoon, Harry Doukas and daughter Maria. Now it was SLP time. You did great conversing. Your memory is improving. You are remembering names well now. But, you seem to have Iranians on the brain and don’t like them one bit. You speak of them raping the English. I don’t know if this something you saw on TV while at the hospital. Perhaps it is Iraqis you are thinking of and the deaths of our soldiers there. While you were resting, I cleaned our air purifiers and turned them on for the first time in a long time. I wanted the air fresh for you and now that I am not burning the candela, we can run them. Every so often, you emerge from the bedroom to see where I am. You don’t 165 like that I am not there in bed with you. I explained that I had to do some work and it was too early for me to go to bed and then sleep at night. You seemed to accept this. We’ll see. Well, your home again looking for me, oh my. Day 138 (Sunday, February 27, 2005)—we were up by 7 AM, both showered, and ready for church. Our calls to Greece included your sister, cousin Voula, and Roula our friend. All seemed quite impressed on how well you were speaking. You still get confused on whose son Thano is and the relationship with Marianna and her husband Apostalos. But I’m sure that will soon fall into place, We ate breakfast and I read a bit of the paper and off to church we went. You seemed to enjoy church because your favorite psalti Stelios was there. You did very well during the service, no restlessness. When you got tired of standing, you sat. When we left, we went to the Navy Exchange where I bought a new battery for the kitchen phone. Now it works loud and clear. The kids came around 12:30. Niko brought food which consisted of a large pizza and a variety of subs. You did well eating lunch. Dessert consisted of an ice cream cake that Vicki bought last week and we saved until today. As has become usual, you had fun with them all (Nick, Nina, Vicki and Connie). As I keep telling people we are soon going to put you on the stage as a comic because you really are clever with your quips. You still are confused on some issues but that does not interfere or detract from your sense of humor. You still have it in for Iran and Iranians and TV that is for “morons.” After the kids left, you went to rest. Actually, you invited them to leave so you could rest. Claire our neighbor brought you a very beautiful bunch of flowers and a nice get well card. Vicki used her former professional expertise to arrange them. With all the weekend excitement, I forgot to put money in our travel bank. So, as we were leaving for our walk at Wheaton Mall, I put $40 on the bench which I deposited upon our return home. Wheaton was jumping and I guess this is normal for Sunday. I was going to buy dressy black pants for you but the wait for a fitting room was too long so we left. We did a full circle around 166 the mall with only one short break. You realize you must walk to regain endurance and strength. Alex Pattakos called from Santa Fe to ask how you are doing. He has been following the articles written about you and posted on the internet. While watching TV, we received a call from a local florist that they were outside of our door waiting to deliver us something. They came this evening because of dire weather predictions for tomorrow. They brought a lovely bouquet of flowers from Arti and Chuck and a huge basket of goodies from the “Dunn Kids.” I suspect Chuck sent that too. It was very nice and very thoughtful. It is Oscar night. We watched the Barbara Walters show and a little of the red carpet bit and then you wanted to go to sleep. I went upstairs with you intending to watch in the bedroom but you did not like that idea. I shut the door and went to watch. Chris Rock was not an impressive host. The show in general was not impressive. Day 139 (Monday, February 28, 2005)—it is snowing but so far not a big deal The temperature is above freezing so the snow is not sticking even on the grassy areas. Let’s hope it stays that way. After eating breakfast you went back to rest and I went to do bills etc. After an hour you came downstairs and were cute-angry that I did not come to bed with you. You sat on the couch for a bit huddled in an afghan until I finished my work. We went upstairs, I showered you sponged and we got dressed. You weren’t thrilled with the idea of going out but you did. Our destination was Suburban Hospital to say thanks to all the people that saved your life. Nurse Voula and Dr. Hanawell, the trauma people were not there but the intensivists (that’s what they are called) who worked with you during the critical first weeks in intensive care, Drs. Morten and Markwell, were and displayed great enthusiasm to see you doing so well. They said you looked great. You were cute when you said did I look like a monster before while sticking out your tongue and holding up and curling your fingers. The nurses all gave you a hug. They truly were sincere in wanting to see their success. We tried to see the neuro-PAs (Steve and Jacob) but they were in the OR—we asked that they be 167 told that we came to say hi. Next stop was the cafeteria and we had a light repast. On the bulletin board at the entrance to the cafeteria was our Valentine’s Day story from the Washington Post. We went to the Navy Exchange and bought you a pair of Easy Spirit walking shoes in black to go with your nice black slacks. You will wear this Sunday at church. Upon arriving home, I called to inquire about sitters when I go teach. I am not comfortable leaving you with strangers so that might not be how I cope with the problem. Maybe I will not teach. I called Arti and Chuck but they were not home. I left a thank you message on their answering machine. After we rested, Pauline, Jackie and Jenna came and brought presents for you. They bought birthday gifts they held onto until you got home. They also brought food for us to eat. I put Heidi’s casserole into the freezer since we are overflowing with food now. I made coffee for the adults and we had some cookies that arrived in yesterday’s basket and the sugar cookies Noonie baked. You really disturbed me tonight. You kept insisting that your bra hurt and that I should cut it off—you were not wearing a bra but continued to insist it was hurting your right breast. You went off hunting for scissors and I feared when you found one that you would harm yourself. You finally discovered you were not wearing a bra and began to cut off your panties until I took the scissors away. You were not happy. Day 140 (Tuesday, March 01, 2005)—week 20 is over and you are home over one week now. You slept very well last night and you seemed back to normal. I got up and prepared breakfast. You got up and ate well. When I finished eating I went out to shovel snow and clear the car from the accumulated snow. It wasn’t hard to do and you sweetly waved at me from the kitchen window giving me moral support. I liked that. It will be nice when you are able to help again--not because of the added labor, but because the company is nice. When I came in, I showered and then you came and said you wanted one too. You also washed your hair. After dressing, we 168 listened to Greek music and then did the laundry. You helped. A good thing is that you are not insisting you have to go to bed or constantly saying you are tired. You also have not complained about your breast or bra (you are not wearing one because of your still sensitive ribs). After the wash was done, you helped transfer the clothes to the dryer. After they dried, you helped fold the clothes and even carried your share upstairs. You did a great job. With the laundry done we headed for lunch on the way to see Dr. Lee our primary care physician. We stopped at the Ambrosia Café where Vasili, his wife Maria and brother greeted us with open arms. You ate egg-lemon soup and we shared taramosalata and a gyro sandwich. When we left, they gifted us with two pieces of baklava. We arrived at the Shady Grove Health Center early and they took us early. All, and I mean all, were thrilled to see you looking so good. Sheree Gordon, your USFHP case manager met us there. She seemed very genuine in her desire to help you get better. Dr. Lee checked you over and decided to put you back on Fosamax to strengthen your bones. He then proceeded to process the necessary referrals: three to Adventist Rehab (PT,OT,SLP); one to Wilmer for a low vision specialist; and one for Dr. McCarthy for an NRH follow-up. As far as medical support, all went smoothly today. Dr. Lee also said you need to walk and do light weights. We left Dr. Lee and went to White Flint Mall for our walk. We walked on both levels and bought some frozen custard—peanut butter flavor. I bought a big diet drink and we shared that. You did well eating and walking. When we arrived home we both rested. Bill and Pricilla Torpey sent a very beautiful flower arrangement. I called and thanked him and you spoke to him too. He loved it. Day 141(Wednesday, March 02, 2005)—we are getting into a routine. I get up before you, prepare a simple breakfast, convince you to get up and you eat. Then comes personal clean-up and dressing. Today was a commissary day and off we went. When we returned it was time for lunch and we both ate half a chicken and a 169 nice salad. You rested while I cleaned up and then off we went to Montgomery Mall to walk and to look for a jacket that goes with your brown pants. No luck. Returning home, we both went to rest. Jane Podesta from gazine called us. She is still waiting for the edits but feels pretty sure, next week is the week. After her call, I got up to review the mail and the outstanding thing was you got up, put on your coat and wanted to go out again. This time we went to White Flint Mall and did a lot of walking. We returned and you rested a bit until I called you for light dinner. I spent some time today making an appointment with the Wilmer Eye Center which is part of Johns Hopkins located in Baltimore. You will see a low vision specialist on March 29th. I also called various places to determine availability of sitters if I go and teach. We received a nice email from Ed Eckenhoff, the President/CEO of NRH. Here is what he said: My dear Colonel....... What a lovely letter you sent me which was received this morning. Needless to say, I wish to send this around to all those you mentioned by name as it is a letter such as yours that reinforces to so many why they are here, why they chose the professional fields they did and why it becomes so important to do all we humanly can for those who reach our doors for service. I shall see that all three team members are acknowledged for the Class Act Partners-in-Excellence and I thank you for having recognized these people. Please know that we all hope for the very best with Maria and you. Should there be anything we can do to assist, we stand ready and able! The two of you represent the very best when defining the human spirit and for this we continue to stand in awe. You are our heroes. By all means, keep me posted. Cordially, Ed This is a really nice acknowledgement of your heroism. 170 I spoke to our attorney David Lease today. He says that the Ft. Meade woman that handles claims has been very pleasant but complains she has much to do. Thus, there is no real action on that front and he will continue to pursue. State Farm is ready to pay and he will establish an escrow account for the money pending the Army’s determination of what is the equitable share between medical bills and pain/suffering. As far as USAA and uninsured motorists is concerned, subrogation issues are being worked out. Here is the definition of subrogation: the substitution of one claim for another, especially the transfer of the right to receive payment of a debt to somebody other than the original creditor. They still want to hold open their right to go after Purcell. Day 142 (Thursday, March 03, 2005)—today was the big day of going to Adventist Rehab. I guess I was a little excited and misread the appointment time so we got there very early. It did give us time to scout out the place and then we went to Krispie Kreme for a hot chocolate (you) and a coffee (me). We both had a doughnut. You were not impressed with the hot chocolate and were not thrilled with the mothers that were letting their kids run wild. The noise bothered you (you’re more sensitive to noise now). I went to the mothers and politely asked them to take charge. They did! At the Rehab we processed in and fortunately they had the tons of paper that they required completed so it was rather painless. Your first session was with Cindy Lawrence a SLP. You did a one-on-one for 45 minutes and then with us together for 15 minutes. We discussed goals and directions for therapy. She asked why we did not go into the NRH Transitions program and I replied that I thought the daily 9 to 4 program was too early and too ambitious for you at this point. I would rely on the input from the Adventist team to determine if/when you are ready. We then broke for lunch and went to a fast-food style Philips Seafood Restaurant. You order at the counter and they call your name when the food is ready. We had cream of crab soup, a grilled crab/shrimp cake sandwich, coleslaw, and grilled veggies on a skewer. Good food at a good price. Not bad! 171 We returned to Rehab. We started out together with the OT person, Jennifer Milsovic, and discussed goals. Both therapists concluded that you would need therapy for six weeks, three times per week. We returned home, rested until Jane Podesta from People called to say she has the edits and all is on track for next week. She will send us advanced copies. You got up from bed searching for me. You like me to nap with you. I keep telling you I cannot keep napping in the afternoon and expect to sleep at night. You do not like this. You went back to bed and in a little while came back with the intent to cut your toe nails. You brought totally inappropriate stuff to do so (e.g., the crochet-type needles used to pull hair through a cap preparatory to frosting hair). I brought you the right stuff and you cut your toe and finger nails. You only did one hand, the left, and I helped you do the right. You did the filing. I checked your toenails and you did well. We spoke to our cousin Mary Anna and you confused some issues such as who her daughter was but generally your conversation was OK. You keep calling the hospital California and you still have it in for the Iranians. After you finished speaking to her, I got pictures out to review who is who. I showed you Mary Anna’s picture and our Goddaughter Marianna’s picture. I showed you other relatives too and told you who was with whom. Following that, I made lamb sandwiches (Suzanne made the lamb) for dinner and you went to bed, fully clothed I might add. Day 143 (Friday, March 04, 2005)—it’s interesting, before the accident you slept way over on one side of the king size bed and I on the other side. You believed that you tossed and turned too much and did not want to bother me. Also, you mostly slept on your stomach. Now you like to sleep close to me and you mostly sleep on your back. I like you sleeping close to me and it’s easier for me to touch you and to hold hands. I find that when I wake up during the night, I can give you a kiss on the forehead and I like that too. 172 We got up, did breakfast – you ate well. We washed and went to the commissary and shopped and then it was resting time for you again. We called Greece—first Marianna but she was at work. We both spoke to Apostalos and you heard Thano in the background. Next we called Litsa and you had a nice conversation with her. There is a lot of snow in the village. Later, we did some walking at White Flint Mall and you ate frozen custard. At home, I grilled a steak and we had salad. We went out for a walk, this time at Wheaton Plaza Mall. At home you went to bed but this time you got up on your own and we went downstairs to watch TV together. You didn’t sustain the whole movie. Day 144 (Saturday, March 05, 2005)—I fasted since we were going to church today and we were both to receive communion. You are exempted because you are not completely well. In fact, when we went to dress, I discovered you had cut the strap to the t-shirt top we got so you wouldn’t have to wear a bra. You had been threatening to cut the bra you weren’t wearing and I guess this was what you did as a replacement. I did scold you. You dressed in black pants, lavender top and a black jacket. The recently purchased black Easy Spirit walking shoes completed the outfit. I helped you apply makeup. I guess I need to let you do that with just some cuing in the future. You did really well at the service. This is the First Saturday of Souls where lists of names of the dearly departed are submitted and the priests read and bless them all. We submitted our list with the following names: Thalia, Chrissy, Apostalos, Stelios, Nadine, Niko, Olga, Dianne. We both received communion. Later while handing out the antithero (Holy Bread), Father John embraced and kissed you. We got our koliva (boiled wheat with honey and raisons) and left. We came home, changed and were out again for lunch. We went to a new Greek Restaurant, Greek Taverna, and the food was terrible. You had avgholemano (egg-lemon) and we ordered tarama (it was very runny), calamari (they were bland and rubbery), and fried 173 maridhes (the little fish smelled and tasted fishy)—I returned them and complained. The chef (owner?) was not pleased. When I told him the fish smelled fishy he replied that they were fish. If the place exists a year from now, maybe we’ll try it again then. We went to Montgomery Mall looking for t-shirts for you but were not successful. At home we both went for a nap, you liked that. We were disturbed by the banging of mail delivered through our door slot. Dino called from Florida. You spoke to him and Myrna. That was it as far as the nap was concerned. After dinner I resumed this journal and you came and sat across from me. You asked for a pen and wrote a love note to me in Greek. You wrote: Arion, what I am doing now I will never do for anybody else, I hope that you will have a lot of happiness with love and many kisses. Your Mary, bye for now. I cried! You were very agitated later in the evening. Your right side hurt and the Tylenol did not seem to help much. We tried to watch some TV but you kept talking about cutting off the bra (you had none on) because of the pain to your right breast. You got distracted by a particular scene in the movie we were watching until it was bedtime. With your evening medication, you managed to sleep. Day 145 (Sunday, March 06, 2005)—this morning we did the usual after getting up. We went to the Navy Exchange to buy a few items (some t-shirts and Aleve). I hope the Aleve helps the pain better then the Tylenol. Connie and Vicki came about 12:15. Nick and Nina dropped by on their way to Nina’s sister’s birthday party. We took Connie, and Vicki to Ambrosia. We enjoyed the food but they are still having problems with service and servers. Some did not show up today and they were working the floor with just two people, one of whom was Arthur son of the owner. The food was good and we had an appetizer. You and Vicki had spanakopita, Connie gyros, and I had my usual chicken livers. You also had soup. 174 For desert we had baklava. The baklava was on the house to make up for the tardy service. After arriving home, we went into our all-seasons room—I call it Maria’s Room. I turned on the heat and it warmed up in a jiffy. Everybody enjoyed the pleasant nature of the room and we had fun talking. Really, we need to turn you into a stand-up comic, you come up with very funny (and appropriate) things. You are remembering more things. You showed them a picture and identified the people in it and also showed you had a better grasp on the past. A really nice thing was when you came into the kitchen while I was doing this journal. You announced you wanted to pluck your eyebrows. I helped find the equipment and you returned to pluck. I can’t say how well you did but wanting to do so was the big thing. Day 146 (Monday, March 07, 2005)—the usual morning opening with breakfast and such. I even made eggs today. You are still not ready to initiate helping clean the dishes but hopefully your old ways will assert themselves sometime soon. I gave you your morning med and vitamins. A little later I gave you one Aleve and at about 3PM two more. So far today you have not complained about your bra or breast hurting. In the early evening you did get agitated when you discovered the couch in the family room did not open into a bed. I tried to explain that we had such a couch years ago but bought new furniture without that feature because they were more comfortable. You really did not buy into that explanation. You left in a huff for the bedroom. When you appeared again a few minutes later, you were still agitated. I told you Stami was coming on Sunday as she was attending a wedding shower for her sister. That bothered you because you kept insisting that you did not want your therapist here. I worked hard to convince you that Stami was a cousin not a therapist. You confused her with Jennifer the Adventist Rehab OT. Apparently, you don’t like her very much. You kept insisting that Stami was the OT. Well, they told me there would be days like this. 175 The warning has not prevented me from getting a bad headache and a stiff neck to boot. I feel very disturbed myself. Suzanne called and offered soup and I accepted for you. You came back from the bedroom (again), I should say stormed back and told me to call Suzanne and say you did not want the soup. Why, you wanted to know, should I interfere in your business and make decisions for you. This has been your worst evening home—ever. Suzanne and Nooni came with too much food. The interaction with you was good and you seemed to settle down a little bit—your public image was working, I guess. You didn’t think the soup had much taste and ate very little. I had to work hard to convince them not to leave a gallon or so of soup. They really think you are a great person and want to be very helpful. Today, we went to BAI so I could set up for my forthcoming training. Everybody was truly thrilled to see you. Palmer was visibly moved to see how you improved and so was Fred. Fred had a bad cold so stayed his distance. Andrea gave you a hug as did Palmer. Next we went across the street to recruiting where Connie works You entertained all the ladies with your wit. We had a good time. Today Heidi visited and chatted with you. She is going to Austria on Wednesday for three weeks. As we were going out, Anne spotted you and came over. She gushed all over you, tears and all. As I’ve told you, you are loved by all. She also proceeded to tell you how wonderful I was. You agreed. But, I must tell you that this makes me very uncomfortable. The reason is (well this might sound corny), when people love each other, this is how they should behave and hence this is how I do behave. In other words, I don’t see what I have done or am doing as extraordinary but normal—at least for me. Thus to say I am great or your savior or your rock (as you put it) makes me feel weird. Day 147 (Tuesday, March 08, 2005)—well, this day concludes week 21 since the accident and it does not start on a good note if last night is any indicator. This morning you seemed OK. I think you have the 176 Stami-Jennifer thing straightened out. You ate a hearty breakfast, washed and dressed and are ready to go out for therapy. I called Jennifer and asked her if you guys had any incidents. She said no. I also asked if the stove had worked OK (you said it hadn’t and she did not know how to turn it on). She again said all was OK. I suggested she work hard at developing rapport with you. She thanked me for the call. Yesterday was balmy and hit 71 degrees. We even sat in the allseasons room and needed no additional heat. Today it is snow showers again, very windy (our flag was flying horizontal to the ground), and the temperature is dropping. At 9 AM it is 39 degrees and expected to drop further. We went to Adventist Rehab through the snow and blustery cold leaving at 10:10 AM. I had to clean off the car. The snow was sticking to the grass and some to the street. The drive on the highway was tricky because visibility was poor. We arrived without incident, signed in and waited for about 15 minutes until Cindy (SLP) came for you. After about 45 minutes you returned with her and the three of us spoke. She said you did very well. You were put in charge of keeping time so the three of us could meet and you were right on the dot. This is just one example of how well you did. Jennifer, the OT, was nice too. She came and asked if we wanted to continue with her through the lunch hour rather than take a break since the weather was so foul. That was better than going to lunch and having to come back. You went with Jennifer without a problem (later you pronounced her nice) and also had a good session. You made fruit salad with yogurt. We took some home and that is what you ate for dinner. When we left Adventist, we traveled across the street to Phillips. We both had blackened tuna with coleslaw and veggies grilled on a skewer. We both cleaned our plates (I didn’t even get a chance to have a bite of yours—you didn’t even offer). Next stop was Rite Aide to pick up my meds and then home for a nap. Before napping with you, however, because of the high wind, I had to chase down our 177 garbage can and searched for (and found) the lid. I returned Suzanne’s cans to their proper place. You had a really good day today. I put one of those BenGay patches on your rib cage and it appeared to work. You had no complaints about your “bra” hurting. You helped me a little folding laundry. Day 148 (Wednesday, March 09, 2005)—today it is blustery and cold again. But, it is sunny and no snow in today’s forecast. For variety, I micro-waved something called “Scramblers.” It was very quiche-like and while not great was not bad with eggs, sausage, peppers, onion, etc. You ate it all as did I. Your memory is improving in many ways but you are still having trouble remembering who belongs to who but that is slowly coming. I guess I will soon diagram the various family trees. Today we picked up the DVD that has all of the TV pieces that feature you. We bought some party stuff for Sunday and then went to the commissary for some food items. Harry and Mary Anna came to visit and she brought you a gift of your favorite body cream. We sat in Maria’s Room and I made and served coffee with cookies. You did not help but you did enjoy the company. I encourage people to come to stimulate your memories. You also spoke to Chrisa your niece and Marika her mother in Greece. We called and spoke to your sister. You did a lot of interacting during the calls and now better understand the different relationships. We went to dinner at La Madeline’s. You had mushroom soup and we shared an entrée of loin of pork with lots of broccoli. We ate their nice dark bread. We called and spoke to Pauline and medically her news appears to be good. The event of the evening was when you came back from one of your rests. You didn’t locate your robe so you donned my wool shirt, pockets bulging with glasses, pens, pencil, calendar, and notebook. You marched into the kitchen to find me while I was working on this journal. You knew you were being funny because you came in laughing and you did get a big 178 laugh out of me too. You went to bed after pronouncing that TV was for morons (many would agree with you). Day 149 (Thursday, March 10, 2005)—wow, was it tough getting up this morning. We had to be at Adventist by 8 AM and thus I started by getting out of bed at 6 to take a shower. Soon you got up on your own for the toilet but gave me lots of trouble when I told you to take off your nightgown and to wash. You wanted to go back to bed. Fortunately, we don’t have anymore 8 AM appointments. Of course, we were there early and the place was quite. It seems as if everybody gets there just on time. You started with Jennifer (OT) and ironed shirts. You needed some cuing in setting up but that would be expected with strange equipment. You did well but it remains to be seen if you’ll want to iron at home. Next was an eval by the PT person. Nikki is her name. You did well with her and she established some goals for you especially in the area of endurance and better balance. After an hour wait, Cyndy (SLP) came and you did some memory things with her and scored well. We are keeping a loose leaf book to record your progress. When we left Adventist, we went to Phillips and ate the blackened tuna again. You had a bowl of clam chowder I planned to share with you but your idea of sharing was to leave me one teaspoon worth of chowder. However, since you didn’t eat all of your coleslaw, I did get to finish that off. When we arrived home, there was a bag on our porch table. Suzanne left us food for this evening. At home we napped and then it was time to get you up for the dentist. We tussled a little getting you up but off we went on time. Dr. Barnett repaired one of the teeth on a bridge where the porcelain broke off using a bonding technique. He believes that will work. If not, the tooth belongs to a big bridge and would take effort to replace. You had teeth cleaned. You were very patient and sat through the procedures without being restless. You were pleased with the dental work. At home, I worked on abridging this journal from day 125 to the present. The therapists wanted to review my notes as an aid to 179 helping you. They are included as part of the notebook they are maintaining on your progress. I keep the book and give it to the first therapist of the day. The Gazette newspaper of Kensington printed an article titled Victim’s Husband Pushes Change – it’s about you and the inadequate Maryland laws. Here is the article by Stephanie Siegel: Mar. 9, 2005 When Maria Pattakos was hit by a truck last fall after she pushed a child in a stroller from harm's way, she was left with a fractured skull, two punctured lungs, a broken collarbone, ribs and pelvis. The driver who hit her was left with a $55 citation for failure to use due care to avoid a pedestrian. Now, Arion Pattakos, Maria's husband, is trying to change a Maryland law that allows a driver to receive the traffic citation without appearing before a judge. According to Pattakos, a retired U.S. Army colonel, the driver who hit his wife did not have to appear in court because she was crossing the street in a controlled crosswalk -- one where there is a traffic light and/or a pedestrian crossing signal. But the law differs for drivers who hit pedestrians in uncontrolled crosswalks. They must appear before a judge and could receive a potentially higher penalty, according to the state's attorney's office. "Even though she was crossing with the light in her favor and the pedestrian sign, it's handled differently," Pattakos said. Pattakos wants the law reformed so that drivers who hit pedestrians in any crosswalk must appear in court. 180 "My intention is to save other people," he said. "I'm not looking for any special treatment. I'm doing this for the next Maria who gets thumped, as she calls it." Maria Pattakos, 60, a Kensington resident, was hit on Oct. 12 as she walked with her neighbor Pauline Londree and Londree's 18-monthold granddaughter Jenna Sauber. Maria was pushing Jenna in a stroller as they crossed the intersection of Cedar Lane and Beach Drive in Bethesda. The walk signal was flashing. At that moment, John Paul Purcell, 54, of Bethesda, was making a right turn during a green light from Beach Drive onto Cedar Lane. He struck Pattakos just after she pushed the stroller out of the way. Purcell, who was not injured, told police bright sun was in his eyes and he did not see the women. The case illustrates how important it is for both drivers and pedestrians to be aware while on the road, said Officer Julia Gilroy, a police spokeswoman. "The traffic article says if the pedestrian is in the crosswalk with a signal they have the right of way and any turning vehicle has to yield to them," she said. Pattakos was severely injured and spent more than four months in the hospital. She's home now, recovering. "Maria is improving every day," her husband said. "Her memory dots are connecting. Meanwhile, as he helps his wife cope with her recovery, he is also working to see that what happened to her isn't repeated. After learning of Purcell's penalty in December, Pattakos contacted state Sen. Sharon M. Grosfeld (D-Dist. 18) of Kensington to ask about changing the law. Grosfeld said she would support a change if it was vetted and drafted by the State's Attorney's Association and if it had the support of victims rights groups. 181 "If we didn't have that, at the very least, we would not be successful in getting this legislation passed," she said. "The support of these groups are critical." Montgomery County State's Attorney Douglas F. Gansler said the State's Attorney's Office is not involved with whether a person must appear in court for a citation, but said he is in favor of stricter laws to protect people like Maria Pattakos. State Del. William A. Bronrott (Dist. 16) of Bethesda agreed that current laws could be made more strict. Bronrott, who chaired a county Blue Ribbon Panel on Pedestrian and Traffic Safety, has been an advocate for pedestrian safety. He said that current laws don't provide for "middle-ground penalties." "Either you have to prove gross negligence or you can issue a couple of citations," he said. Lawmakers are working to pass bills that provide for penalties in between those extremes. "I believe that our laws need to be crafted in such a way that we can have stricter penalties when it comes to death or severe bodily injury," Bronrott said. Several bills are currently in the judiciary committee, he said, which could possibly be amended to include penalties for serious bodily injury. Those bills include one sponsored by Del. Luiz R.S. Simmons (D-Dist. 17) of Rockville and state Sen. Jennie M. Forehand (D-Dist. 17) of Rockville that aims to allow a driver who is found criminally negligent and kills another person to be convicted of a misdemeanor and a second bill sponsored by Del. Pauline Menes (D-Dist. 21) of College Park, which says an aggressive driver who commits two or more 182 specified violations during an incident that kills another person can be convicted of homicide by aggressive driving. "I think that is what we ought to be looking at," Bronrott said. "To just have someone appear in court is better than not appearing in court, but what judges don't have is these middle of the road penalties. Victims who are seriously injured and families of those who are killed feel a deep sense of lack of justice." Arion Pattakos continues to feel frustrated by the current law, which he says makes no sense. In a Jan. 26 letter to the office of the State Attorney General, he expressed his disappointment. "It is ludicrous that one can cause grievous trauma to another and yet receive what is tantamount to a wrist slap," he wrote. Channel 9 people read the article and want to come interview us tomorrow. They plan to come at 10 AM. Day 150 (Friday, March 11, 2005)—well, we had an active day today. Channel 9 called and said they would be late. I told them to meet us at the Adventist Rehab because we planned to leave here at 11 AM, go to lunch and then be at the rehab for them by 12:30. They agreed. We did leave at 11 and went to Phillips and had our usual plus broiled shrimp on a skewer. We went to Safeway to see if the People magazine was in the store and the answer was not yet. We got to Adventist at 12:20 and the public affairs people had us fill out a bunch of release forms. The channel 9 people were very prompt (Audrey Barnes and her cameraman). They videoed us in the “apartment” and then with you doing some physical therapy with Nikki. The piece was shown at about 5:30 and you looked great. As I keep saying you are the beauty and I the beast. They emphasized what I wanted i.e., the law in Maryland dealing with crosswalks doesn’t make sense. I hope it is heard by somebody that has some power and will do some good. 183 All your therapists said you did great. What was impressive was that you sustained three straight hours. I was impressed. The therapists said you answered questions well and what I observed of your PT was really excellent. Your balance is good and you are following directions very well. I spoke to our lawyer David Lease today. I informed him that Detective Ratnofsky of the Accident Reconstruction Unit called and said that Purcell paid the $55 traffic ticket on February 17 and officially the case was now closed. When we arrived home, we found several copies of People sent to us by Jane Podesta. I was disappointed. The article was not nearly as good as the Washington Post article. And, given the number of pictures they took, they used very few. They used one of us cutting our cake (that I gave them), one of Jenna (that Jackie gave them), and only two original shots. Somehow, I expected more from them. So much for national exposure of your story! This evening Father John from Boston called. This is not our Father John but one that heard about our story in Boston. We never met him. He is Greek Orthodox originally from Australia. He knows our Father John. His son, attending school in DC, sent him the Post article. He found our story beautiful and asked how you were doing. I told him of your great progress and how our faith is helping. We are in his prayers. He asked to be remembered to our Father John. You ate turkey pot pie this evening while sitting on the family room couch watching TV. When Clinton’s picture came on you correctly identified him before his name was mentioned. You showed many other indicators that memory dots are connecting. You stayed and watched TV until about 8 PM. I cut your evening pill in half to see if this makes you less tired during the day. Truly, you did not have much time in bed today. When I came to bed I noted that you put on your nightgown. This is a good thing since when you left I asked you to do that and told you it was hanging on the back of the bathroom door. This concludes the fifth month following your accident. 184 Day 151 (Saturday, March 12, 2005)—the event of the day, so far, is that you got out of bed on your own initiative and put on your robe. We went into the kitchen, ate breakfast and you washed your own cereal bowl. After the meal, you went to rest on the couch (at least not bed) with me warming your feet and working on this journal. Maia called from Wisconsin and you had a nice discussion with her. Dini told me she is ready to come on 4 April but will not arrive until 11 PM that evening because someone will be in Madison from Atlanta earlier that day who she must meet with. She was concerned that she would get lost coming from the airport so we drove there to make a recon of the signs she should follow. I sent her an email with the directions. You had a long talk with Aunt Mary and discovered that Uncle Bob died four years ago and you once again confirmed that my parents died. Later, Dino called and you spoke with Myrna and our cousins Paul and Tula who live in Florida permanently and were visiting them. Dino and Myrna are leaving on Monday for home and will be in this area next Sunday, 20 March. Upon our return from the airport we went directly to the commissary where we bought a few things for tomorrow’s lunch with the gang. I bought beef brisket for Niko. You pushed the basket back to the car. We got gas and the price is creeping up as we were told it would. After unloading at home we went to Ambrosia. I made you Family Memory reference sheets in big print and bold typeface. I don’t know all of the names myself so I will ask Gregory and Litsa. You read what we had about 5 times. I did have to cue you with some words and to start at the extreme left of the page. You have a left neglect vision problem. By the fifth reading you were doing well. After a few more times I asked you who is who. You did OK but still slip up. For some reason, it is hard to fix in your mind that Marianna’s son is Thano and that she is married to Apostalos. Day 152 (Sunday, March 13, 2005)—I was going stop the daily journal at day 150 and then go to weekly or event driven entries. I 185 guess I am addicted. We’ll see as things unfold how long I’ll keep this up on a daily basis. I guess everyday has some event of meaning for me and perhaps for you when you read this at some future time. I woke up at 3:33 AM. I know this exact time because our atomic clock shines the time (and the temperature) on the ceiling. What ran through my mind were the feelings I had early during your hospitalization. I guess the fact you were pressing close to me in bed and my happiness with that started the thoughts of the anguish I felt during the first fifty or sixty days after the accident. It is somewhat a cliché now to say “words can’t express” or “words are inadequate” and similar phrases. Cliché as they may be, however, they are true in this case. Another cliché comes to mind—searing pain. That certainly is what I felt. The Encarta Dictionary has two definitions of “searing” that are pertinent: 1) to have a sudden painful or unpleasant effect on somebody or something; 2) to wither, shrivel, or dry up, or to cause something to wither, shrivel, or dry up. I guess the first definition makes the word pain following searing redundant. The second definition reminds me of what I said about bad thoughts earlier in the journal. That is the feeling of curling up, drying up into dust and having a puff of wind blow me away. I also looked up the word “pain.” When defined in terms of emotion it is stated that pain reflects severe emotional or mental distress. Well, all those thoughts seem to fit and yet, still can’t quite capture the difficulty I had enduring what had happened and is happening to you. To use a contemporary term of the day, my distress was awesome. Well, enough early morning introspection. I called Greece and spoke to Gregory and Litsa to complete what I have now titled, “Who is Who in Greece.” You spoke with Litsa at length. We left for Church and stayed for the Orthos. Upon return home we called Chuck Dunn to wish him a happy birthday and they were thinking of us since this was my Mom’s birthday too. You spoke to Arti for some time and I with Chuck. Our next call was to Roula in Greece. She told us sad news about her mother, Sevasmia, she died on Tuesday from a stroke. Her mother was a sweet lady and I am sure she will be very missed by Roula. You spoke with 186 Roula quite a bit and she recognized you make up some memories (confabulation) and still think old memories are current. But she knows you are on the road to wellness. Soon after our calls, Nick and Nina came and were closely followed by Connie and Vicki. Niko was very impressed on how well you read the Who’s Who and he worked with you. Connie brought two huge pizzas she bought at Costco. She also brought a huge salad. I made some BBQ brisket (well, my making it is an exaggeration, I immersed two pouches of the stuff in boiling water would be more accurate). At any rate, we had far beyond an all-you-can eat meal. We pretty much ate one pizza and Vicki took the rest home with her. I had a lovely Sarah Lee strawberry cream pie and we all exploded. Of course, N + N went house hunting after the meal. Connie and Vicki stayed for a couple of hours more and you had a good time. A good thing for the day is that you arose on your own at 6 AM and stayed up and functional until 4 PM. We went and rested then. Pauline and Tonya came at 6 PM after our nap. You had soft drinks with them. You complained a lot today that your right side really hurt even after the BenGay Patch. I gave you two Aleve and within an hour you said all was OK. You again noticed your nails needed trimming and you trimmed them. You said you’ve done better in the past and I suggested that you would again in the future. The important thing is you recognized they needed trimming and did something about it. I did help find the scissors after you asked. I gave you a choice of clippers or scissors and you took the scissors. Your job was not too even but they were trimmed. Day 153 (Monday, March 14, 2005)—another day and up you were bright and early. You did not say “I’m tired” but got out of bed without prompting. We ate breakfast. You said you were hurting so I gave you two Aleve after you ate your cereal. Then I went to balance the checkbook and pay bills. Soon you came down to be near me and you watched a decorating show on TV while I worked. After I finished, we did our morning bathing and dressing. We left 187 for the Navy Exchange to get you a soft bra you thought you might find comfortable and some cough medicine for me. Our next stop of the day was Rockville and the lawyer, David Lease, where you countersigned a check received from USAA. It will be placed in escrow until the legal requirements are met on how much the government claims since they are paying the bills. Lawyer Lease hopes he can convince them of 2/3 split in your favor. He will also put the county on notice for a possible suit. I told him that you wanted Purcell sued. If we do get any money from anybody, I propose at least ten percent go to our church. At the Ambrosia Café you had egg-lemon soup then to Phillips where I had the usual and you had French fries and a couple of grilled shrimp. We followed this with Starbucks and you had a mocha coffee with a cinnamon scone. You loved both. Our next stop was to make appointments with Dr. Lee. We found out that he will be out all next month on maternity leave. This is his second or third child. Our appointment is on 17 March—St. Patrick’s day. Therapy time—today you had PT with Nikki and SLP with Cindy. You did well with each as recorded separately in their therapy notes. When we got home there was a message from Katina who lives in Greece. You showed very, very good endurance today. Day 154 (Tuesday, March 15, 2005)—an important memory thing you did today was remembering that Katina called last night and you wanted to call back. We did and you had a nice conversation with her. You that both of her sons are now priests one of whom is married with two children and the other not married. After that call, you had me call Litsa and you chatted with her for awhile. When dressing you put on a bra for the first time in a long time and you did not complain about hurting on your right side or your breast. It was a new bra that was very soft. I gave you no Aleve but did use the Ben Gay patch. 188 At noon, we went to White Flint Mall for a light lunch. We went to the movies to see a romantic comedy called Hitch. We only managed to stay an hour before you wanted to leave the movie. Oh, well, we’ll try again in a few weeks. We rested after we got home but you were not behaving very well. You did not want to get up. I told you that Joe and Debbie were coming with crab cakes and when you came to the living room you showed up in a nightgown and robe. You did not cooperate well in changing back to your day clothing. We worked on your memory book while waiting for Joe and Debbie. You read the Greek Who is Who very well. You did a good (but not perfect) job of identifying the people in a series of pictures. Joe and Debbie arrived on-time loaded with crab cakes and dessert. You ate well and interacted OK with Joe and Debbie but appeared a little agitated to me. When they left I asked you to put on your nightgown and robe so I could wash your daytime clothes you refused. You kept asking when I was going to leave with Joe. Where and how you got that in your mind that I would leave the house, I don’t know. I told you that I was angry with you for not cooperating with me. I don’t know if this is the greatest therapeutic approach but I feel that you need to know when you do something I believe is out-of-line. You came downstairs while I was watching TV and certainly were not repentant. You were still disturbed with the thought you got in your mind that I was leaving with Joe. I really can’t figure out specifically why you thought that but you must have heard something Joe or I said that you interpreted that way . You were still in your daytime clothes and displayed your anger facially and by turning on the overhead light when you left again. A little time passed and back you came, this time with your nightgown and robe on—I invited you to sit next to me and we were both repentant, cuddled, kissed and made up. I gave you a whole med (rather than ½) as directed when you are agitated. We held hands. Day 155 (Wednesday, March 16, 2005)—we got out of bed early this morning—no agitation on your part. For the second day now you complain about having a lack of appetite. Yesterday, when we had 189 eggs and you a bagel, you didn’t have much to say about their taste notwithstanding the fact that I used three types of cheese while scrambling the eggs and toasted the cinnamon-raison bagel. We’ll check with Dr. Lee tomorrow. You are really not complaining about your right breast or rib cage hurting as much and you are still tolerating wearing a bra. Before we left for your therapy sessions, I printed out the latest home notes and inserted them into your therapy book. We left a little early because you were ready to go and put on shoes etc. with no prompting. I drove slowly so we were only 10 minutes early. You had three sessions in a row: OT, SP, and PT. Once again, they noted your progress in the therapy book. After therapy you wanted soup so we went to Ambrosia and you had a bowl of avgholemano and we had taramasalata and chicken livers. You did well eating but later in the evening you had no appetite. You went to bed at 7 PM and I thought you would come down to watch TV but you did not. Even when I brought your evening med at 8 PM you stayed in bed. I came to bed at 9 PM and you were sound asleep. It took me awhile to sleep and I got worried when you were too quite. I checked your breathing and you were OK. You wrote me another sweet note in Greek on a napkin. It said, My love, I love you very, very much now and into the future and if you want to come my sweet come to me. Oh, boy! Day 156 (Thursday, March 17, 2005)—it is St. Patrick’s Day and I guess we can’t expect the luck of the Irish. In fact we had a minor disaster when after we both showered and did a load of wash, the drain backed up from the sewer and flooded our utility room floor. The big area rug and bath rugs got wet and water and gunk was all over. Later I dried the bath rugs in the drier after a spin in the washing machine and hauled the area rug outside to dry. We’ll throw that one away. Fortunately the flood waters did not reach the fourth bedroom and thus did not wet the wall-to-wall carpet. 190 I called the plumbers and they came within the hour since we have a contract with them. I used our free annual inspection to save the $59 service fee they charge just for coming to the house. Gerwin tried the little snake they have to ream out the pipe. This would have cost us $189 for the job but that did not work. He then used the large, more powerful snake for $389. He had to break the drain cover for access because it was cemented into the floor. Going through the hole the toilet occupies would cost another $189 for removing and replacing the toilet. Well, guess what, the large snake wouldn’t work through the drain and he had to take off the toilet. Doug a more experienced plumber came to help Gerwin. They had to snake out 95 feet before they broke through the obstruction. Total cost for this adventure: $474. So much for being a happy homeowner! Oh, yes, we did receive a 15 percent discount which made it $474 since we have the contract with them. It took a total of four hours to reduce the blockage. Since they were there I asked them to fix our kitchen faucet since it was leaking around the spout when turned on. It needed new “O” rings. Yea, no charge! The backup with dirty water all over the place turned into a not so great adventure. I called the water company and they said they are not responsible because it was “soft debris” that blocked our feeder pipe. This implied that it was our fault stuffing stuff into the toilet. Next I called the insurance company and they said they were not responsible for the plumbing bill but were for the cleanup. Luckily we have water backup insurance but with a $500 deductible. For the first time, you’ve were anxious to go out. When I came upstairs, you were sitting in the kitchen with ear muffs and scarf on ready to go. Of course, we couldn’t go until the plumbing work was done. You are very restless today. You awakened at 5 AM and started bugging me to get up. That’s new. You gave me no argument to shower and did a good job washing yourself and dressing. You made breakfast for us today—cereal. You put a little for yourself and a lot for me. For the past couple of days your appetite has not been good. 191 We went to the see Dr. Lee today. We discussed your meds and mine. When we were done, you decided we were not yet finished and did not want to leave. I feel terrible. As you were marching off in the wrong direction, I grabbed you by the jacket and you lost your balance and fell. Luckily, I was holding on so you went down rather gracefully and without a problem. Notwithstanding that, I was very upset—more than you, I think. I still feel terrible that you fell. We went to White Flint Mall for a short walk. The Dr. said you should do a lot of walking to gain strength and energy. USAA said they would send out people to assess the damage and begin the clean-up. The remediation guys called and said they were coming at 6 PM. Seems like the faster the action when there is water in the house, the better. They were told by USAA to collect the $500 up front. A lot of work needs to be done to dry out the place and make sure fungus doesn’t grow. The floor tile must come out, they took off some baseboards, and some plasterboard from the walls too. Two big machines are operating to de-humidify the area. They did not want to remove the floor tile because they noted old underlying tile and were afraid it was asbestos. Others will come and check and see if it is asbestos. Day 157 (Friday, March 18, 2005)—this morning you made us breakfast. An important memory item was the need to take a recipe for koulourakia to therapy. I found the recipe in Greek, translated it, typed and printed it for you and inserted it into your work book. You washed, I helped you gather your clothes and you dressed yourself. In fact, you over-dressed because you wanted to go out so badly you put on your coat and ear muffs. You sat that way in the kitchen notwithstanding my telling you we could not go out until we heard from the remediation guys. I was afraid that you would go out while I wasn’t looking so I double locked the front door and put the key behind the plant on the pedestal. We normally leave the bolt key on the pedestal where it is readily accessible by us and not too easily 192 observed by others. The interesting and problem solving thing you did today was realizing the door was double locked, you found the key behind the plant, and you unlocked the door. I discovered your success before you tried to escape. I really don’t think you would have gone out without me. I took the phones so I could receive a call. We went and sat outside on our front porch for about ½ hour. The weather was good. Finally, the USAA adjuster called and she (Sheree) said she would make an appointment with a flooring company since the tile in the utility room must be removed and the underlying tile checked for asbestos. The inspector from Abbey Flooring will come on Monday. It is unlikely that they will begin work until the subsequent Monday. He will bring samples for us to select the new floor covering which will be one piece rather then tiles—that’s better. We went to Montgomery Mall for a walk. You were thirsty so we bought drinks and sat in the food court observing the goings on. I suggested Chinese food for lunch and you agreed. We shared one three entrée meal. You enjoyed the repast. We then went walking and you did two full turns with no break. Good for you. After we arrived home, you napped for one hour before we left for therapy. You had three hours of therapy in a row and sustained them very well. We went to Phillips. You conked out when we got home but did get up after I gave you your evening meds and sat with me watching TV for 1 ½ hours. You even laughed at Jeff Foxworthy’s jokes. Day 158 (Saturday, March 19, 2005)—another day and you made breakfast. We called Cathy Lanzetta in Florida, the lady that was my mother’s neighbor. She sounds frail but was pleased to hear from you. We also called Dino and Myrna to see where they were on their drive home. They will reach Upper Marlboro tonight, they said and will come for lunch tomorrow. Later in the day, you had a lengthy conversation with Aunt Mary. Once again, you were anxious to get out of the house. We went to Costco and did some shopping and then sat down at their snack bar 193 and had a chicken bake and a Hebrew National hot dog. We went to Lake Forest Mall and had a very long walk, circling both levels. Suzanne and Noonie came and you all sat in Maria’s Room. After they left, we left and went to Wheaton Mall for a walk and had a soft drink. We arrived home and while you rested, I made turkey sandwiches for us on Ciabatta bread. You loved the sandwich. Latter Suzanne came again and this time brought cheese pies (tiropites). We ate some and were they good. Suzanne came while you were speaking with Arti so she didn’t get a chance to see how much you like them. You had a very nice chat with Arti and showed you remembered much more. Day 159 (Sunday, March 20, 2005)—you were dead set against having cereal this morning so you ate the last cheese-pie and I made half a bagel for you. I called Greece and you had a 30 minute conversation with Marianna, Litsa and Gregory. I had told you on Friday that Chrisanthi died and you asked Litsa why she died. Her response was out of sadness for the loss two years ago of her husband Angelos. A good and true response notwithstanding the fact that she drowned herself off the shore of the village Mehanonia. I am certain she did that out of the depression from her loss. I truly know the feeling as expressed during my dark days the first couple of months after your accident. When you love with such a deep feeling, it is difficult if not impossible to be without your sweetheart for long. It’s a wonder she survived two years. We bathed, dressed and left for church. Father John made a fuss over you and we enjoyed all of the music associated with the Orthos. The head usher gave us some holy bread prior to our departure at 10 AM. From church we went to the commissary, bought a few things and then went home. About 11:45 Dino and Myrna showed up having returned the night before from their long stay in Florida. They were very pleased to see you looking so well. Myrna brought you a nice plant. They said the RV park in Upper Marlboro is the pits. 194 Next to arrive was Nick and Nina. They brought ice cream to go with the really delicious caramel-apple pie we bought at Costco. Connie arrived with Vicki and the rest of the food she bought for us from Costco. We didn’t quite eat three of the five chickens and only about half the salad. I gave one chicken to Myrna, froze one, and had several other pieces in the refrigerator. I also kept the green string beans Vicki brought as they were very tasty. Becky Micozzi, the police officer who was the first responder to your accident came and joined us too. I believe she had a good time. She really is a nice person. Becky brought flowers for you. By the way, you do confuse Becky with Jackie and insist that Becky is Jenna’s mother. Well, we’ll just have to keep working on that. Today, we watched the clips from the various news programs featuring you. Niko did an outstanding job of taking the DVD I had made from five VHS tapes and turning them into a masterful production in multiple copies for distribution to other members of our family. The new DVD he created is truly impressive. Becky had to leave for she was on-duty. Nick and Nina left earlier— guess why, you’re right, they were going to look at a house. This is their usual Sunday activity. The rest left about 5:30. Next on the docket was Tonya who came at 6:30. She did your finger and toe nails and boy what a busy day you had and you really hung right in there. Good for you! Your Canadian cousin Evangelia called and you chatted with her for some time. After her call, things went down hill. You got very confused about who she was and when I tried to explain your relationship to her you got agitated and to my later embarrassment, so did I. You kept insisting that the Canadian cousin Evangelia originally from your village in Greece was somebody else and that you never met her. You also insisted that the two sisters living in Canada were named Evangelia even though you found it strange that both were married to Rudy. You insisted that the one who called you had two children. Canadian Evangelia has no children (a 195 cousin Evangelia in Hortiati, Greece, has two children), there are no sisters with the same name, but there are many cousins so named. You knew the Canadian Evangelia as a child and later with Rudy they had visited us here in Kensington. At any rate, things were confusing and you would not believe me. You insisted on calling Greece even when I told you it was 3 AM there. We did NOT call Greece. We made up before you went to bed. My agitation held for longer than yours did. I guess the reason was that you did not accept what I was telling you as true. Again, the doctors cautioned there would be days such as this. I hate them. Day 160 (Monday, March 21, 2005)—you got up on your own today. You weren’t very hungry but I gave you Ciabatta bread with strawberry jam and you ate it all. You wanted to speak to Litsa and I dialed for you. Apparently, you still wanted to verify what I told you last night. You spoke with her at length and hopefully the confusion has abated. It seems so. While you know who Litsa and Gregory are, other relationships seem to slip away from you. For example, during Saturday’s call to Greece, you kept saying that Thano was from Cyprus. Your sister corrected you but I still think that you think we are trying to hide his real birth place (which you think is Cyprus) from you. Somehow you are confused with the role of your cousin Lewy, who was born and lives in Cyprus. Well, hopefully all of these issues will get straightened out. We received a music CD from Greece but no pictures of the family, as promised. We went to Starbucks for coffee, then four times around White Flint Mall. Our next stop was the library and got you two novels in large print. My hope is to get you reading again. You had a nice meal of green beans and two chicken sandwiches. The floor guy came to figure out what was required in the utility room in order to pull the tile from the floor. Before they completely remove the tile they must send tile samples to a laboratory to determine if any asbestos is involved. After this determination, they will strip the floor, then other folks must come to spray an anti196 bacterial agent, still other people must come to repair the wallboard, then the floor people will come back to lay the new floor. Today we went to Montgomery Mall for our afternoon walk. We also went to the movies and saw Ice Princess about a young woman whose mother wants her to be a physicist and another mother who wants her daughter to be a champion ice skater. The mother’s are attempting to live their dreams through their daughters and, of course, this doesn’t work. The plot is not deep but the movie was pleasant with ice skating. You liked it and managed to sit through it all. Next it was a banana split time from DQ—we shared one, and you enjoyed the split with hot fudge and wet walnuts. Linda from MD Delegate Richard S. Madaleno, Jr. office called and they want us in Annapolis on 31 March to recognize your heroism. He is our District 18 Delegate. I finished our income tax. You got angry that I was not paying attention to you. Day 161 (Tuesday, March 22, 2005)—this concludes week 23 since the accident and commences week 24. You spoke to Litsa to thank her for the CD and to mention that the pictures have not come. Later, I spoke to the construction guy USAA selected and he will come tomorrow to inspect the utility room to determine what work needs to be done. Your SLP, Cyndy, called in sick today so you only have PT and OT. As we were leaving for therapy, I noticed that all the neighbors put out their garbage and recycling and I had not. Luckily, pick-ups had not been made yet so I put out our stuff. Later, Pauline brought our cans in while we were at therapy. The attorney I spoke to yesterday at the Attorney Generals Office called and suggested I speak to Peggy McKee. Peggy McKee who handles the correspondence for the AG called me while we were at therapy and stated that they had not received my letter—it was not listed in the system. She gave me her address so I could send a copy directly to her. I mailed it today. We’ll see if I get any reply. The 197 letter I wrote deals with the Maryland law that holds a different standard for crossing a street in a controlled and uncontrolled crosswalk. To me this makes no sense. Your therapists were most impressed with you today. You showed improved endurance and attention. You prepared the ingredients for koulourakia and read the recipe aloud very well. You also got flour all over the top you were wearing. The top was one of my pullovers. It is now in the basket to be washed. When we left we went to Phillips, our fish place. In addition to a sandwich, you had crab/shrimp chowder. You ate very well. We went to Linen and Things but did not find the new bistro table we were looking for to replace the one broken last year by the installers of our new gutters. We went to Staples and found the photo printing paper I was looking for. We went to mail the letter to the AG and to check Bed, Bath, and Beyond for the bistro table we wanted for our porch. We succeeded this time and bought a nice terracotta table much better then what we had. We also went to Trader Joe’s and bought cheese, juice, olive oil and dark chocolate (we were getting low). The pictures I uploaded last week for printing arrived today and you opened the package thinking they were from Greece. You came to me for an explanation and you were not happy to see yourself during your early intensive care days. I told you to look at the improvements you have made since that time. They are significant. You are not completely you as yet but you are getting there a stepat-a-time. Tonight, you cut the tomato for the chicken sandwiches. You ate well again and went to bed very early and stayed there—I surely thought you’d get up and join me. When I came up you were fast asleep. I did not awaken you for your evening med. Day 162 (Wednesday, March 23, 2005)—well, it was a big mistake to not give you a med, even a half a pill. You got out of bed a little after midnight and tried to get me up by uncovering me. You used the rationale that since I get you up in the morning that it was only fair that you get me up. You were not successful even though you left me 198 uncovered when you left and went into the living room. You tried unsuccessfully to call Greece a couple of times you told me. At 2 AM I enticed you back to bed and I gave you ½ tablet of medication. When we went into the kitchen for water, you showed me that you had prepared cereal for me for breakfast. I put it into the fridge. You slept well for the remainder of the evening until we were called and told that Gerwin, the plumber, was on his way to complete the inspection of our plumbing. Our plumbing is ok except for the trap on the basement bathroom sink and ridiculously they want $129 to replace it. He said the garbage disposal is only in fair condition and would cost $600 to replace it. I think we’ll try Sears. We called Greece. You spoke to Gregory, Litsa, and Marianna. You continued to show confusion about the hospital pictures we received yesterday. On the one hand, you thought they sent them to us and then on the other that I sent the pictures to them. At any rate, you were not happy about the way you looked with all the tubes, etc. stuck into you. You told the folks in Greece you dreamed about the pictures and that someone was chasing you. I’m truly sorry you opened the picture package yesterday. I’m sure you will come to grips with what you saw at some later time. The contractor that will do the wall restoration work came and made his estimate of needed repairs. He will let the insurance company know. The job is growing by leaps and the proverbial bounds. Apparently I’ve been placed in the position of General Contractor and must coordinate all the activities. We went to Ambrosia for lunch and then drove to therapy. The therapy was not accomplished in successive sessions, there was an hour break between OT and speech (i.e., a break from 3 PM to 4). You got very restless during the break but when Cyndi came for you, you went without a problem and you did well with her. When we arrived home, I prepared a fruit plate and you were off to bed by 7:30 PM. You really spent a full day out of bed—from 7 in 199 the morning. Good for you. I came to bed at 9 PM to find you snoring away—of, yes, you were snoring. Day 163 (Thursday, March 24, 2005)—we got up late and ate breakfast. You vacuumed the living room, kitchen and halls while I moved stuff out of the way. We also dusted a little. It is nice to see you start to take interest in the house again. You thought making chili would be a good thing for you to make so we bought the necessary ingredients. It was lunch time when we returned home so after putting things away, I started the grill. It did not want to light because of the wind, I guess. I used an external lighter and singed the hair on my hand from that effort. It did light, however, and I grilled a porterhouse steak. We had a spinach salad to go along with it. You enjoyed the meal and went to rest a little. In a short time you were back and interested in going walking so we went to Montgomery Mall, walked and we were bad. We went to Dairy Queen and shared a banana split. We attempted to relieve our conscience by doing two circuits of the mall. We also went to Sears and bought their top-of-the-line garbage disposal. With installation, it costs slightly over half of what the plumber told us it would cost from their firm. They will come on Saturday for the installation. In the early evening, you prepared yourself a plate with a cookie, a banana, and some cheese. I ate a little Asiago cheese. You watched a little TV with me and also determined that you need some facial hair plucked so you plucked. This was good self initiating action. Day 164 (Friday, March 25, 2005)—you awakened early, popped out of bed, and went into the guest bedroom. You called me to help you fix the bed for Dini’s impending visit. When Dini and Will were here last Christmas, I had stripped the bed, washed the sheets, and put them in the bureau drawer. Thus, we needed to put the sheets back on the bed. We worked well as a team doing the job. After that you ate breakfast, I did not because I wanted to go for blood work and I had to fast. Following breakfast we bathed and took off for the diagnostic lab. When we arrived, the place was packed and we left. 200 We went to Panero’s for coffee—that is, I had coffee and you finished the Fresca you had from our house. I also had a cinnamon Danish (bad guy—I need to get control again). We also bought some of their nice bread. Our next stop was therapy. You are not thrilled to go but once there you are very cooperative. We saw a guy who was hit as a pedestrian by a drunk driver. He lost a leg and was in a nursing home for two years, had many, many operations, and suffered brain trauma too. He could not speak for some time etc. He speaks very clearly now and his cognitive abilities appear OK. So, my darling, in our unluckiness, I guess we are lucky—it could have been much worse. You are progressing well and rapidly. We went to Phillips. From there, we went and bought some lottery tickets for the Mega-million drawing. We came home and had a call from Maria Joyce. She wanted to visit but I told her you were resting. Perhaps next week she will drop in. I checked to see if my electronic filing of our fed-tax worked. It did. This is the first time I tried. We went to Wheaton Mall for our afternoon walk. I made cheese sandwiches for dinner. Day 165 (Saturday, March 26, 2005)—we got up at seven and had cereal for breakfast. We emptied out the closet below the sink in preparation for the new garbage disposal. Then, you made chili. You got the pot, browned the meat, I opened the cans and you added the sauce, beans and seasoning, and stirred away. Tomorrow when people come, we will have chili over spaghetti with some salad. The termite inspector came and the good news is we have no termites. There is no bad news associated with the inspection. Other good news is that the garbage disposal installers came early and finished the job quickly. We then went to the commissary for a few items. Surprisingly, the commissary was not crowded given that tomorrow they are closed. We went home and I made you salad and a pork sandwich for lunch. 201 You went to rest and then we had an incident. Mary Anna and Harry were due any minute and you refused to get up and put on your clothes. We had words. They came and they quickly detected that I was not a happy camper. You showed up in your robe. I made coffee, cut the carrot cake we bought and we assembled around the kitchen table. We had a pleasant time and they stayed for two hours. During their visit Suzanne came and brought us a gigantic tsoureki (a sweet koulouri) she bought at Stella’s. You went back to bed to rest and then got up when I went downstairs to work on bills, etc. We made up and you got dressed and we went to White Flint Mall for an evening walk. With our return, I emptied the dish washer, you went to rest and I went to watch TV. You came down and watched with me until 8 PM and then I joined you at 9 PM. After I came to bed I did not sleep right away. I got very depressed and my turning to dust and blowing away once again came to mind. Oh, my love, it pains me deeply when we come into conflict. I know this is supposed be a good thing in terms of your improvement but it still hurts me. Day 166 (Sunday, March 27, 2005)—this is American Easter. Ours is not until May 1. After breakfast we went to church for the Orthos. As usual, you loved the music and Father Steve called you his “koukla,” (his doll). This made me think of Maia when she was younger –we called her koukla and she responded I am not a doll, I’m a person. I still get very emotional in church. I always seem to succumb to tears over your accident and the long road to recovery. I wonder if I am worthy enough to have you back with me completely well. I pray that I am. You seem to be improving on a daily basis. So, dear God help my sweetheart get well soon. After we arrived home, we called Greece and you had a lengthy talk with Litsa and Gregory. Earlier when we called they were out to the village restaurant that we frequented, the Koskia. They went there to celebrate Litsa’s name day. After your call, you did most of the work setting the dining room table. 202 You got very concerned wondering if the kids were coming. I kept assuring you they all were but you insisted that I call. I did call and you found what I told you is correct and soon after, Nick and Nina did show up followed by about twenty minutes by Connie and Vicki. We had the chili you made over whole wheat spaghetti, salad, and Pepperidge Farm chocolate layer cake. You cut up a sweet onion and avocados too. Everybody truly loved the meal. You got many congratulations over a meal very, very well done. Nick and Nina left, of course, to house hunt but Connie and Vicki stayed until 4:30 PM and your interaction with them was great. So today, you had your OT (the meal) and SP (discussions with the girls). We called Aunt Mary to say hi and then Tonya came. You chatted with both for quite awhile. You weren’t going to eat but fell prey to the garlic bread and the tsoureki. Your endurance is improving. Day 167 (Monday, March 28, 2005)—I cleared the dishwasher, put in a load of wash and did some desk work. You got impatient to go out so we did after putting the clothes in the dryer. We went to Montgomery Mall for a walk. After making two turns plus around the mall, we went to the food court and shared a Chinese meal. We drove up Rockville Pike since we were very early for therapy at Adventist and stopped off at Home Depot to buy a recessed light. When workers come for the re-construction of the utility room, we will have a light installed in the utility room shower. We arrived early for therapy but you struck up a conversation with others who were waiting and you were OK with waiting. You are and always have been a very friendly person. Cyndi came promptly at 2 PM and off you went. Upon your return, it was reported that you continue to improve. We left and went to the Ambrosia Grill and did take out with avgolemeno (egg/lemon) soup. When we arrived home, we had a message from Suzanne that they were preparing lamb for us. Noonie brought the lamb with potatoes and carrots. We did not eat it because we had already eaten. It will serve us tomorrow. 203 You are looking forward to seeing the eye doctor tomorrow with some concern. You are afraid that he will give you bad news. My impression is that your eyesight seems to be improving. We’ll see. The rest of the evening was the usual except we heard about the earth quake off of the cost of Sumatra and the fears of another tsunami. You were concerned about that especially when the big rain storm hit here too. Day 168 (Tuesday, March 29, 2005)—week 24 drew to a close and week 25 now kicks off. Today is eye doctor day and you are anxious. We left earlier then I had planned because you really wanted to get moving. We arrived about 40 minutes early but since the paper work was slow that was ok. Driving through the middle of Baltimore is a pain but we didn’t have any major hang-ups. They took us promptly, and you met with Dr. Park who is also the Director of the Low vision center. They gave you all sorts of tests and the bottom line of it all is that the doctor wrote a prescription that should enable you to see at 20/25. This is great news and you were thrilled as well. He recommended you learn to use bifocals and wear your glasses all the time. He suggested that we go to an optical store which happens to be on the corner of Knowles and Connecticut Ave named Wood. It has one of the highest ratings in the country for providing good optics, he said. After leaving Baltimore (I managed to find my way back) we went directly to Wood and ordered you a very light weight pair of bi-focal glasses with magnetic clip on sunglasses. The cost was $335 after a 20 percent hero’s discount, as the store associate put it. He had read your story. I hope when you get the new glasses, this will encourage you to read. The doctor also asked me to have the Adventist OT (Jennifer) call him so that he could advise what exercises would be beneficial. I did that and Jennifer said she would call. We went for a walk around White Flint Mall about three plus times. We had our afternoon diet, caffeine free coke (with a squirt of 204 lemonade) and you also had a Mrs. Field’s oatmeal raison cookie. You enjoyed the walk and the cookie. Day 169 (Wednesday, March 30, 2005)—this was an interesting day. After doing the usual morning stuff, we left for NRH for your checkup with Dr. McCarthy who was the lead physician on your inpatient traumatic brain injury unit. He suggested that we get a breathing device for you to use for reducing the pain you have on your right side. This goes a step beyond Dr. Lee’s advice to breathe deeply. Dr. M gave us a prescription for the device and later we bought one. It is interesting—the idea is to breathe in and support a little white marble at the top of a tube for three seconds. You’re working at it but not too successfully. Dr. M was very pleasant and found you to be doing well. He continued to emphasize that you will continue to get better. It might take a year or a little more but he does expect you to be as good as ever. Harry Doukas called last night and he said that Michael mentioned you are far beyond where his wife Vicki was five months after she had a brain operation. She is back at work after a couple of years. So, my dear, you are doing well. Dr. M also thought cocoa butter would help reduce your pain as it will make the skin and the scars more supple. We went to the third floor of NRH to find your therapists. Olivia, Natalie, and Liz were thrilled to see you. They were beaming and all hugged and kissed you and said how great you looked. Others saw and remembered us and came to say hi too. In other words, you were a big hit. We went to the cafeteria and shared a special consisting of Salisbury steak, cauliflower, and spaghetti. You ate all of the spaghetti and half the Salisbury steak. You thought that the Salisbury steak would make a good meal for our Sunday lunch. After leaving NRH, we used the Beach Drive route north through Rock Creek Park as the shortest route to the commissary area where we fueled up and bought some food items and the cocoa butter. Arriving home we unpacked and selected your outfit for tomorrow’s visit to the Maryland House of Delegates. We selected brown pants, a silk blouse and a tweed jacket. You tried on the 205 pants to be worn in Annapolis for the presentation. We had a small disagreement when you didn’t want to take them off again. Eventually you did remove them but it was really annoying to have to cajole you—patience has never been one of my strong character traits. We needed to go to the pharmacy and I didn’t want you to wear those pants. Finally, you did comply and we went to the pharmacy and turned in some prescriptions at Rite Aide. Leaving there, we went to the Kensington Pharmacy for your breathing device and CVS for stuff to stop your head from itching. Home again, we had coleslaw that you put into bowls for us. You added salad dressing and mixed the two. I heated brisket in BBQ sauce and made sandwiches. Maria Joyce called and asked if she I could come. I said yes and she did and stayed for 1½ hours. She brought you a big box of Godiva chocolate. While she was here, Stacy Rollins from the Montel Williams show called. They would like you to be on the show. It tapes on 21 April. They would get us to NY anyway we’d like to travel to include picking us up by car and driving us there with all expenses paid. We would return on 22 April. I told them we would think about it and call them. Stacy was very enthusiastic about the “hero” show, as she called it. (P.S. – this never happened and we were given no reason—maybe not enough heroes out there then). Day 170 (Thursday, March 31, 2005)—a big day! We left for Annapolis at 8:30 AM and arrived there at 9:30, stopped at the Naval Academy Stadium parking lot and called Linda, Delegate Madaleno’s admin assistant. She advised us where to go, she told us she would be wearing a maroon coat and we would be able to spot her on the street. We did and she got into our car and directed us to the delegate’s personal parking space so you wouldn’t have to walk far. We went to the delegate’s office, met him and others. He led us to the floor of the house and then we waited initially in the delegate’s lounge. Chris Gordon from NBC4 spotted us and introduced himself. After the ceremony he would interview you. 206 When the time came, we were seated on the right front of the chamber. At about 10:10 we all stood and recited the Pledge of Allegiance, a prayer was said, and some high school students were recognized for some achievement that I failed to understand. Following this, we went up on the Speaker’s dais. Delegate Madaleno rose and spoke for a few minutes about what you did and your heroism. The speaker then presented you with a house resolution. Here is what it said: Maryland House of Delegates House Resolution. Be it hereby known to all that the House of Delegates of Maryland offers its sincerest congratulations to MARIA PATTAKOS in recognition of your heroism for pushing a child in a stroller from the path of an oncoming truck, saving the baby from serious injury, and your extraordinary determination and courage that day and during the months of your recuperation. The entire membership extends best wishes on this memorable occasion and directs this resolution to be presented on this 31st day of March 2005. Signed: Michael E. Busch, Speaker of the House and Mary Monahan, Chief Clerk. Delegate Richard Madaleno, Sponsor, House Resolution, #485. Following the presentation, you were interviewed by Chris Gordon and it appeared on Channel 4 at about 5:45. Hopefully, we’ll get a clip since they have been very, very good in sending them. Since we were in the Annapolis area, we then went to Red, Hot and Blue where we got a full slab of ribs with two sides. We decided on take-out since we weren’t quite hungry yet and you wanted to go home. Our return home was not as easy as the trip to Annapolis. There was an accident on the beltway around exit 29 but the back extended much further. We were bumper to bumper for some distance. By the time we arrived home, we were hungry and did enjoy the ribs. The latest development in your healing was your desire to put away dishes and things. I think your neatness cognitive dots are beginning to connect. 207 We went to Montgomery Mall for our afternoon walk and once again succumbed to Dairy Queen and a banana split. We walked twice around the mall. We were both pooped when we arrived home and dummy me did not check the answering machine—your glasses are ready. I guess we will go on Friday. We also had a notice hanging on the door advising we had a FedEx package that required a signature. I’m sure it is from People magazine returning our pictures. We will pick that up on Friday too. Day 171 (Friday, April 01, 2005)—we got up bright and early. You spoke to your sister in Greece to recount your adventures in Annapolis. I fasted and you ate a banana. We left the house at 7:15 AM for Quest Diagnostics for them to draw my blood. We arrived at 7:40 and waited 20 minutes even though there were few people waiting. After the vampire did her thing our next stop was Panero’s where we had coffee and cinnamon-crunch bagels with a hazelnut cream spread. You really enjoyed the bagel and the coffee. We left there about 8:45 and after we arrived at the Adventist rehab, I discovered I had erred on the time to be there. We were an hour early. What a dummy I am and forgive me for adding to unneeded restlessness on your part. You were pretty good about the whole thing. Today you received only OT and SP and continued your improvements. While waiting I made several phone calls to include your case manager, Sheree Gordon, to determine the status of getting you into the NRH transitions program. It still is in the works and the NRH manager, Monique, is on vacation this week. I made another call to the people who are to work on our utility room—they are awaiting authorization from the insurance company and will send us a contract. The floor people will lift the tile on Monday and another bunch will come on Tuesday to spray anti-bacterial stuff to ensure we don’t have fungus sometime in the future. With are departure from Adventist, we continued our errands. Next stop FedEx to get the pictures we lent to People magazine. Following this we went to Ambrosia and you had “soupa” and fish plaki and I had chicken livers with lima beans and salad. We picked up meds at the pharmacy and continued our tour of the area by going to get 208 your new glasses. You were concerned that they were bifocals and you would not be able to manage. The store associate was very kind and worked at length to instruct you on how to use them and asked that we return in ten days to determine how you were doing. I called Stacy Rollins of the Montel Williams show and she was pleased that we accepted to appear. She agreed to furnish us with a clip after the show is run. I emailed her some pictures, some articles about you and will send her hard copy of some articles. You promised to try to read novels again. After we got home, you did try.. I placed a “sunlight” lamp near you so you could see well. You enjoyed your reading and it gave you confidence. The day was finally nice and I assembled our terracotta bistro table to replace the one that the gutter installers broke. I also picked up the many, many twigs that were all over the lawn distributed by a storm. Luckily, I remembered the gadget we have for reaching objects that are high on shelves. I figured that if I can use it to reach up, I could use it to grasp items on the ground. It worked and I saved my back. You watched while I did all of this. I had hoped that you would come out to help a little bit but you did not. I worked on cataloguing (dating) the pictures we took while you were in the hospital. This is so I can eventually work on the scrap book of your journey to wellness. I also did such boring things as working on the checkbook since it was the first of the month. Dino emailed to tell us that they now have a queen-size bed for the guest room and “you all come,” he said. Day 172 (Saturday, April 02, 2005)—you spent a lot of time on the phone this morning. You spoke to Roula, Aunt Mary, Myrna, Betty Lackey, and Dini. Having read my entry above on how well you are doing and your phone calls today, it made me reflect on the Terri Schiavo case. There was much about the case in the media, there are family 209 members at odds, the courts (federal and state) are involved, and then the politicians entered the fray too. Terri Schiavo died the other day as an outcome of removing her feeding tube. It took her almost two weeks to pass away. Because of what happened to you, it sure has made me reflect on what life is and how it should be sustained and lived. You have listened to the many discussions on the radio and TV and while we have not discussed it you do not seem to favor the pulling of her feeding tube. When you were in a coma, I had feared you would lapse into what they call a “persistent vegetative state” also called PVS. I remember pleading with you to hold up two fingers and you did not—though I did interpret all sorts of movement you made in a positive way. You scratched your nose and the Dr. said neurologically that was a very good sign. When the neurosurgeon and neuro-physician assistants pinched you, you did have a response but it was not indicative you were with us. I didn’t get positive or very favorable vibes from the PAs—they were sympathetic but not terribly encouraging that you would wake from your coma. When we visited NRH on Wednesday, Dr. McCarthy shared a paper with me that he wrote about the Schiavo case. In the paper he defined PVS from the 1984 Merritt’s Textbook of Neurology: Patients that survive coma and assume sleep-wake cycles, normal respiratory and circulatory function, and primitive response to stimuli, but without evidence of inner and outer awareness. Dr. McCarthy an experienced neurologist and chief of the brain injury unit at NRH for the past 12 plus years, asks in the paper, Just how does one acquire evidence of someone’s, anyone’s inner awareness? Good question! If one has inner awareness even without outward response perhaps that is enough life for that person. Who is to suggest if there is inward awareness that there is no personhood? How would we, could we, know? McCarthy feels that images he has seen of Schiavo do not suggest a total lack of awareness and response. In a US News article, Dr. B. Healy points to the value of an ECG and the fact no recent one was done in Schiavo’s case to at least get an idea of awareness. I guess an ECG might be one way to determine if there 210 is any brain activity. With none, one is brain dead and hence without awareness at any level. Without that level of evidence, I guess President Bush’s observation is correct that we have the duty to protect the weak and a life when an issue is not clear or made clear by the patient’s instructions before they are in such a state. This is a complex issue that has moral, religious, and now political overtones. How do you square away spending countless thousands of dollars on keeping a marginally aware person alive and perhaps depriving others with survival. Resources are not infinite. I’m glad that I was not confronted with such a decision even though we have executed living wills (advanced medical directives). I thank you dear God for not putting me in such a position and thank you for the steady progress in healing my Maria’s infirmities. On this weighty issue of life, Pope John died today. Vatican Square was full of mourners. We watched and listened to the commentary. On the level of the mundane, we went to Montgomery Mall for a walk and checked reading lamps. We’ll buy another from Sharper Image when our gift card arrives. We walked the Mall twice, shared a banana split for lunch and then went home. Suzanne brought us cheese pies and more tsoureki. We ate whole wheat pasta for dinner. You read a little and did nail cutting and facial hair plucking. Day 173 (Sunday, March 3, 2005)—I’m writing this on Monday— this is the first time that I have not written a substantial part of the entry on the same day. We were pretty busy today (Sunday). The other confusing factor was the conversion to daylight savings time. Our so-called atomic clocks did not transition for some reason. Since we have the old fashion type too, I could readily determine which clocks were and were not correct but it did throw us off initially. After doing the usual morning things, we got out of the house and arrived at church a little later than usual, about 9:10 AM. The Orthos was underway. We lit our candles and were greeted by the presbytera (Priest’s wife), Harriet Tavlarides. She was very warm 211 and friendly to us both. We stayed for the liturgy up until the time we received communion at about 11:30. You did very well in staying focused and patient. When it came time for communion, the usher moved us to the head of the line so we would not have to wait. They are really sensitive to helping you. Shortly after we arrived home, Connie and Vicki came and we all went to Ambrosia. The meal was tasty as usual and the service was good. Our server was Elenitsa, a Greek-American gal who knows us well now and caters to our needs. When we left there, we went to Michaels, a craft store, to buy a picture frame for your Hero resolution and Connie mounted it upon our return home. It is now proudly hanging on the wall in the hall next to our bedroom door. The girls stayed until 5 PM and you did a lot of gabbing with them. You really enjoy their company and you made their day by telling them how much they are contributing to your getting better. It certainly is the truth. The type of interaction you have with them contributes mightily to connecting the cognitive dots. When they left, we washed your hair. You have some type of scabbing. It may be psoriasis. I looked it up on the net and found the National Psoriasis Foundation. Here is some of what was said at their site: Psoriasis is a common…chronic skin disease that comes in different forms and varying levels of severity. Most researchers now conclude that it is related to the immune system (psoriasis is often called an "immune-mediated" disorder). ..In general, it is a condition that is frequently found on the knees, elbows, scalp, hands, feet or lower back. Many treatments are available to help manage its symptoms. More than 4.5 million adults in the United States have it. … Psoriasis is not contagious—no one can "catch" it from another person. Because of their genes, certain people are more likely to develop it, but a "trigger" is usually necessary to make psoriasis appear. These triggers may include emotional stress, injury to the skin, some types of infection and reaction to certain drugs. You certainly meet many of these criteria but not all. Dini does not think you have Psoriasis. We’ll use the stuff I got at CVS and get some new 212 shampoo and see if that does the job of alleviating what you have. When next we go to the Dr. Lee we’ll have him check. Our next visitors were Bob and Kathy. They were to come around five but stop and go traffic at the Bay Bridge caused them to arrive at 6:30. They brought you Godiva chocolates and stayed for an hour. By now, you were wiped out and went to bed for the evening upon their departure Day 174 (Monday, April 04, 2005)—after breakfast, I gave myself a haircut. You inspected and said it looked good. After I showered, you showered and we washed your hair again. The guy scheduled to remove the tile with its 3 percent asbestos content came at 9:30 AM. He did the job without a mask or any protective gear for that matter so I wonder at the big deal the other guys made on the issue. It took him two hours. I guess they want to spread the wealth in terms of more contractor involvement. It’s the insurance company’s issue at this point since I already paid the deductible. Now we were still stuck at home waiting for DHL. I prepared a package to send to the Montel Williams show. I sent some pictures, original Washington Post and Gazette articles, and the little boy’s, Michael Gump’s Hero Award he gave to you. The DHL person finally arrived at three and off went the package to the Montel show. We took our walk, this time at White Flint Mall and even did a little shopping. We went to Talbots where we almost bought you a pair of pants until we discovered they were navy blue rather than the black we thought they were. Actually to Talbot’s credit, it was the sales associate that pointed this out. Our next stop was Lord and Taylor where we did find you a pair of brown pants but found no black. I wanted to go to Bloomies but you were shopped out by this point. Nadine arrived at midnight, she told us the next morning. We did not hear her. Day 175 (Tuesday, April 05, 2005)—this concludes week 25 since that fateful day of 12 October 2004. I got up early today because I was to teach at the Joint Counterintelligence Training Academy. I 213 got you and Dini up. I supervised your dressing and then tried to get you to eat something after you took your vitamins. I made Dini coffee but later after she took you to therapy, she ate eggs at the Adventist cafeteria. She said your therapy went well and that you graduated from PT. Following therapy you both went to Phillips for lunch. You had soup and she had a crab cake. My teaching went well. The remediation guy came at 4:30 to spray antifungal/anti bacteria stuff in the utility room. We then went to Ambrosia for dinner. You stayed up until 9 PM to share Dini’s obsession with American Idol. She told us that Maia got her hooked and she feels compelled to watch. Given we don’t watch we felt no such compulsion and were not terribly impressed by the talent. See, even PhD neurophysiologists watch moron shows. Day 176 (Wednesday, April 06, 2005)—you were a sweetheart this AM. You got up early so I could supervise your shower and your dressing. Dini arose shortly thereafter and had coffee. I left you gals to get organized and go to therapy. Since you are a PT graduate, you only had OT and speech today. Dini reported that you did a good job at therapy. You did not go to lunch but ate yogurt after you went food shopping at Giant. At 3:30 you announced you were hungry and Dini made you a tortia with chicken. My teaching at the company went OK. I was not pleased that I didn’t have the conference room. The human resources staff needed it because they were processing a big bunch of new employees. I had to use a not so good location. In fact, I did not set up a projector. I taught from the power point slides reproduced in the student notebooks. The students were attentive but knew very little about the subject matter or security for that matter. So I had to work harder to ensure they got it. You were anxious to talk to me so Dini called me on my cell and we spoke a couple of minutes. When I arrived home you were pleased. We received our Sharper Image gift card so off we went to Montgomery Mall to get you a reading lamp. Dini did not come as she had a headache and wanted to rest. 214 You wanted to walk and we did some of that. I took you into a couple of shops to look for something appropriate for the Montel show in case you don’t have something. Then, we had an incident— you got agitated (over shopping, perhaps) and said mean things to me. We left and drove home in silence. When we arrived, I put the lamp together and you went to bed. After I finished I went to the bedroom and you told me you were sorry. You came to the kitchen and Dini made us dinner. We went downstairs and prepared for phase two of American Idol. Well, we did not make it past 9 PM. We will wait breathlessly for the information in the morning (not). Day 177 (Thursday, April 07, 2005)—once again you got up on your own, washed and dressed. We went into the kitchen together and I brewed coffee and prepared toast and ensure with coffee for you. Dini got up and I left to do my teaching at BAI. You guys did well today. You did not go shopping but you did make pastitso. It was different from my father’s recipe because you used a book on Greek cookery. We put the large pan in the freezer and ate from a smaller pan you made. It really was tasty. Dini had to call me so that I could assure you that you did not have therapy today. You were pleased to see me when I got home. Stacy from the Montel show called and the taping is put off until May (and as I said earlier, this did not happen). She was pleased with the items I sent to her. Day 178 (Friday, April 08, 2005)—you got up early and were ready for a shower. You did a good job of bathing and then dressing. After I did the same we went into the kitchen and I made you coffee with slim fast. I found the way to get you to drink Ensure or Slimfast is to put a teaspoon of decaf into it. You like it that way. You only had one piece of toast as you were anticipating going with Dini for a bagel and coffee. You in fact did that—we all left at 8 PM with you traveling to therapy via Paneros and I to teach one more day. When I got home, Dini reported that you had a great day. The therapists reported that they have seen great gains and great gains in this week alone. You and Dini went shopping for make-up at Montgomery 215 Mall and you bought some nice stuff. You looked gorgeous. Another thing you did was to go to Stella’s bakery for tsoureki. It looks delicious—as you do. Dini said you went outside and cut some flowers to make an arrangement in the house. You did this without supervision and did a wonderful job. I arrived home reasonably early and as always you were pleased to see me. We had a bill from NRH with no explanation and no phone number to get one. I will call USFHP and then Amy and try to get the number. I suppose it is for the co-payment but it does not say so. We also got another bill asking for a co-payment, the second one. I’ll check on that too. As I read the rules, if you are an inpatient, you shouldn’t be paying such bills and doctors that ask for a copayment. Another question I will ask USFHP. My teaching went very well. There was good student interest and good student participation. I taught the whole day as part of a course called Counterintelligence Analysis. There were about 25 students in the class. I gave them a test and all but one student got 100 percent and she got a 90. It really is not a hard test if they were paying the least amount of attention and they were. The material is in to cover our utility room. The only problem is that the construction must be done and they have not called to set up a time. This business is a pain and dragging out. Celia came to the house to see you and then to take Dini to dinner with other friends. She was thrilled to see you and very pleased to see how wonderful you are. The last time she saw you, you were in a coma—a big contrast. She brought you beautiful potted geraniums. We had a nice chat and then they left and we did too. I gave you the choice of places to go to eat and you said Chinese. We went to the Panda where I bought one dinner with an extra side and spring rolls. You really enjoyed the meal as did I. We then “cleared our palates” with a Dairy Queen cone of soft vanilla ice cream—just one, we shared that too. After a walk around the mall, we came home and watched TV. You stayed until 9:15. You are displaying 216 more and more stamina—a good thing. You took off your makeup, we said prayers and you were asleep when I came up to bed. Day 179 (Saturday, April 09, 2005)—we got up late this AM and you wanted a shower and to get dressed. Dini got up and put on a CD she made for me last Father’s Day. The first song on the CD, was To Sir With Love. She said that is how she thinks of me (as contrasted to Niko’s Great Santini.). This is very sweet and had us both in tears. We went to Brookside Gardens and enjoyed the blooming plants. They also had a sculpture display with many interesting pieces. We had a very nice walk around the entire perimeter. Up and down hills and steps too. The bad part of that was you missed a step and since you were holding our hands you crumpled to the ground with great grace and considerable theatrical movement. We helped you to your feet and continued our walk. You blamed the bifocals and wanted nothing more to do with them. When we left, we noted it was lunch time so we debated where to go. The Cheesecake Factory got the vote. The upside was that we were seated immediately. The downside was that we ate too much. Dini had a gigantic salad with chicken, you had an eggplant sandwich with fries and I had the Factory Meat Loaf with broccoli instead of mashed potatoes (to relieve my guilt). We enjoyed the meal. At home, you rested and Dini went shopping. You got up and missed her and got angry when I wanted you to get dressed—out of your nightgown and robe and into your clothes. I wanted you too look good for your grandkids and you resented my trying to control you. We did not have fun. Dini returned and played the role of mediator, she fancied herself as the Dr. Phil of the household. We made up. You got restless waiting for Will and the kids. We went to White Flint Mall with the idea of listing ourselves for a table at The Cheesecake Factory. It was a zoo there and then Dini called to tell us that Will and the kids had to return to the airline terminal. Maia’s backpack with computer among other things in it was missing. The police had it (bomb concerns?) thus things turned out ok because it 217 was quickly found. Meanwhile, we were very bad—we got a mudslide cake at The Cheesecake Factory takeout. It was ridiculously big and certainly more than even two people could eat. We did our best. It consisted of a large, very large piece of chocolate layered cake, smothered in whipped cream with scattered chocolate chips, two scoops of ice cream and hot fudge. What evil!!!! We were led into temptation and failed the test. Dini picked up Will and the kids at the nearby Grovesner metro station and they came directly home to see you. All fussed over you and were appropriately impressed. The last time they saw you was at Christmas time. What a difference! They were hungry and we suggested they not go to The Cheesecake Factory and so they went to Ambrosia. We went to bed and did not hear them come home. Day 180 (Sunday, April 10, 2005)—the kids woke up early and Alec and Maia went with us to church. We went for a part of the Orthos. Our Father John gave you an Icon sent to you from Boston from another Father John (who is originally from Australia). It is of the resurrection—a beautiful icon. We lighted candles and so did the kids. After we kissed the bible, we left. The kids were very good and we did not want to test them further. We took a big group (11 persons) to Ambrosia for lunch. We really had a very big spread. The food was good and the service too. After the meal, we went home and Nick and Nina brought us some dessert —some ice cream and two pies (chocolate cream and apple). You had a nice time conversing with all but you did start getting tired as the day wore on. Our sunroom was filled to capacity but enjoyed by all. It really was very comfortable even with 11 people. With two windows open on either side of the room we had good cross ventilation that was enhanced by our ceiling fan. Nick and Nina were the first to leave—can you guess where they went? Connie, Vicki and Kathy left a little after 4:30 and you were ready for their departure. You immediately went and hit the sack for a much needed rest. Lot’s of stimulation today and later you said you had a big day. Will and Dini were going to go to a movie but she 218 ended up with a headache and went to relax. Will conked out on the sunroom couch and the kids watched television. I think I napped in my sunroom chair and finished reading a magazine. Our gang, the four of them, went out to eat Ethiopian food at the Red Sea in the Adams Morgan area. You got up and watched some TV with me and we went upstairs for bed at 9:00 PM and the kids arrived at that time. It seems as if our daughter is hooked on Desperate Housewives. Meanwhile, Will took Alex to get something to eat. Nothing at the Red Sea filled any of his nutritional interests. He is still the hamburger kid. Day 181 (Monday, April 11, 2005)—you set off the house alarm today! Not to worry, I called the false alarm number, gave the pass word and all was ok. I showed you the numbers to disarm the alarm but we’ll have to work on that more. The grandkids didn’t even stir, the adults did. I made many phone calls today. Among them was to the dentist about your tooth. We have an appointment today. You left with everybody to go see the Cherry Blossoms and some of the monuments too. You called me once and I called you. You were having a good time except your right side was bothering you. Dini said you were being very nice in-spite of the pain. Good for you! The deck and outside house wash guy came and started work at 11:30 AM, given that I was told 11 to 4, this was a very good thing. The deck looks very good, the rails too and he sealed it all. But, the windows do not look good where he sprayed the house. The house siding and cinderblock are clean now and so are our porch area and the walkway. The deck sealant is guaranteed for two years and the technician said they normally are not called back to do the deck again for up to five years. Sheree Gordon, the USFHP outpatient caseworker called and said you have been accepted into the NRH transitions program. This will be three times per week from 9 AM to 4 PM. This rather intense program should contribute much to your further recovery. 219 After you came home, we went to the dentist. You were anxious that your tooth might come out. Apparently, you have once again been grinding your teeth and pushing against a one tooth bridge (the one that became loose). The dentist made some adjustments and all is ok now. Next week we will go back and make a new mouth guard. While we were at the dentist the kids called from White Flint Mall. The young ones wanted to eat at The Cheesecake Factory and it was not crowded. We met there and had a very nice meal. You ate shrimp with angel-hair pasta and did very well with the huge portion. I had a hamburger and substituted broccoli for the fries. The kids got cheesecake but we took it home as take-out. When we went home and after changing into “evening-wear” we watched one of Maia’s CDs, The Incredibles. It really was quite charming. The good thing was that you stayed up displaying good endurance after a very long day. Day 182 (Tuesday, April 12, 2005)—well, love of my life, it is now six months since your accident. For me, it has been a long and terrifying six months. For you, it has been a display of making the journey back to health with successes every day. Everybody shows you much love and affection and I believe this has been and is an important part of your recovery. Of course, your therapists so far have been terrific too and NRH transitions should contribute further to your achievements. You are anxious to go to Greece and I think our plan to go in late June should be ok. That too will contribute to your getting well. As I type this, I am in the Adventist Rehab waiting room and you are off with Cyndi and later with Jennifer. The kids are home preparing to go back to Wisconsin. It has been a very pleasant stay. You and Dini were wonderful together. You clearly enjoyed each others company. The interaction helped you a lot, I feel. It was nice having Will and the grandkids too and they showed you much love and respect. They were amazed how far you’ve come since they last 220 saw you in December. Cyndi and Jennifer reported that you are doing very well. Your discussions and responses are all in context. We called Greece to speak to Litsa and Dini said hi to her. Dini spoke several Greek words that seemed in context and were pretty much the limit of what she remembered from when she spoke perfect Greek as a child. Both she and Litsa enjoyed the attempt at communication. Later Joe called and Dini had an extensive exchange with him—it’s a little easier when you both speak the same language. We returned home at 11:20 AM to see the kids off and to wait for the construction guy to come. The kids left a few minutes before noon and the construction guy arrived right on time. He could not give us a time when he believes he will start work. I asked for completion NLT 30 April so we could welcome our visitors. We’ll see. Our next stop was the optician. We ordered a new pair of reading glasses for you. We’ll see if that works. We go to Wilmer on 29 April to check your prescription. If it changes, the optical place guarantees to replace the lenses at no cost. Next we went back to Shady Grove. Our first stop was food at Phillips since you were hungry. I went to Paneros and bought a baker’s dozen of bagels. From there, we went to the Adventist Hospital. You wanted to see Pauline who was recovering from her operation. She looked good although she had some pain. The news appeared good too but will be confirmed at the end of the week. She hopes to leave the hospital tomorrow and will stay with Jackie for the rest of her recuperation. I wanted to take you to get some jeans but you were not in a cooperative mood. We went home and napped together. You were interested in getting artificial flowers for the deck when I mentioned they were on sale. We bought a bunch. We took a look at the new Feline’s Basement which is on the second floor but did not see much to buy. From there your attitude deteriorated and you got agitated. When we arrived home you went to bed at 6 PM. Oh, well! I gave you your vitamins and then later your evening meds. 221 Day 183 (Wednesday, April 13, 2005)—Dini called to tell us that they all arrived safely but late. That is why she did not call last night. This morning I called the deck people to tell them that we have some white stains where they sprayed sealant. I also called window washing people—they come next Tuesday in the AM. We called Roula in Greece but no success. With all this activity to include breakfast and bathing, we still arrived for your 9 AM therapy on time. Jennifer came to tell me she would not be here on Friday for your last session and asked if Sandy could sub for her. I said yes. After your speech session, Cyndi showed me some work she did with you on recognizing letters. You were given a letter and then had to find and circle each of that same letter from a bunch of letters. You did ok but showed that you required more work on this exercise to help your vision and cognition. We went to see if Pauline was still at Adventist. When we arrived at her room the bed was empty and freshly made ready for the next person to occupy. Later we found out that she was discharged at 9:20 AM. She will stay with Jackie for a few days. The good news is that she has a clean bill of health. You spoke to her on the phone. When we returned home we called Roula again and she was very sad. She had just returned from the cemetery where her Mother is buried and she is preparing for the 40 day ceremony. You tried to sooth her and she didn’t want to make you feel sad. Maybe you both benefited from the call. Today is the first mowing day of the year. Since I have not been exercising, we’ll see what body parts will be hurting tomorrow. The electric mower worked well even where the grass was thick and tall. I did the whole job on one battery as I have in the past. We went for a walk in Wheaton Mall after your rest and my reading in the sunroom. We bought a new temperature sensor. The old one 222 got water in it—my guess is the deck cleaning guy caused the failure of the sensor. Today, a lawyer, Mr. Steve Chaiken, from the State’s Attorney’s Office called us. He and the State’s Attorney for Montgomery County, Mr. Doug Gansler, would like to meet with us at 2 PM on 17 May to discuss the law relative to your accident. They seem sympathetic but as I told Mr. Chaiken, I really don’t want to hear about their frustrations in the weakness of the law but something positive of what we do about it. I am not confident that will be the outcome of the meeting. You were sweet today. No agitation! Day 184 (Thursday, April 14, 2005)—two milestones today! First, you decided it was time to exercise and we both did—you the recumbent bike and I the treadmill. We each did 30 minutes. This is a good start. The second milestone is that you are reading your novel again and enjoying it. Your new glasses—reading only, not bifocals—came and they appear to be doing the job for you. You are not complaining and really seem to enjoy reading on the sunroom couch while I type this. Another project we did today was to replace the artificial flowers we have in pots on the deck in preparation for Easter. You are not quite to where you were in decorative skills before the accident but you did ok. Since I remembered how you did it before by cutting the bouquets of flowers into individual stems and inserting those into the pots, all went well with a little cuing. Later in the afternoon, we went out and bought still more flowers to hang down the outside of the pots. We’ll do that tomorrow as we are enjoying the sunroom. We did three loads of wash and you did a great job of folding the clothes and the sheets too. I put them away lest you think when you read this that I did not contribute. I also did some deskwork and we mailed back the parking permit we used when we went to the House 223 of Delegates in Annapolis. Linda Eisenstadt, Delegate Madelano’s Legislative Assistant was kind to let us use hers. We went to Montgomery Mall and you were up to shopping for jeans. Dini told you about J.Jill and the fact they sell jeans that stretch. It sounded like a good idea for to you so we went there and found a pair that fit you nicely and that are comfortable. Dini also elected to send you a pair and they are the same size as those we bought. We walked the mall one turn and came home. Day 185 (Friday, April 15, 2005)—it was 6:30 in the morning and I heard noise. There was somebody on the deck—it was the gutter guy who came to close an opening where the sunroom joins the house. There was a gap there and birds had tried to build a nest. He did the job by 7:00 AM—talk about an early start. I got you up and we rotated the bed topper together and fixed the bed. We ate breakfast, then bathed and were out of the house by 0830 for Adventist Rehab. Today you had your last day of therapy. You were supposed to have both OT and SP but the OT back up person did not come because her child is sick. So, my love, you have now graduated from the second round of therapy and will begin the third round next week at NRH in their “transitions program.” The Adventist therapists know about this program and think it is great. We bought you another pair of jeans today. This time from the Army PX! The nice thing was that you did not fight me to go there and you found a nice pair that fit well and went with your jean jacket. You were very pleased. We also went to Bethesda to make an appointment with Marta to get your hair done tomorrow. She was recommended by Nina. Home was our next stop for rest before we went out for dinner. You wrote a note of thanks to Dini and we went to White Flint Mall to mail it. We did a couple of turns around the mall, sat and people watched for a few minutes. We left for dinner from there. 224 We met Joe and Debbie, and Lew Thompson and his wife Abbey at Ambrosia. We arrived at 6:35 PM as did Joe and Debbie. The Thompson’s arrived at the time we set which was 7 PM. Fortunately I reserved a table because it was crowded. While waiting for the Thompsons we had a nice appetizer platter. Everybody enjoyed their meal to include Greek wine and beer (not we teetotalers, of course). You were very, very quite and responded to questions with yes/no head shakes. You looked tired but you held out until 8:30 PM. I asked you several times if you wanted to leave prior to that but you said no. But almost two hours hit your limit. At that time you had to leave and we went directly home and you to bed. I really felt very, very bad that I subjected you to such a late dinner and exposure to lots of stimuli. In fact, before I came to bed, I shed a few tears of remorse. Really, I felt bad. Day 186 (Saturday, April 16, 2005)—yea, we exercised again, a very good thing for us. We both did one-half hour. We left the house at about 10:30 and went to the Army PX to see if they had another color of the jeans we bought yesterday in your size. They did not. We went to Suburban Hospital on the way to the beauty shop to say hi to Voula, the emergency room nurse that was with you on that fateful date of 12 October. She was not there but another nurse recognized you and was thrilled to see how great you looked. We arrived at Valentino’s to get your hair done at 11:45 and Marta the hairdresser arrived at 12:00 (as promised). The job was completed at 4:30. Meanwhile they made me a cappuccino. I went across the street (twice) to get you a cold drink. I walked to a nearby pizza place and got a slice we both shared. Marta did a good job of coloring your hair, frosting, and trimming. We crossed the street to Chicken on-the-Run and had rotisserie chicken breasts (one each) with yucca, and plantains. We shared one meal and were full. Next stop was the Navy PX where we did find you a black pair of jeans and a nice black top. 225 Day 187 (Sunday, April 17, 2005)—I did not sleep well last night. In fact, I got up and read for about an hour. Of course, when it was time to get up this morning, I really didn’t much want to do so. We did get moving, however, and got to church on time for the Orthos. Before we left, you called your girlfriend in Greece, Aphrodite, and discovered that she did not know you had an accident. She spoke to you for awhile and when she got back on the phone with me she was crying. She realized the extent of your injuries and that you were still recovering from brain injury. She determined this when you started to talk about your parents and brother as if they had just died. You still do that a lot. Her brother’s (Stelios) wife died, her son has heart problems, and her husband has a kidney problem. So, lots of pain out there. Later, when you spoke to Litsa, you found out that your Uncle George passed away. He was 92 years old. Following church we went to the commissary and bought stuff, some meatballs and spaghetti for lunch with the girls, Connie and Vicki. At home, I did the cooking (since this entailed only heating stuff, big deal). Nick and Nina came by on there way to a birthday. They were closely followed by Connie and Vicki. After lunch, we went for a walk all together in the park. They left at 4:30 and shortly thereafter Tonya came for an hour. You still confuse Becky, the police officer with Jackie Pauline’s daughter. I have often tried to get this straight with you and Tonya and I tried to do so today. This is one of those things you continue to confuse. It is very interesting what you do remember and what you confuse. I guess it relates to the different injured areas of the brain. When Tonya left, she was kind enough to water the plants. You know, I cried again this evening. I guess I am still fearful that I wont get my before accident (BA) sweetheart back. Today, you did some very positive things with the plants for example—trimming the roses Kathy brought to you so they would last longer and doing the same to the hydrangeas. Since this was all self initiated, this was a very good thing. 226 Day 188 (Monday, April 18, 2005)—we arose early, showered, ate breakfast and I even watered the flower beds. Our destination was NRH. Today you began the transitions program. This day is filled with evaluations and this Wednesday you will go on a community trip with your fellow transition’s people. I stayed a few minutes during your orientation and then with you and Jan, the SLP. We know her from your third floor in-patient therapy but you don’t really remember her. After Jan asked me a few questions, I left so you would be evaluated one-on-one. I guess, I left too because I’m too chicken to hear your answers to questions, afraid they may be wrong or off topic. Jan later said your responses were appropriate and told me that you had no trouble saying what you would write in a letter to Dini but that actually doing so was a problem. Given that you have a spelling problem that does not surprise me. You really should use a computer since it has a spell check program. I know that I need it. Your next stop was evaluation by Erika from OT. I said hi to her and then left so you could work one-on-one. We met Angelique Moran who is the transitions coordinator. We also saw Paul Rao, Dini’s colleague, and Natalie your in-patient PT. I saw Olivia, your former in-patient OT, Amy your former inpatient case manager and from afar Liz who was your SLP. You were surprised again how fast we arrived at NRH from Kensington. But you do realize NRH is in Washington, DC not California as you once insisted. Their lunches here are still pretty good. I had the “crusted tilapia.” You somehow got by me in the cafeteria. When I finally found you with your group I noted that you didn’t eat much. I bought you an oatmeal-raison cookie and you did like that. Niko called to find out how you were doing with your new therapy program. You met with the team social worker Kate. Apparently things went well with her too. She explained that her role was cognitive therapy with the other team members. She did mention to you that while it is alright to nap, you should not over do it. I commented that your endurance has been improving. At 2 PM until 4 PM, your team 227 worked on planning a community outing on Wednesday. At 2:30, you came out for a walk, Jan said for some air. She said all was ok but you announced that you had “enough.” We left by 3 PM after having a not so nice time with each other. You were very agitated about the whole thing. You did not want to be with people who were sick. I tried to explain that you could help them get better by providing an example but you were not buying into that very much. Jan felt that maybe you should leave early if you wanted to do so. She wants NRH to be a positive experience for you. One thing we found out is that we should get clearance from Dr. McCarthy before we fly to Greece. Pressure can affect adversely those with TBI. Hopefully, this will not be a problem for you. We’ll meet with him in May 18th when he returns from vacation. You continued to be rather unpleasant at home. Day 189 (Tuesday, April 19, 2005)—the window washing people came on-time—actually they came a little bit earlier at 7:50 AM. They did a very good job in a little over an hour. We both exercised, you did the bike and I the treadmill. We worked out for 30 minutes each. Following that, we worked outside a bit cleaning the fence line. You did a little cleaning but mostly held the barrel into which I put the collected stuff. After showering, we went to Montgomery Mall to return the jeans to J. Jill that Dini sent you. We got you two pairs of pants by paying for the second pair. Our next stop was the food court. You really love the Chinese food there. As usual, we shared one meal of three entrees. We also had veggie spring roles. I didn’t have to work hard for a yes when I suggested a DQ banana split. The lady knows us there now and even gives us a discount. This completes your 27th week since the accident. Please dear God continue to bless my sweetheart and make her well. Let Your treasury of goodness continue to heal her infirmities. 228 Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal, have mercy on us. Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal, have mercy on us. Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal, have mercy on us. Glory to the Father, and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit both now and forever, unto ages of ages, Amen. Oh Holy Trinity have mercy on us, oh Lord wash away our sins, Oh Master forgive our iniquities, oh Master, visit and heal my Maria’s infirmities, in thy Name’s sake. Lord have mercy, Lord have Mercy, Lord have mercy. Glory to the Father, and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit both now and forever, unto ages of ages, Amen. You kept saying you would not go to NRH tomorrow. I will pray as usual tonight and ask God to convince you that it is in your interest to go. You say it is distressing to be with that group of “sick” people. Angelique, the case manager, called today to suggest I be there at 1 PM to eat lunch with you and take you home after that if need be. If I can get you there, we’ll do that. You rested some at home. We then went to the dentist so Dr. Barnett could take an impression of you mouth as a guard against grinding your teeth. From there we took a walk once around Wheaton Mall. They appear to be close to opening the new sections. Perhaps this will happen next month sometime. Macy’s is the principal new store to open. The cost of all of the renovations according to a sign there is $95 million. We both took our blood pressure there—not bad. We got our usual soft drink at Target and then came home. You rested for a few minutes and are now working at moving a button so your khakis would fit more comfortably. You did a good job on your khakis but we otherwise had a terrible evening. You insisted you would not go to NRH in the morning and I insisted that you would go. We had a very bad fight, to the point 229 that I seriously considered not sleeping with you. I even took my pillows to sleep elsewhere. I didn’t do that when I decided I was being stupid—childish also comes to mind. Forgive me but given the circumstances I occasionally stress out. Myrna called at 8 PM while you were in bed. You told her your tail of woe—the group you were with depressed you, etc. It annoyed me that she seemed to side with you. She asked to speak to me right when I picked up the phone from downstairs to determine if you were still speaking to her. She was siding with you and I announced that you were going to NRH or should go get another husband—I hung up. By the way, a good thing was that when I left you so you could speak to Myrna, I asked you to hang up the phone in the kitchen when you finished. You did that. Day 190 (Wednesday, April 20, 2005)—when you got up, I said let’s compromise. We would go to NRH and if you did not want to go on the trip we would then go home. You agreed so after breakfast and dressing we did go to NRH. Jan Cole, the SLP, took you aside and encouraged you to go with the group. I promised to wait for you to eat lunch in the NRH cafeteria. By the way, you said the trip was to be to the Cherry Blossoms but the trip is to go to the zoo. Everybody has a job on the trip. Your job is to take a photo of something. I hope you do well with everybody and I can get you back on Friday. I also promised you that we would leave early today after lunch if you wanted to do so. We did leave after lunch. I left you in the room with the group since you were going to leave in a few minutes. I didn’t want you to change your mind. The cafeteria was my next location. I had an egg/cheese sandwich with some coffee. I worked on this letter completing yesterday’s entry and then read my US News. People who I knew greeted me. Your group arrived back at about 12:45 and I got lunch for you (on NRH) consisting of the grill combo (a Monterey Jack cheese burger and fries), a drink, some strawberries (they were not good), and a cookie. 230 We saw the retired Air Force officer we met on Monday. He is a Greek-American named Tom who suffered brain damage while teaching. He said a projector screen fell and hit him on the head. He was very encouraging by telling you how important it is to continue your therapy. Hopefully, you will heed his advice. He is a very nice guy and you think well of him. I also spoke to Jan today and mentioned the difficulties I was having with you. She said she will discuss it at tomorrow’s team meeting. They will make every effort to make your therapy meaningful for you. Your big comment about the trip was about the roads (potholes) and the bouncing bus. All shared your observations. You managed to see the pandas, cute monkeys, and maybe some cheetahs. You guys all had a soft drink while there but you commented it was not nearly as good as the way I make it. In fact you said, “not even close.” You found the trip horrible and vowed never to go again. Day 191 (Thursday, April 21, 2005)—this was another good day. We got up around 6:30, had breakfast, you made the bed, and we went and exercised. As usual, I did the tread mill and you the recumbent bike for thirty minutes. We watched the conclusion of an old Hunter episode on TV and then went upstairs for you to shower and dress. I did some trimming outside and then mowed the lawn. Michelle, a contractor lady, came to assess the wallpapering job in the utility room and bathroom. Later her husband Brian came and proposed to replace our wash tub for $75 along with the rest of the work. I said OK but later they convinced me to leave it after they cleaned away the old paint in the tub. We went shopping for fake flowers for our pots in front of the house. We bought a bunch and they should look very pretty when “planted.” It rained so I did not get a chance to do the job. From the store we went to Monty Mall and had our banana split. The lady really loves us there and makes a really nice one for us with a discount. Our next stop was home and I wrote a letter to Alitalia to see if we could get some discount business class seats for the trip to Salonika in June. We’ll see. The letter is on its way posted from the 231 White Flint Mall post office. While we were at it, we went to the eat at the Cheesecake Factory and you had your favorite egg plant sandwich (ugh from me). You loved it and ate well. Home again you are resting while I work on this journal for my love. Your Canadian cousin called. This is the cousin you got confused about a couple of weeks ago. Yes, she is married to Rudy and there is no other sister named Evangelia married to a Rudy. You are having trouble keeping names straight but are doing much, much better. The funny thing is today you were having trouble with our telephone number. The old 933 number was popping out. Karen the NRH transition team social worker called. She emphasized they were working on making your therapy meaningful and workable for you. We will go tomorrow but will leave NLT 2 PM. You will not be going on the community trips on Wednesday for awhile and they may take you out of a big group and put you into a smaller group. The final decisions will be made on Monday when Angelique the case manager gets back from a conference. I spoke to the lawyer, David Lease. He said that USAA and the JAG have not moved much in agreeing to actions favorable to us. He has filed an intent to sue with the county and the Park and Planning Commission for their negligence in maintaining the intersection. He quoted the police report. We’ll see what comes from that. Day 192 (Friday, April 22, 2005)—it may be raining out but we started off ok since you did not give me a hard time about going to NRH. The downside though was our inability to find a cross I bought for you while you were in the hospital. It is silver and embossed in blue enamel with the words life and light embossed in Greek (zoe and fos). Hopefully it will turn up. The other thing we, and I stress we, forgot was to bring your reading glasses. Hopefully, this will not impede your activities today. Your big goal is to meet me for lunch in the cafeteria where I started to write this. We did have a little breakfast in the cafeteria, a bagel and a doughnut before you went to the transition’s room to start the day. 232 When you arrived at the cafeteria, you seemed to have enjoyed your morning sessions. You even went to a lecture where you learned how to protect our home from burglars. We had a nice lunch. You had a Philly Cheese Steak with fries and I had shrimp. Friday is shrimp day at the NRH and you even had a couple of those too. You gave me a little hassle going to the afternoon session. But I reminded you that you promised to stay until 2 PM. You did stay with Lori the OT and you said she was very nice but you were ready to go. You could have stayed for the SLP session but I didn’t want to push the issue since I had promised you we would leave at two should you want too. The day continued to be not pretty. We stayed home and did various chores. Day 193 (Saturday, April 23, 2005)—we called Greece and you had a long conversation. After breakfast, we went and exercised for 30 plus minutes. You did a good job. Dini called and was very impressed when I told her. We discussed NRH and she wanted to encourage you to continue going. We also spoke to Aunt Mary in FL and she seemed very down today. She said she was tired and didn’t feel up to visiting this year. I hope there isn’t something more serious. We spoke to Arti and they are coming here for the Easter party with Greg and Lori. The Doukas’ came right on time and we went to the Chinese restaurant on Rockville Pike. We had a pleasant interlude and I paid over their objections given the many times they took me to lunch when you were in the hospital. After they brought us home we went out again to run errands. We mailed a CD to Dini, got money from the ATM and I even bought another hard drive to back up this computer. When we arrived home again, you went to Maria’s Room as we now call the all-seasons room and you fell fast asleep after I made you a nice drink. After you awakened, I tried to convince you 233 to go out for a banana split but it was raining and even that wasn’t enough of an inducement. By the way, when you read this, know that you have really been whining a lot about going to NRH for therapy. You do not like the environment and the program so far. From my perspective, it is necessary for your healing process. Thus, in your eyes I am the tyrannical Colonel. Such is the price I pay, I guess. I’m not the only one who believes it is necessary for you to go. Well, you got up and you are now eating whipped yogurt. Your attitude is not particularly pleasant, at least that is how I feel. Apparently you resented the fact that I told you your dressing table was cluttered and messy. Since I am writing this, I do have the power of the pen to say what I want—or in more modern terms, the power of the word processor. Good thing it has a spell check because I still don’t spell very well. Day 194 (Sunday, April 24, 2005)—you did not get up in a good humor this morning. When I asked you if you loved me, you said “no” later amended by you to say you loved God and I am part of Him. Later as we were driving to church you said that I am being too critical of you and your failure to do stuff. Obviously, I am not using the best of techniques to get you to do stuff. I guess I need to keep my mouth shut and let it come. You did initiate making the bed, got dressed by yourself, put on make-up, and washed your cereal bowl. You also complained that I did not give you your evening meds. I didn’t want to awaken you to do so and at this point they are optional. Well, tonight I will give you the Trazedone which should ease going to NRH. When we got back from church, you planted the artificial flowers and I added gravel around them. I then blew the area around the porch from pollen and such. Today is Palm Sunday and services were very different. We arrived at 8:45 and services were already underway. Not the liturgy but a different type of Orthos and it was led by Archbishop Demetrios. Connie did make church today. She looked very lovely. We all left 234 about 10 AM. Connie went home to change and get pizzas for our lunch from her Costco. We went home to “plant” our flowers. We had a houseful. Connie and Vicki were first to arrive with the pizza and salad. Next, Bob and Kathy arrived. Poor Kathy had stomach problems and did not eat much. Nick and Nina came next and Niko had a sinuous infection. Nina called to tell us they would be late because Niko did not feel well. The two very large Costco pizzas were mostly eaten. As usual, Connie and Vicki left last. They enjoy being with you and you enjoy having them around. Day 195 (Monday, April 25, 2005)—today you got up before the chickens, as he saying goes. In fact, you started to make the bed with me in it. You got me up and we made the bed together. We plan to fast this week since it is our holy week and we ate allowable food for breakfast. After showering and dressing, we left for NRH. You did not give me a hard time but you did comment how you really did not want to go. When you spoke to Litsa this morning and complained, she rightly said that I would only do things for you that were good for you. This is a very true statement. We arrived early and had coffee and a soft drink in the cafeteria. We looked at the newspaper and then went to the transition’s room. The rest of the group arrived on time too as did Jan, the leader. This week your schedule will be Tuesdays and Thursdays. I met with Angelique, the transitions director. She is tailoring a program for you. You will get visual OT, regular OT and speech. On Thursday, you will come at 11 AM and we will leave at 3 PM. She plans to work with Sheree, the USFHP rehab manager to convince her that you would do better at the Montrose facility on Rockville Pike. I hope she succeeds because they are supposed to be very good there and it, of course, is close to our home. Additionally, you will not be exposed to as many sad sights of people with missing limbs, etc. Although it is not clear to you, the professionals believe you need the professional help and I am all for you getting such help. You are the love of my life and I want you well. 235 You finished your morning session at NRH. You met Angelique too. We met in the cafeteria and we ate food appropriate to holy week— no meat, eggs, seafood. We then went to the third floor and I reminded you where we used to walk in the atrium when you were an in-patient. You really don’t remember much from that period. Your afternoon session was with Jan, the SLP and she gave you some homework to do. You had a really good day today. Day 196 (Tuesday, April 26, 2005)—we got up later than usual today, the 28th week since your accident. I did not mention this anniversary to you. We made the bed together. After breakfast, we exercised on our respective torture devices and continued the exercise by vacuuming the downstairs. You put the runners back on the stairs after we washed them. You do a much better job than I do. You laid them without a wrinkle. In-between chores, we watched the History Channel and their discussion of biblical archaeology. You pronounced it interesting. Next, we showered, you dressed yourself, and went out shopping. We visited the Montrose NRH facility. It certainly is small but new, and neat. You seemed to think the environment was good. You do NOT like the environment at NRH in Washington with the great numbers of people in wheelchairs, amputees, etc. Hopefully, Angelique can work things out. Oh yes, the place is about three miles from home just off of Rockville Pike. You wanted to try your hand at rice pudding so we went out again to buy among other things rice and whole milk. You made the pudding but admitted to not putting in a whole cup of rice. It looked loose when you poured it into the Pyrex container to cool and set. We’ll see tomorrow how it did in the refrigerator. The big deal is the fact that you initiated the desire to make the pudding and even remembered the procedure for doing so. You handled the whole job yourself to include cleanup. Good job!!! 236 Day 197 (Wednesday, April 27, 2005)—we got up after a restless night. Woe for the rice pudding. It was still very loose. We discussed ways to hopefully save it because the flavor was really very good, it just was not pudding—more like sweet rice soup. The bottom line of the discussion was to pour the mix back into the pot boil it and add some cornstarch. The trouble was we had no cornstarch or if we did, we did not know where it was. I had to get dressed and go out. We did the job when I got back. Some time later when we checked it looked ok—we’ll have to give it a taste. The pot where we reheated the mix was a mess. Lots of stuff was burned to the bottom. I tried to scrape it to no avail then you suggested I boil dish washer soap and water in the pot. Walla! It cleaned up easily. Another ata-girl to you! We did more work today. I vacuumed the living room and two bedrooms while you dusted and you vacuumed our bedroom and dusted. We showered and dressed following this exercise. We went to the local Dollar Tree where I bought some stuff for a project and you found some silk flowers for Maria’s Room which you latter put in a vase on the coffee table. The great thing today was that you wanted to do your homework. Jan gave you an exercise to accomplish and you did quite well. I also gave you an exercise along the lines of one they gave you at Adventist. You were given a letter to find as many times as it appeared in a field of many letters. You did not do as well with this exercise as you did with Jan’s but persevered on a second run. On that run I told you how many you missed per field and you went and searched them out. You admitted that you were not paying as much attention as you should. Using your pencil as a guide and by looking at each letter, you did much better. We’ll keep working on that. However, you still rate congratulations for a good job. We went for a walk at Wheaton Plaza Mall to determine their progress in creating a new expanded mall. They are still working and I guess it will be some time in June when the new sections will 237 open. We got our usual soft drink at Target and then came home where you changed for bed and got into it at 5 PM. You stayed in bed, we did prayers, and later I gave you your evening meds. When you read this at some time in the future, I have to say that this earlyto-bed bothers me because it feels that I’m alone the way I was when you were an in-patient at NRH. But, I have to say to myself that this is part of your healing process and I should not feel that way. Day 198 (Thursday, April 28, 2005)—we exercised this morning for 30 minutes and later we were off to NRH for your therapies. We will go to the Washington site next week but Angelique feels certain that you will soon be going to the Montrose facility. Next week you will have a PT evaluation too as it is believed they can help reduce your pain with some physical therapy. We worked with Erika, the low vision OT, and she suggested certain things for us to do in terms lighting, contrast, and so forth. All the therapists said you did well. I mowed the lawn and my knees were not thrilled. We ate fruit and your rice pudding for dinner. The pudding did thicken and had that good old rice pudding taste that you are famous for. Niko called and you told him of your problem. He still plans to try and make some rice pudding himself. Day 199 (Friday, April 29, 2005)—after you had a bite to eat, you decided to exercise all on your own. You did about 35 minutes on the exercise bicycle while I did some computer scanning of OT vision sheets so I could reproduce them later. Your exercise went well and I succeeded in scanning the sheets and printing them for your use. In fact, after you showered and dressed, you again took the initiative to do your “homework.” We worked together to insure you were careful and did not miss to circle the correct letters. You did not circle wrong letters but in your haste, you did miss some. When we went back over them, however, you did find them. We left for Baltimore at 0845 and arrived at Johns Hopkins at about 9:45. Registration was painfully slow even thought we had been 238 there last month. We arrived at the front desk of the Low Vision Center at 10:00 for our 10:15 appointment. I write this because we were not called until 10:45 for the Dr. I guess that falls into the category of “what’s new.” We were with Dr. Park for all of 10 minutes and he confirmed the prescription was still good, agreed that single vision for reading and long distance was better, and wanted to see us again in one month. Our appointment is for 25 May. Upon return to our home area we went to Wood Optical and asked them to change the bi-focal lenses to single long distance vision. They should be ready next week. We ate salad for lunch and relaxed until Dino and Myrna came for the weekend and thus Greek Easter. We chatted awhile and then you and Myrna made spaghetti for dinner. You did not eat. Oh, by the way, earlier Dino tried your rice pudding and pronounced it good. You washed the dishes and Myrna dried. You went to bed at 7:30 and the rest of us watched TV. Day 200 (Saturday, April 30, 2005)—we got up early and prepared for church. We did not worry about breakfast because we were to receive communion. We arrived at church at 8:45 and Connie was already at the door waiting for us. The service was very nice and all of us received communion except for Myrna. From church we went home where we all had bagels and cream cheese. All were enthusiastic with Penero’s bagels. Dino and I went to the commissary and got gas and a few things. We chatted for some time and you seemed to tire and then you confabulated. You made up stories and started to confuse names. You did the Cyprus thing (Thano was from Cyprus, etc.) and you insisted Thano was not Marianna’s child. Next, you wanted to cook at 3 PM for our guests scheduled tomorrow. I worked hard to convince you that it was too early to cook for dinner. We went downstairs over your objection to see a movie and pass the time. We saw a 42 year old James Bond movie with Sean Connery. You did get a little restless but nonetheless made it through the whole movie. 239 We all went upstairs after the movie and you made spaghetti by popular acclaim. You were the principal cook and now the bottle washer too. Good for you. We even went for a walk at Montgomery Mall and you wanted to shop at J. Jill. You bought a nice top and a pair of jeans. You wanted to wear a new outfit for Easter. Dino treated dessert and we succumbed to a banana split for each couple. While we were waiting for the split, and were alone, you apologized for you earlier behavior. You realized that you were making up things and that you were worrying me. Day 201 (Sunday, May 01, 2005)—we had a great Easter. We got out of bed at about 7 AM and you took your Fosamax. You stayed still for the required ½ hour and then had breakfast. Dino and Myrna had a light breakfast since we anticipated eating lots at our late lunch/early dinner. Connie was superb at organizing all the food. She brought lamb, salads to include tzatziki. Vicki brought a ham, you made pastitso that all liked, Myrna made a cheese cake, Kathy with her boys Brian and Chris brought baklava, Maria and Bobby (with kids Brendan and Ryan) added a broccoli casserole and contributed a nice wine too. Nick and Nina brought rice pudding (he made it) and Easter bread (she made it). Arti, Chuck, Lori and Greg brought you some individual presents. We were 18 in the house for food and drink (Dino brought beer and we supplied the soft drinks). Everything worked very well and all pitched in for the easy clean up since we used bright red plastic plates. Our plastic cups were interesting too as they were patterned after old-style coca-cola glasses. We were fancy on the flat-wear; we used my Mother’s gold plated set. Connie and Vicki were the first to arrive. Connie had partially cooked the lamb with the thought we would complete the job on the outside grill. Well, we did more oven work with the lamb and then finished it on the grill later simultaneously warming the ham that Vicki brought. Dino was in charge of that operation. The majority of the guests arrived between 2 and 2:30. A good time seemed to be had by all. Arti and Chuck were literally thrilled to see you and how 240 well you were doing. The group mixed very well and the house did not seem crowded at all. The weather was good enough to use the deck and Maria’s Room was well occupied too. Our new top of the line Kenmore food disposal bit the dust when we needed it most. It hums (not a very good tune) but does not turn. We cranked it; pushed the reset button but all to no avail. I called Sears and arranged for a repair. The earliest they had was 16 May. Ridiculous!!! I plan to speak to the local Sears manager. The final guests left at 7:30 and you were ready for bed. We did the bed preparation things to include our nightly “Lord’s Prayer.” You took your meds and I tucked you in at 8:10. You were superb today. Day 202 (Monday, May 02, 2005)—another good day! We got up and I cooked eggs with cheese and bacon for our guests. We had toasted English muffins too. After eating we did some wash and then Dino and Myrna replaced the sheets on the bed they were sleeping on. You did one of your homework exercise sheets after showering and dressing. You are getting better at all of these activities. At 11:30, we went to the Cheesecake Factory with D & M. Dino and I had a hamburger, you had your eggplant sandwich and Myrna had a lunch size (big it was) salad. After lunch, they departed for Lewes, DE, and we went to the library for some large print books for you. You chose two. We then bought some items at the hardware store for the sink to prevent the disposal from getting clogged while we wait for Sears to do their duty. Our next stop was the dentist and we got your mouth guard to prevent you from grinding your teeth at night. Upon our return home, you quickly changed and made a direct assault on the couch in Maria’s Room. I think you nodded off. I made some phone calls. Finally, Michelle from the construction company came and stripped the old wall paper. Hopefully, we’ll see more action this week. 241 Day 203 (Tuesday, May 03, 2005)—this concludes week 29 since your accident and you celebrated by wanting to get up at 2 AM and woke me up to join you. I managed to convince you that this was not a good idea and that it was still very dark out. We stayed in bed until 6:30 AM when we went to the kitchen for breakfast. After that we exercised for 30 minutes, you on the recumbent bike and I on the tread mill. You did very well. We also did a load of wash and you helped fold and carried your stuff. In the bedroom, we made the bed together. Showering and dressing was next and you handled the latter very well. You did the rest of your homework and you are getting better at that. You did some reading while I did some deskwork to include working on getting a rebate for a hard drive I bought to back up my laptop. We left for NRH at ten and arrived at 1040. Angelique said they are still working on getting you to Montrose but the scheduling appears to be tight there in terms of fitting you in. Your first session today was with Inbal, the SLP, who said you did well with her. OT with Lori went well and Heather, PT, showed you some exercises to stretch your right side and hopefully relieve the pain. We’ll see. Your single vision glasses for distance were ready so we left the house to pick them up. They replaced your bifocals at no extra charge which certainly was a pleasant surprise. You look very cute in these eyeglasses and they are very, very lightweight. Day 204 (Wednesday, May 04, 2005)—today we got up, exercised and surprise someone from the contractor came to work on the utility room walls. The construction has started. You did some complicated homework that required some arithmetic skills and you did not do too well. But as you pointed out, you were not great in arithmetic before the accident and that is true. Nonetheless we’ll work on that. We bought a calculator from Brookstone to help do the problems. It has big numbers thus it should be easy for you to see. It really is huge. 242 After the construction guy left you wanted to go for Chinese food so we did that and went to Panda at Monty Mall. Yes, we also succumbed to a banana split. You, yes you, remembered from yesterday that I wanted to chew out someone at Sears for the lack of response to repair our food disposal in a timely manner. The appointment people set a repair date for 16 May = outrageous. The appliance manager will try to expedite. When we arrived home, you dashed off to relax—in bed. You got out of bed at 6:30 PM and came to watch TV with me. Suzanne called and she and Noonie came to chat with you at 7:30. They stayed until 9 PM and you hung in there and I thought this was great. It shows you can stay up with some stimulation and TV does not do that for you (it’s for morons, after all). After that you took your meds and popped off to bed and I watched more moronic TV. Day 205 (Thursday, May 05, 2005)—we had a busy morning—after the usual morning things such as eating, bathing and dressing, the construction lady Michelle arrived to put more “mud” on the walls in preparation for the wallpaper. She was closely followed by our UBS stockbroker Greg Kempner. We went over our portfolio and he explained some different investment vehicles which we may use. After Greg left we left and traveled to NRH. In between visitors you and I did some homework using the calculator we bought yesterday at Brookstone. With its big numbers and big readout you had no trouble discerning them. Angelique, the NRH case manger, met with us to discuss the change to the NRH Montrose location and advised that from an insurance standpoint, all is on track for the transfer. The only problem is that they are still fully booked. I expressed the desire that we concentrate all therapies in the AM so that when we are finished, we are finished —they don’t offer lunch there. I also mentioned to her that on 17 and 19 May that we had afternoon appointments and thus scheduling wherever we are should be in the AM for those days. 243 Joe Saul came promptly at noon to discuss OPSEC Society business. We ate prior to his arrival. Joe was good and only had a salad. We got a lot of work done while you were at therapy. The therapists all said you did very well with them. Today you were with Lori (OT), Brian who filled in for Heather in PT (she was doing something for her PhD this day), and Inbal your SLP. Paul Rao stopped by to discuss Blue Shield’s attempt to exclude cognitive therapy by SLPs from their insurance. ASHA is fighting this and they may want to interview me for my input. Needless to say, TBI people deserve and need cognitive therapy for healing. You are a prime example of how SLP therapy helped you. We went to the commissary on the way home and when we arrived home, you prepared the marinade for the steak and prepared the strawberries too. We ate leftovers for dinner and you cleaned up. Day 206 (Friday, May 06, 2005)—well, there was a little more work done on our utility room this morning. Maybe one of these days that work will get done. They are projected to come back next Wednesday to wallpaper. You were helpful today in making the bed, dressing, etc. I did the meal preparation and you did the clean-up. Good partners! I grilled a porterhouse steak and made salad, you enjoyed them. We ran some errands such as taking the TV news tapes to get them converted to a DVD. When we get the DVD back, Niko can join it with the other work he did in providing us with a consolidated DVD of your adventure. We also went to get our car’s oil changed and you were very patient waiting while the work was done. Following this, it was treat time, so we went to Monty Mall for a walk and for the banana split. As usual, it was delicious—too bad. Today, Marta Marie Lotti , Director of Customer Relations, Alitalia called in response to my letter. She will try to give us a break on the fare to Thessaloniki and even made reservations for us so we would not lose the seats. Let us hope it works out. She will be off next week 244 so we’ll hear the week after. Let’s hope she can do something as business class costs considerably more than economy class. The old adage that it only costs 10% more to go first class certainly doesn’t pertain to airfare. Out of the blue, Thelma Giahari, our over twenty-years ago neighbor, called after you went to bed at 8 PM. She wanted to find out how you are doing. She has had some health problems. Her kids are doing very well and one of them will soon be working for Oracle. Another is a Medical Doctor practicing in NJ, another triplet is an airline pilot, the daughter still lives in West Virginia, and the other boy (David) builds houses. Mohamed sold his business and is retiring. She would like to talk to you and will call back. We did some homework today and you practiced with identifying and making change with coins. You seem to have some problem recognizing the coins consistently, especially a nickel and a quarter. This was your problem with Inbal, the NRH SLP, too. We’ll work on that some more. I was interviewed by Cindy Mertz, the Suburban Hospital’s new publicity person. She puts out their news letter Currents and wants to include an article about you. She and a photographer will come on Wednesday for a picture. Day 207 (Saturday, May 07, 2005)—I figured out Aunt Maria’s phone number in Crete and you had a nice conversation with her. Next, you spoke to Gregory and Litsa to round out the morning calls. We had our usual breakfast and you cleaned up the dishes. We made the bed together and you changed into your exercise clothes without any suggestion from me. After exercising, you showered and dressed but I held off doing so in order to cut the grass. While I was mowing, you came out to do some work too all on your own. This showed good initiative and I was very pleased. I suggested you use the tool that gives us extra reach to pick up the twigs that were scattered here and there. After 245 mowing, I got the ladder and the trimmer and trimmed the Rose of Sharon and other stuff. You picked up the cuttings as they fell and put them in the trashcan. We worked together and that was nice. I wonder what body parts will hurt tomorrow. Next it was my turn to shower and dress. I even gave myself a haircut. By the time I finished with all it was lunch time and you were ready to go. We went to Ambrosia for lunch. You had the egglemon soup and we shared a chicken liver dinner plate. You ate the Greek-style green beans (not my favorite) while I ate the salad. From there we went to the nearby newly opened Target. It was in a newly constructed building and was really quite nice. We found a halogen desk lamp to help you see better while at the kitchen table and I moved some other lamps around to better help you in the areas you are likely to read. For example, you now have a lamp near the couch in Maria’s Room. We also found you three tank tops you wanted to wear as undershirts. Our next stop was Bed, Bath and Beyond. We bought several items there and departed for Trader Joe’s and bought some Olive Oil, chocolate, and cheese. This completed our errands for the day. You changed into “evening wear” immediately upon our arrival home much to my displeasure—it was only 2:30 in the afternoon. We sat in Maria’s Room for awhile. We called and spoke to Dini to wish her a happy Mother’s Day. We worked on your coin homework and you are still having some difficulty differentiating between nickels and quarters. You did moderately well in giving me the amounts I specified. We will work on this some more. I did some OPSEC Society work as I promised Joe. Day 208 (Sunday, May 08, 2005)—today was truly a wonderful day. You seemed to really enjoy it and you were certainly with it. We got up at about 6:15 and you disarmed the security system flawlessly and then proceeded to take your bone pill (Fosamax) and stay still for the required half hour. Then breakfast, which you made and cleaned up. You dressed yourself after making the selection of what to wear. The only small disagreement was that you wanted the 246 yellow shirt tails to be on the outside of your black pants and I did not think it looked right with your short black jacket. You decided that you did look better with the tails tucked in. Church was different today as the first Sunday following Easter. There was a lot of chanting as usual but we did not kiss the bible as is usual during the Orthos. Father John started with singing the Christos Anesti (Christ has Risen). I really was moved by this. I even cried some as it reminded me how you arose following near death. Looking beyond the alter, you could see the cross but of course, Christ was not on the cross. We stayed for an hour. We got Vicki’s condo about 10:15. We received a guided tour of her rooms and new furniture and then left for a cup of coffee at a nearby coffee shop. When I went to pay the server said it was “on Nick.” He said we looked alike and apparently Niko knows the owner. We all had a mocha latté. Connie met us and a few minutes latter we departed for an 11 AM appointment for a pedicure and manicure for you and for Vicki. The process took about an hour and you were very pleased with the process and the outcome. It was the first time I remember you doing something like this. We walked across the street to a restaurant called Janni’s, yes it was Greek and he is originally from Athens. He’s had this restaurant for a number of years. Years ago we went there shortly after it opened —we were not impressed then but this time it was at least OK but still not great. We ate at their outside tables and it was delightful to do that since the weather was very pleasant. We ate smelts as an appetizer (the girls declined) and sandwiches for lunch. Vicki insisted on paying. We preceded half a block away to the Creamery for ice cream (treat on me) and it was very tasty. At this point, you had enough socializing and wanted to go home. We did go home but then went out to the commissary for a few things. You were very tolerant. Back home, we relaxed in Maria’s Room and did some homework with the coins. You did much, much better today. Suzanne dropped 247 off a tsoureki (again) and we renewed our invitation to go out and she agreed to a late breakfast next Saturday. We ate some tsoureki with cream cheese. We then went outdoors and waited for Joe Saul to come for some work I did for the OPS committee he chairs—I am the writer-in-chief. He came loaded with cake and he also brought us very lean corned beef—I had a little and it is very good. He stayed for about one hour and we all chatted until you excused yourself at 6:30 to prepare for bed. Joe left a few minutes latter. I went to see how you were doing and to join you in prayers. I then worked on this letter that has become a journal and did my TV bit. During the day, you spoke on the phone to Suzanne, to Dino and Myrna, and Aunt Mary. Niko called during your pedicure. He said he would try to call later but he was in Charlottesville to meet Nina’s mother. We also received an email from Apostalos in Greece wishing us Chronia Polla (Many Years). Day 209 (Monday, May 09, 2005)—as nice a day as yesterday was, today is not turning out so swell. We got up by 6:30 AM, you made our usual cereal breakfast and coffee for me, juice for you. You cleaned up and then we went and exercised. Following our showers, etc., we went out and renewed my driver’s license. They have a new style now. The clerk thanked me for being the first normal person he’s had that day. He commented that by 10:00 AM he usually processes at least 10 people and I was only number six for today. From there, we went to the bank, deposited a check and withdrew dollars. Our next stop was to pickup the DVD made from the NBC and CBS tapes. Then we got some elastic cords and bought some more flowers to use in our outside planters. Following that exciting shopping we went to Monty Mall for Chinese food and over ate. Usually we get one serving of a triple entrée to share this time we got a triple and a double and finished it all. Not only that, you wanted a split. We got one of those too but at least we left some. I proposed we go to the movies but by now you were too tired. We got home and I started to round up the trash. Literally, when my back was turned and notwithstanding the fact I asked you to rest in 248 Maria’s Room, you went into bed in our bedroom. So this was where things took a turn for the worse. When you got up and came to me in Maria’s Room, you were totally confused as to morning, night, day of the week, etc. You even turned off the alarm system— it was already off. You would not believe me when I tried to clear up your confusion. You announced that you were going back to bed. A short time later, you came and found me sitting outside in front of the house. You asked if I wanted coffee and you made me some. Finally, you put on some clothes and came outside too. You are upset and you commented, I don’t know were I am. I said, in your home on Knowles Avenue. Your response, It was never my home. You left for Maria’s Room. You are confused and I am concerned. We had so many good days in a row, I hate today, so far. What happened? I went into Maria’s Room and somehow convinced you that you would feel better if we took a walk and (yea) you agreed. We went to Wheaton Plaza Mall and did a turn around. They’ve opened the new level and we took a look at that. Only a very few stores are opened. Many of the stores in the new food court are functional. We went to Target, had our soft drink and returned home. You watched TV with me and stayed with me until 9:30 PM when we both went up for meds, prayers and bed. You seemed much better and less disoriented. No more going into bed in the afternoon, hopefully you agree. Day 210 (Tuesday, May 10, 2005)—you got up at 6 AM and I followed shortly thereafter. You made the cereal and cleaned up. We made the bed and you said you did not want to exercise and I agreed since today is a therapy day to include PT. We did do some homework with the coins and you are doing better. You went through your various therapies at NRH. Angelique has set us up at Montrose and we start a limited schedule next week. When we left there, we went to the commissary and bought some food. We arrived home and put purchases away and relaxed in Maria’s Room until dinner time. We ate coleslaw and you cut a tomato into the salad. 249 Nice job by the team! We called Myrna to wish her a happy birthday but she and Dino were out. You left a message. I then emailed her best wishes. Earlier in the day, Fatima the Montrose coordinator called to chat about the schedule. I told her morning was our preference. We’ll see what she comes up with. Today was a good day. You worked hard and you were cooperative. Day 211 (Wednesday, May 11, 2005)—we got up at 6 AM to eat and exercise early. We are waiting for the construction people. We’ll see if they come on time. Today is Thalia’s birthday and we said may she rest in peace. Tonight we’ll include her in our prayer. We stayed home all day today. The construction people did come (late) and worked some. Michelle “sized” the walls preparatory to applying the wall paper. She also cleaned the inside of our tub— removed the old paint. Brian came and installed the light in the shower. It looks good. Dale delivered the wallpaper border so now we have all the wallpaper. Hopefully, we’ll be done with this phase next week. Brian and Michelle have a funeral to go to starting tomorrow so no more work this week. Following the construction work is laying the new vinyl floor. Joe Saul came to go over some Society work. We were going to lunch with him but with the construction people in and out we had to stay in. You made noodles for us to eat and you heated frozen meatballs in sauce too. You cut up fresh tomato to put on top and grated fresh cheese. You did a very thorough job of cleaning up too. The meal was very good especially so given its last minute nature. Today you did a lot of reading in Maria’s room. It was really very impressive. You are getting back to doing things slowly but surely. Niko called. Niko and Nina were the ones that brought the Azalea that was left at our doorway. We had already eliminated Pauline and Suzanne—or next bet would have been Tonya. 250 Day 212 (Thursday, May 12, 2005)—this completes the seventh month since your accident. Almost the first thing you said to me this AM was: “I don’t want to go to NRH.” I explained this was the last time downtown and that next week we shift to Montrose. So you said OK. We exercised after breakfast (you did the honors of getting the cereal plus the cleanup). When you went to put on your exercise clothes you put the pants on backwards hence they would not go on properly. You thought you could correct the situation by just removing one leg. I explained how this would not work but my explanation must have been deficient because you kept on insisting removing one leg would do the job. You tried again—still backwards. At this point my gentle prodding turned into insisting you take the pants off, totally, and start again. I helped. I wish I had the nice gentle approach of the therapists when you don’t comply. My lack of training and impatience shows during these occasions. I called Dr. Rubino’s office (337-494-4720) and left a message for him since he was not in when I called. He is the neurosurgeon who operated on the right side of your brain to remove pressure and a large and two small blood clots. He left the Maryland area for Louisiana because of the escalation in malpractice insurance. About half an hour after I called, he called back. He was very pleased to hear about you and you even spoke to him and thanked him for saving you. He asked how you were walking and you said fine. As many of the doctors have already told us, he appreciated hearing from us and getting feedback about success. We left for our last therapy sessions at the main NRH a little before 10 AM. That was a good thing because the traffic was terrible on Connecticut Avenue. I had to use an alternate route through Rock Creek Park. We heard on the radio that a bus had broken down in the center lane in Chevy Chase. We arrived at NRH on time and Angelique was surprised to hear we were starting at Montrose next week. Since we were not fully scheduled at Montrose and she had already planned for you next week she offered to have us continue at main NRH. You nicely told her you would prefer Montrose. There is nothing remarkable to report about your therapy. You cooperated 251 and we said our goodbyes to all. Next Wednesday we go back to see Dr. McCarthy and get clearance for our trip to Greece. After leaving NRH we traveled in a not too straight line to the Reatig townhouse office on 8th street between O and N. Suzanne was thrilled to see us. We saw Noonie’s art work and had a tour of the rest of the office. Suzanne has four people working for her. We went to a near-bye coffee shop to see Noonie who was having coffee with a friend. We had some coffee and chatted with them. We told Noonie how great her work was --you liked it. When we got home you made a beeline to change and I watered the garden areas. Then I changed and heated the left over pasta and meatballs from yesterday. We both ate some. Our plan for tonight is to watch My Big Fat Greek Wedding on one of the local TV channels. We’ll see if you can make it until 10 PM. You did!!! Day 213 (Friday, May 13, 2005)—well, today is Friday the 13th but since Niko was born on the 13th, we don’t find this a bad thing. We got up at 7:30 and again you did the breakfast bit. You did one of your homework sheets connecting pictures to the words describing them. You were flawless. We exercised, bathed, dressed and departed for Costco and bought a few things. We had our lunch there. When we returned home, we called Greece for the second time today. The reason was your continued confusion over who gave birth to Thano. You kept involving yourself and the story seemed to go like this: you adopted Thano from Aunt Helen of Cyprus (who is much too old to give birth, oh well), you gave the boy to your first cousin Voula since you could not care for the baby because you had the accident, Voula in turn gave the baby to Marianna. It was Marianna who answered the phone and tried to assure you she gave birth to Thano. I’m not sure you were convinced. At any rate, Marianna told you not to worry as all will be straightened out after you arrive in Greece. 252 We went to the movies at White Flint Mall and you watched the movie The Interpreter without a fidget. Good for you!! You enjoyed the flick and the performances by Sean Penn and Nicole Kidman. I enjoyed the fact that you sat through the whole thing. Next stop, the food court to get something to drink and we also shared a snack. We went to the Sports Authority and I bought exercise pants plus a many pocket jacket for the trip to Greece. We went to Giants for some baking powder because our refrigerator does not smell right. Some veggies spoiled. Hopefully, the baking powder will set things right. Except for the confabulation described, you were great again today. Day 214 (Saturday, May 14, 2005)—we did a bunch of different things today. After the usual bed making, breakfast and cleanup, we went out for a walk in the park. We walked for 45 minutes and you were ready for it to be over when we finally finished. There were many women joggers, in groups, so my guess it was a club. We got home at 9 AM and quickly showered and dressed. The next thing we did was meet Suzanne and Noonie at La Madeleine’s for breakfast. After so many nice things they have done for you, at least we could take them for a late breakfast. We went in separate cars because Suzanne wanted to go shopping after we finished. We went home, I did some desk work and you read. At about 2 PM we went to the St. Sophia Spring Festival. We snacked while we were there and bought an electric candela and a CD by Eleutheri. It was quite warm by mid-afternoon. When we arrived home, I was going to do the lawn but convinced myself it did not look bad. This is too bad because the lawn was nice and dry and not so later. In the early evening we had thunderstorms and lots of rain that will likely continue into tomorrow. Not good for mowing and worse for the festival. I checked different locations for the candela and opted for the bedroom in front of our stefana 253 (wedding crowns). We’ll see if the light is bothersome at bedtime. The bulb is red so it should be OK. Dino called to tell us he sent us pictures he took on Easter. I already knew this because I had opened his email with the attached pix. You spoke at length with Myrna. We also had a call from Niko who suggested we meet at the festival at noon tomorrow. We transmitted the message to Connie who will also meet us there. You did a lot of reading today and watched TV with me until 8 PM. I wonder how long the satellite will hold the signal given the stormy weather. You had a good day and I once again thank God. Day 215 (Sunday, May 15, 2005)—we were planning to go to church later than usual today since we were going to stay for the entire service and take communion. We figured the later we stayed in bed, we would feel less hungry since we were fasting. Well, it did not work out that way. We got up early and after I read the paper, we showered and dressed. You wore your long black skirt with a purple blouse and looked great. We got to church as soon as the Orthos started and stayed until we received communion. When we left the church, it had suddenly turned cold. Not good for the Festival and for us at least eating outside was out. We went downstairs to the Church meeting room and grabbed a table. It was cold in there too and I put my jacket around your shoulders. Nick, Nina, and Connie were to join us. We were hungry so we got some food while we were waiting. You had manestra (orzo) this time and included some of my chicken livers. After eating sandwiches, Niko treated us to many different Greek goodies. The baklava was really very, very good. We took a tour around the tent area. Niko bought each of you ladies a little cross with a greenish-blue stone. He felt good at being a sport at $4 each, he said. Before leaving, I gave Niko a DVD with two additional news segments (one CBS and one NBC) for him update his DVD production tying together all the broadcasts and pictures plus adding music where he included individual pictures. We’ll take a completed version to Greece with us. 254 Upon departure from church, we went to the commissary/exchange area and gassed up and, as usual, bought a few things from the commissary. At home you put on your robe and went into Maria’s Room to read. After putting away things, I finished the paper, put it outside for Tonya, changed clothes and joined you. We read for awhile and both nodded off. When we awakened we read more, called Dini and Aunt Mary. Tonya came and stayed for about half an hour. She recently returned from a Caribbean trip. All-in-all, it was a good day for you and thus for me. Day 216 (Monday, May 16, 2005)—we waited for the Sears repair tech and for a writer from Johns Hopkins, Ramsey Flynn. Mr. Flynn arrived at the promised time and was a very interesting person. He wanted to interview us for The Patriot, the quarterly newsletter of the Uniformed Services Family Health Plan. He was very personable and, in fact, had suffered some brain injury himself following a heart procedure thus he was very understanding. You liked him. The sour note was when the Sears guy Andreas came while Ramsey was here. He arrived at 10:30 which was a good thing but pronounced our food disposal dead and beyond resuscitation. Of course, he did not have a new unit in his truck. To say that I was furious over the ineptness of Sears is an understatement made more so by the inept responses from their customer service. The end result was the requirement to pick up a replacement unit from the store that hopefully will be installed on Friday. I must admit to really unloading my feelings to one of the store’s Assistant Managers. Her name is Dipti and she looks about 16 years old. While at Monty Mall we did our Chinese lunch bit. We really enjoy the food from the Panda. Are we gourmet food experts or what? I guess the answer is “or what” given that sharing one meal led us to sharing still another. This was followed by you know what. I asked if you wanted something else and you gave me the little “I’d like a banana split” smile. So we got one of those too. 255 We returned home and had a call from Michelle the contractor person. She plans to come on Thursday AM. You changed into something more comfortable and read. I changed into outdoor work clothes and trimmed and then mowed the lawn. It seemed as if it took forever. After I showered, I did some reading too. Pauline called and then came to chat with you. You had a very nice conversation with her. I tuned in and out since I was reading my book in the same room—Maria’s Room. When she departed, we went downstairs and watched TV. We watched the final show of Everybody Loves Raymond. This show concluded 9 years of some pretty funny stuff. Another good day! Day 217 (Tuesday, May 17, 2005)—today you and I conclude 31 weeks since your accident and we continue your journey towards wellness. You went for your first therapy at Montrose. Sarah was your fill in SLP (Jan will be your regular) and she was familiar with you from the main NRH. She said that you did well. At home we had lunch. You had chicken with cheese and vegetables. I had shrimp scampi and shared some with you. Sounds impressive, right? Well, of course, these were frozen things cooked in the microwave. They were not bad. Our evening snack consisted of a cheese sandwich. I put olive oil on the Ciabatta toasted bread. It really was pretty good. Our big occasion of the day was when we met with the State’s Attorney for Montgomery County. It was pretty impressive that Douglas F. Gansler and Stephen H. Chaikin, Assistant State’s Attorney took the time to meet with us to discuss MD traffic law and more specifically the law relating to your situation. They both voiced frustration with MD traffic law and mentioned that motorists who kill people get little in the way of punishment unless drunk or they purposefully try to run someone down i.e., intend to murder them. Even negligent drivers get little in the way of punishment. Thus, in your case, there was nothing they could do to ensure that Purcell had to appear before a judge. They did point out that his paying the 256 $55 ticket was an admission of fault and thus admissible in civil proceedings. Mr. Gansler advised that he does work with the MD legislature but has not been able to rationalize the system. Apparently, there is little incentive to do so as the lawyers who are part of the legislature are predominately defense lawyers. Mr. Gansler is head of the State Attorneys’ Association Legislative Committee. They asked that I continue my interest in promoting better legislation and that I contact them in the early fall and get updated on proposed bills. They suggested that I testify if called upon. We were there about twenty minutes and both were very polite and supportive but, of course, had no quick fixes to a problem that has plagued Maryland for years. Montgomery County in particular has a terrible record of traffic fatalities and injuries. On the way home we stopped at For Eyes and ordered a pair of back-up reading glasses for you should something happen to your principal glasses. I had them check your reading glasses and they said they were off 10 degrees. Since you are reading a lot, I didn’t want a glasses problem to interfere. We went back to Wood Optical to verify your prescription and they said your reading glasses were fine. They suggested that whoever evaluated them did not place them in the reader properly. Who to believe and to trust? Another good day!! Day 218(Wednesday, May 18, 2005)—we got up bright and early and you did the breakfast honors. We prepared to go to NRH for PT when we received a call at 7:30 AM that your PT person was out sick. You were pleased because you did not want to go anyway. In the morning, I sent an email to Detective Ratnofsky telling him about our meeting with Gansler. Ratnofsky is the detective who investigated your accident. I asked him to give me input relative to changes he thinks are necessary in MD traffic law and to direct me to sites where I can get stats on traffic accidents. 257 We went to BAI and I did about 3 hours work reviewing and clearing out training files. You were very good and spent time with the recruiting ladies of BAI, one of whom is Connie. When we left BAI, we went to NRH where we had lunch (it was not very good). We saw Tom, the Greek-American guy who had a projector screen fall on his head that caused him brain damage. He encouraged you to keep up your therapy to get well faster. He was pleased we were going to Greece. We signed in early to see Dr. McCarthy. Our appointment was for 3 PM but he managed to see us about an hour before our appointment—amazing for a doctors office. He said that going to Greece would contribute to your rehab but that you should fly at least business class so you have room given the injuries you sustained. You should also wear pressure stockings during the flight. He will write a letter recommending the travel. We went home and both read a little. We then went to Ambrosia for dinner. We shared a chicken liver dinner and a taramosalata. It was more then plenty for the two of us. When we returned home, we had a call on the answering machine from the garbage disposal installers and, of course, they want to come tomorrow when we have a doctor’s appointments. Sears is really screwed up. We had already discussed when they needed to come because of you medical needs. I left a message on the installer’s answering machine telling them when we are available. We’ll see tomorrow if they get the message. Earlier, I left a message on Ms. Lotti’s answering machine. She is with Alitalia. Day 219 (Thursday, May 19, 2005)—we started the day as usual but then went into a series of phone calls. First was to the A-1 installers to tell them this afternoon is no good for them to come. Very little sympathy from them and it did not appear that Sears tried to give them an acceptable time based on our discussions. A-1 will come tomorrow, sometime after 10 AM. I wrote an email to Sears Customer Service and told them of my displeasure with their entire system. The next call was to Dr. McCarthy’s office to remind him of the letter for our trip to Greece. I called Lotti again and again got her answering machine. She did call back later and you took the 258 call. She is working on getting a fair reduction. I called Tibti of Sears again and told her how screwed up her people and system was. She promised to follow up this time. You know, I think two separate entities are coming tomorrow. I am not going to try and straighten this out because if I do, no one will come. Whoever comes first can do the installation. Michelle came promptly to start hanging the wall paper. Maybe this job will get done. What a pain there too. She left at 12:30 and we went to our health center in Shady Grove to see Dr. Lee. We met the people from the USFHP “Patriot” they were nice and wanted to have a picture of us with Dr. Lee but he refused. We went in for our appointment and we were delayed so I went out to tell the Patriot people but they had already left. I think they were disturbed that Dr. Lee would not cooperate. Dr. Lee adjusted our meds—he changed two for me and yours remained the same. He checked your scalp and he recommended TGel as the shampoo to use. He also examined a mole you had and excised it and sewed the cut with five stitches. My PSA was high so he sent me to get another blood test. Following that, we went to eat a Phillips. We both really enjoyed the meal, as usual. Michelle called and decided to come to work on the bathroom. She finished that and planned to return tomorrow to wallpaper the exterior walls of the shower. Pauline came to visit. She brought us bagels, cream cheese and Triscuits. It was another good day. Day 220 (Friday, May 20, 2005)— it is raining today and we must go out for PT early. Before we left, you wanted your hair washed so we used the kitchen sink to do that. You were not thrilled to go out in the rain but you were a good trooper. Our first stop was CVS and we got the shampoo and an antibacterial cream to use when I changed your dressing where Dr. Lee excised the mole. 259 We arrived at Montrose with time to spare for the 8:30 appointment. But Ann (the PT) didn’t come to get you until 8:50. I voiced my displeasure. I cautioned her about the incision you have. We got home at 9:45 and Michelle arrived at 10:30. She told me that Brian said for me to schedule the floor. Sears called and said their tech could not come and would I like to reschedule. I told them to convey to management that they stink. I then checked with A-1 installers and they still have us on the schedule. A-1 arrived at noon and within 20 minutes they had everything hooked up. The new one seems quieter than the one they removed. Let’s hope it will work for the entire warranty period. I really do not want to deal with Sears again. Upon departure of the installers, I made us lunch—a cheese sandwich. I used both olive oil and mayo on the Ciabatta bread. I added thinly sliced Vidalia onion and tomato on the toasted bread. It was very tasty. Finally, Michelle finished her work. All the wallpaper is done. Now somebody from the construction company must come to add the shoe molding and then Abbey comes on 30 May to install the vinyl flooring. It will be nice when this is finished. Actually, this will be great!!! It has been a stressful time. When Michelle departed, I convinced you to go with me to Rite Aide to get our meds. Maybe convinced is not the right word, enticed is better. I promised to get you some dessert. The weather was still bad but we survived. Our next location was Monty Mall and the inevitable banana split. We enjoyed the split, took a walk, went home, changed to relaxation wear and read our respective books. I also changed your dressing without a problem. The only down-side of the day was your desire to go to bed at 7 PM. We did have a little excitement, I armed the alarm and then promptly opened the side door to put our the recycling out. The alarm really is noisy. Within a minute or so, the alarm company’s Central Station called to see if we were OK. I did throw out the stuff. I was pleased at the responsiveness of the Central Station. 260 Day 221 (Saturday, May 21, 2005)—we went for a walk at Wheaton Mall for exercise today. We did two full circles, one on each floor and checked for new store openings. Macy’s is not open yet but seems imminent. Also, many of the smaller stores seem on the verge. We did our Target drink thing and then went to the commissary where we bought some food for lunch. It is a beautiful day today with sunshine and mild temperatures. I grilled the Angus Beef loin on the grill, but you did not like it much —you said it was tough. We had a little tiff while you were making the salad. You dropped some of the hot red pepper sauce (for hoagies) and when I asked you to pick it up you refused. I mentioned that you bend better than I do and you still refused. I got angry and so did you. You marched off into Maria’s Room. By the way, you put the whole jar of red peppers into the salad and it really was hot stuff. I convinced you to come and eat but you did not enjoy it as I mentioned. I didn’t much like the salad either given it was awash in red peppers. Just when we finished eating and while I was cleaning up Tonya came and chatted for a bit. She was on her way to the library and I said we were going too. I finished the clean up and away the three of us went. We returned two books you had and got three more for you and I got a few too. Our next stop was to the Navy Exchange. On the way, we apologized to each other for the lunchtime exchange and accepted each other’s apology. At the Navy, you got some lipstick and I bought some miscellaneous stuff. Day 222 (Sunday, May 22, 2005)—we went to the early church service. We left the house later than usual (I got absorbed reading the paper) but we still arrived on time. We kissed the bible and Father Steve greeted you as koukla (doll). Chris gave us Holy bread and we left shortly after Father John censed the church. We weren’t sure if anyone was coming today. We called Connie and they are at a wedding shower. We called Niko, got his voice mail, left a message and got no response. After returning from Church, I used the trimmer here and there, picked up twigs and used grass killer on the 261 driveway. You were reading and I joined after I finished. At 1 PM we went out to eat lunch. We went to Ambrosia and they changed their hours again. They are no longer open on Sunday. We then exercised our fall back position and ate Chinese at Monty Mall. Next stop was the Navy exchange where you bought a couple of lipsticks. We also went to McDonalds on the base, bought two hot fudge Sundays, took them home and added strawberries and Cool Whip. Not bad! We called Dino and after I chatted with him, you spoke to Myrna. Earlier in the day, Dini called and you spoke with her. Day 223 (Monday, May 23, 2005)—well the construction work is done. Boy, those people are something else and it is not flattering. Now all we need is for the flooring to be installed and that is planned for next Monday. They have not asked for more money for the light or the sink trap they installed in the bathroom. They also stripped the old paint away from the inside of the wash tub at no cost. Given their performance, I am not going to volunteer to make any other payment to them. They charged the insurance company $3000 and change for the work they did. Sears once again showed their ineptness. UPS delivered a second garbage disposal. I called Dipti the Monty Mall Sears Assistant Manager and she said bring it in when I want to. She thanked me for being honest. I suggested they needed to get their act together. You did a lot of reading today, a good thing. We also did some homework together. You did very well with making change and completing sentences. You are doing better and better. I called our lawyer, David lease, and he has not heard from the Army. The county denies responsibility for you accident notwithstanding their poor maintenance of the intersection. I called the Fort Meade JAG action person on our case and asked the status of the case. She seems very nice (Lease said she always seemed nice) 262 but not on the ball. She promised to call me back tomorrow. We’ll see! I also called Karen at Analex to find out about my check. She has no record of my voucher—she will check. We went to Ambrosia for a late lunch/early dinner after the construction guy finished. You had egg-lemon soup, Greek-style green beans, and some of my chicken livers. We also shared a tarmosalata. It really was an all you can eat thing—we left some tarama and I even gave up eating all the livers. We picked up your new reading glasses from “For Eyes.” We then went to Staples and got Nina a gift certificate for her college graduation as a full-fledged teacher. We then bought a graduation card and a few other things. At home, I changed your bandage and you and I both changed into our evening wear. Day 224 (Tuesday, May 24, 2005)—another week over from the time of your accident—week 32 to be exact. What an adventure I hope we never replicate that day in any form again. You are doing better and better but still are not back to where you were. For example, today we decided to do some housework. You undertook the vacuuming. Instead of using the Oreck upright, you used their smaller canister model. When I came up from putting in the wash and doing some desk work, you were on the couch understandably tired. I showed you where the upright was and you resumed work and completed vacuuming the entire floor. Earlier, you had stripped the bed and the pillow cases so I could put them in the wash. Later and together, we put the sheets and pillow cases back on. So, my love, today was a very productive day in terms of making our home look better. Lunch was not great. We had frozen dinners—I had meatloaf and you had Chicken Alfredo. They both were far from being good. I did the selection and micro waved them. We both did some reading in Maria’s Room and you even sneaked in a nap. It has been raining a lot today and it is only 55 degrees outside. It is a good day for reading and napping but we also did 263 some commissary shopping. I did manage to make an appointment for you for SLP therapy at 4:30 at Montrose. Sheree Gordon, the USFHP case worker, called me back. She is not certain if our insurance covers vision therapy with a neuro-ophthalmologist. She will check and get back with us. I called Karen and apparently my voucher was misplaced. But, since Andrea scans them, they will get a copy and cut me a check this week. We then left for White Flint Mall for a walk. We did two full circles of the mall and then sat and listened to a choral group of youngsters. They sang without music and were pretty good. Then it was time for your speech therapy with Jan. You did well with her and seemed to enjoy it. We went to Trader Joe’s and another bread place looking for Ciabatta bread to no avail. At home, we changed into evening wear, had our dinner (well, not really, we ate peach pie with ice cream and cool whip). We read, watched some TV and you were off to bed at 8 PM. Day 225 (Wednesday, May 25, 2005)—as usual, we got up bright and early and did the usual things to start the day. We called your sister and you had a nice chat with her and with Marianna. She has quit her job because Thano is very active and needs much supervision now. You also initiated doing your SLP homework that Jan gave you yesterday. You did very well. We left home for the therapy sessions via CVS. We got to the Montrose location about 15 minutes early. The therapist Ann took you for PT and you seemed to enjoy it today. Later Jessica started your OT evaluation. She did not quite finish because we had to leave a few minutes early for BAI and Palmer’s farewell lunch. We made good time getting to BAI. Everyone was pleased to see you. In fact, Palmer in his going away talk spoke about you as his hero and of me as his mentor. Very nice words! We overate—too much good food and a variety. Gracie once again did the catering but many others brought food too. Gracie is the lady who sponsored 264 a mass at her Catholic church for you. Connie was there and she supplied one of those fabulous caramel-apple pies from COSTCO. As I wrote, we overate—especially desert. Since we were close to Andrews AFB, we went there to the PX. On the way, you commented that you had no money. I responded that you had me. You said, Oh yes, your money is our money and my money is my money: Only kidding! Of course, the great thing about this cliché is that you remembered it. You bought a pair of shorts and a couple of other items. Once at home, you puttered to prepare for our guests scheduled for 7 PM. It was only three but you wanted to be prepared. You kept asking when I was going to make the coffee. We retired to Maria's Room and read—well, I sneaked in a little nap too. Our guests, Jim Blaker and his wife Heidi, came right on time with six beautiful roses for you. You were the perfect hostess. You used the tray we took out earlier to bring them coffee and cake to Maria’s Room. You added strawberries to their dish around the cake and it looked (and tasted) very good with the store-bought carrot cake we had. They hadn’t seen you for about 5 weeks and thought you had improved immensely. I agree. They stayed until 8:30 and we had a pleasant time. Upon their departure, you went to the bedroom and decided it was time for you to go to bed. You did. Day 226 (Thursday, May 26, 2005)—the weather today was OK. You did a lot of reading in the AM because a colleague of mine (Jack Emanuelson) came to prepare for a class that he is giving for me at JCITA. After he left, we did too for your therapy at Montrose. You had Jan, the SLP, and worked on reading and writing. The big emphasis was on looking left. You still have a problem with left neglect. You did not enjoy your therapy today and later in the afternoon, you told me that you were depressed and that your recovery was too slow. I assured you that all was on track. You felt that Jan was PMS-ee and Jan said that she hoped she didn’t nag you 265 too much about the look left bit—I guess she did in your eyes, hence the PMS comment. Jan gave you a bunch of homework to do. When we left therapy, we went to Ambrosia for a late lunch/early dinner. You said you did not enjoy it too much. Perhaps we are going there too often. With lunch/dinner out of the way we went home and I mowed the lawn. It seemed like an endless job and it did make me tired. When I came in for a shower, I noticed that you had prepared the bed for sleep and you were in your nightgown and robe—it was only 4 PM. You were proposing we go to bed. Needless to say, I resisted. I convinced you to read more and then we watched some TV together. The travel channel had a segment on London. You enjoyed the piece since you lived there a year and recognized many of the places. The next segment was about Florence, Italy, it was very interesting too. Day 227 (Friday, May 27, 2005)—I got up early and read because I couldn’t sleep. You got up later and made the bed on your own. You came into the living room, were certainly pleased to see me with greetings that included many kisses. You once again made breakfast for us and washed the dishes. Following that, you were interested in doing therapy homework and you did that very well. Everyday and a little more improvement! You are a sweetheart. Just prior to going to the Montgomery Grove Health Center, we went to Home Depot which is in the same area to look for a few things. We did not get anything but I got some ideas about covering the deck with some composite material to reduce cleaning efforts. At the health center, the nurse removed the five stitches from the spot where Dr. Lee removed your mole. Good news! It was benign. I also got good news today. My PSA was the lowest it has ever been for many, many years now. We went to Philips and each had a shrimp sandwich with a grilled veggie skewer and a grilled shrimp skewer. It was very good and you enjoyed it. From there, you wanted a bagel for desert and we went to Paneros. I also learned how to spell Ciabatta as in Ciabatta 266 bread. From there it was home and you went on the couch in Maria’s Room while I grilled the steak we bought a few days ago—I was concerned it might spoil if I left it another day in the fridge. The bad news about your temporary repose on the couch was that you sat on a pair of your reading glasses (at least they were the cheaper ones). Since the bottoms of the lenses were rimless, you broke the nylon cord holding the bottom in place of one lens. Not a good thing. I could not fix them. We went to Montrose for your therapy and I signed you in for OT and then went to “For Eyes” for repair of your glasses. No problem, they were fixed in minutes. I was concerned they would have to send them somewhere. When I returned to Montrose, you were with the OT therapist evaluating you and the therapist who will conduct your therapy on a regular basis. Her name is Melissa. Our next stop was Montgomery Mall. We went to the movies and saw Kicking and Screaming with Will Ferrell. It is a comedy about a guy that has issues with his father played by Robert Duvall. If I remember correctly, Duvall also played in the Great Santini and this role was similar but revolved around a kids’ soccer team. The flick will not get any Oscars but it was pleasant and you enjoyed it. The Great Santini relevancy reminded me that Niko gave me a CD of that movie. I guess he was telling me something. Following the movie, we went to Sears and like the good people we are, returned the two, yes two, extra garbage disposals they sent to us for replacement of the one that broke. If Sears displays such ineptness on a regular basis, they will go bankrupt. Dipti, an Assistant Manager gave me a handwritten receipt. Our day was not over. Niko called me earlier and he and Nina asked to take us out to dinner at the Athena Plaka located in Bethesda. We arrived there at the same time and enjoyed the good weather by sitting at an outside table. Niko did the ordering (paid too) and we enjoyed many orechtika (appetizers). We gave Nina a congratulations card with gift certificate to Staples in recognition of 267 her being graduated as a teacher. She even has a job offer to teach first grade in Montgomery County. Niko completed your “hero” DVDs and we got those from him too. You were fabulous all day today. Day 228 (Saturday, May 28, 2005)—this was another good day. We did some small jobs here and there and some shopping too. The only downside was that you insisted on going to bed at 6:30 PM after you had a visit with Suzanne and Noonie. They called and you went by yourself to their house. I told you not to lock the door but you misunderstood so when you came back you knocked but I did not hear you since I was downstairs. Suzanne called on the phone and I went upstairs and opened the door for you. In the morning, we took a walk in the park together. It was a beautiful day and we had a nice stroll. You did very well even though you had lousy shoes on your feet. You were wondering what happened to your good shoes. You thought a bit and then you asked what happened to the shoes you were wearing when you had the accident. That was a good question because those were the shoes you usually used for walking. They and all your clothes that day were disposed of by Niko. He told me there was blood on them and they were torn. I certainly did not want to see them. After we arrived home, bathed, et cetera, we went to the Navy Exchange and got you a nice pair of Adidas. So, next time we go walking you’ll have the appropriate shoes. I did buy you two pairs of walking shoes while you were at NRH but for some reason, you do not like them--maybe because you used them while at NRH. Tonya came in the afternoon and chatted with you. She also watered the tomato plants she planted in our garden. She then went to the library and took back some books for us too. Day 229 (Sunday, May 29, 2005)—we got up about 6:30 and I gave you your Fosamax med that requires you to not bend over or eat for 268 ½ hour. Hopefully it will help increase your bone density. I retrieved the Sunday paper and began the usual Sunday morning newspaper reading ritual. I prepared the breakfast today—a slice of raison bread. After the bathing bit, we went to church and then to Vicki’s condo in DC. We took her for coffee and later for lunch. I like it when you have a chance to interact with others as I think it helps with your rehab. Your memory is getting better but you still do not show much initiative in doing things around the house. You do when I ask or with me but don’t initiate much. We do need to use your checklist more as a reminder of what needs doing around the house. My fault that we don’t check it the way we should. When we came home, we snoozed and read some. You went to bed about 7:30 and Dini called shortly after. I spoke to her and then brought the phone to you in bed. You had a long chat with her. She told us the sad news that their dog Zoe died and that Maia found her. Poor Maia was traumatized and is planning the memorial service while vacationing with the whole family (less us) at Boyd’s, this summer. Zoe is to be cremated by the vet. By the way, you did take the initiative to prepare the bed for sleep and to prepare yourself for sleep too. Day 230 (Monday, May 30, 2005)—hip, hip, hooray!! The work in the utility room is done. The new floor is in and looks very good. The installer was very good and even did some extra stuff along the cinderblock wall to hide some bad areas. He didn’t want anything for the job but I tried to give him $40 and he said no. Finally, he took $20. This is in stark contrast to the other contractors who I just noticed did not complete painting a small section behind the door. My fault, I should have checked. The vinyl floor installers arrived at about 10:30 AM and finished at 5 PM. Tomorrow, we’ll have to put stuff back into the rooms and do some vacuuming. You did a lot of excellent homework and we did some reading throughout the day. We ate leftover Chinese to which I added some fried egg. After the installers left, we went to 269 Monty Mall for a banana split dinner and a walk. Before we left we put in a load of wash and when we returned dried them. You prepared for sleep and folded and put your clothes away. Day 231 (Tuesday, May 31, 2005)—thirty-three weeks since the accident! Time continues to march on and you continue to improve. I called the therapy place and we managed to catch a cancellation with Jan the SLP for 10 AM. I also called the USAA insurance person and repeated how bad their contractor did the construction and I also reported how great Abbey was in putting in the new floor. I also called Abbey and told them the same thing and how good Nahm was in doing the job. Once again, I called Alitalia and left a message but we received no reply by close-of-business. After eating the breakfast you made for us, we went downstairs. I got the vacuum cleaner and you did the vacuuming after we both returned things into the utility room. I did some scrubbing in the bathroom and the shower. Everything looks spic-and-span and neat too. It is a pleasure to look at the place. We left for therapy via the Post Office and Hardware City. I bought a little yellow paint and edging stuff to fix some areas in our bathroom. Later, I used the paint and it seems to be doing the job at the base of our shower. There are some other projects I am planning. Note that I am not saying what they are until I do them and write about them later when done and successful. Jan said you did very, very well. Your focus and concentration continues to improve. Tomorrow morning we have more homework to do. I also managed to make another appointment with Jan on Thursday. When they revised the schedule, we missed out on any SLP this week. By the way, according to the Army, expenses related to the accident as of 5 May now exceed $444,000. Wow!!! After therapy, off to Target to buy the advertised seamless bras. Later you tried one but you are still troubled on the right side. This was your most banged up side and I guess it still will take time to 270 heal. When we arrived home, you put a salad together while I cooked sausage. Salad and sausage was our lunch/dinner. You did a good job with the salad. We read a bit and later went for a walk at Wheaton Mall. Macy is now open there as are many of the other stores. We got our usual drink at Target and then went home. Day 232 (Wednesday, June 01, 2005)—you made the comment that a lot of time has passed since your accident but that you are still not completely well. Of course, I told you that you have come a long, long way and are improving every day. I reminded you that the doctor said it could take up to two years before you are truly where you were BA (before accident). After you did the breakfast bit for us, we did some of your homework and I would rate you at only OK doing the tasks. You have done better. You had some focus and inattention problems. But, you did “check left” pretty well. Following the homework, we bathed, dressed etc. I then asked you to get ready for therapy and you gave me a very hard time until I made clear that I was stressed enough without you not cooperating. You immediately got up and prepared to leave. Thank you. You did well at therapy today. They had you do several things with playing cards. One of the tasks was to find the cards they taped to various locations in a room. Melissa said your scanning and awareness techniques were very good. The PT gal said you had very good balance and you used their upper body bicycle-type machine. Following therapy, we went to Target to return the bras we bought yesterday. You are still not comfortable wearing a bra. When we returned home, you made yourself some salad and I made fried eggs for myself—you did not want any. The big news of the day is that Alitalia will give us discounted business class tickets. This should save us about $2000. Ms Lotti will 271 send us “e-tickets” and then I’ll arrange for the seats and for a wheel chair to meet us in Milan. I sent our lawyer an email to help him fill out the form necessary for a claim negotiation. I scanned the NRH discharge summary and emailed him that too. Now that I have the Army moving, I hope to get him moving. I also did a little (very little) painting and even some spackling. It is afternoon now and we are waiting for Joe and Connie. Joe will take me to Palmer’s retirement party and Connie was kind enough to come stay with you. I left our credit card so you guys can go to Ambrosia for dinner. A good thing was that you checked the pouch I had the house key in to make sure it was there. It was and good for you for checking. You never know and checking is good. Joe and Connie arrived promptly. I helped download pictures from her camera to my computer that Connie took at the wedding she went to in Chicago. Her computers were not working right and she wanted to put the pictures she took onto two CDs. Joe and I left and you and Connie went to Ambrosia for dinner. You and she had egglemon soup and vegetable stew. When I arrived home, you were both sitting in Maria’s Room. You seemed to have a good time with each other. I cautioned you that you should not go to bed right after you came back from Ambrosia. You told me not to worry because you had “couth” and would not leave Connie alone. However, you had changed into your nightgown and robe. Day 233 (Thursday, June 02, 2005)—we did the usual morning bit and then I pushed you to do some recumbent bike. You did about 45 minutes worth while I kneeled and reached to spackle many, many of the areas missed by the lousy construction guys. It looks much better now and I’ll touch up with some paint soon. My poor knees hurt and you said your legs were jelly. But, truth be told, you made no such complaints during the day. We finished your homework assignment and you did much better. 272 We went to the Navy exchange and bought some presents for Niko and Will—birthday or Christmas. We looked for a special cuticle scissor you wanted but no luck. Our next stop was Monty Mall and we did more cuticle scissor shopping and you saw a shirt you wanted at Sears. We met Harry and Mary Anna at the food court, ate Chinese and chatted for almost two hours. On our way to speech therapy, we stopped at CVS and they had the cuticle scissors you wanted (latter, at home, you found another pair, the ones you were looking for). Jan said you did terrific at therapy. We got our E-tickets from Alitalia. So, everything is set. Good old Discover Card called to verify the charge. That certainly makes me feel comfortable security-wise. I called Alitalia for seat assignments and to ensure you got a wheelchair especially in Milan. If they don’t leave very late from Dulles (as they did last year) we should have no problem changing planes in Italy. But the distance is far between terminals and it’s much better for you to ride. At home, you read some, spoke to Barbara (from Ocean Pines) and Mrs. Lackey in Florida. You really did not remember that Mr. Lackey died some years ago but I reminded you before you spoke to her and thus you did not mention him. Her friend Jack who we met when we visited, however, is very ill and she told us he is not expected to live. She also told us that she will be going to Greece on a cruise with a group from her church in November. Day 234 (Friday, June 03, 2005)—well, you really upset me big time today. Again, you gave me a hard time about going to therapy. I really can’t explain how much that upsets me. It literally upsets my stomach and gives me heart palpitations. After much discussion and a call to Dini, I think we are going there and then to Lewis, Delaware, as planned. I guess when you say you’re not going to therapy, I should say OK and then just get you into the car and surprise, surprise take you there anyway. I wonder if that will work. My stomach is still in pain. Well, you did go to therapy and for the first time you took a purse. You were OK with PT but not so with OT. Melissa said you were agitated and thus you only spent ½ hour 273 with her. Oh, well, we had to go back to the house anyway because we forgot to take our Crucifix for our evening prayer. The weather right now is NOT great. It is raining and only 62 degrees. Perhaps tomorrow will be better. I am not taking the computer so I’ll make notes and catch up later. We arrived at Lewes at 2:30 PM. We did not eat lunch on the way as we planned because we stopped at WaWa, had our 24 oz. coffee and a bear claw. I guess that filled us. Dino and Myrna were very happy to see us. I gave Dino my old lap top and spent time setting up his Juno internet connection. I even checked my email. You chatted with Myrna. For dinner we had lasagna and you really enjoyed it. You went to bed at 8 PM. I guess you felt you did not need to use “couth” when with me around. D + M bought a brand new queen-size bed. We brought two of our pillows but you had Myrna take away the pillows she had there and thus I ended up pillow deprived. The bed was comfortable but we were not used to the different environment and we did not sleep too well. By the way, you insisted on sleeping on my left side instead of my right where you usually are and that my have contributed to our unease. Day 235 (Saturday, June 04, 2005)—we got up at our usual 7 AM and so did Myrna. Dino got up early as well. He usually sleeps late but he did want to display some couth. We had a nice breakfast of pancakes and bacon and then showered and such. Following that, we went to a book store in search of big print books for you to read in Greece. Of course, we also plan to take some homework with us. Since I am not losing and in fact have gained weight, it was time to buy some new jeans for me. I have an excuse for the weight gain, namely stress. I guess I am still stressed. No—I know that I am still stressed. We bought three pairs of jeans for me and you need to shorten two pairs of them. This will be a good project for you. I bought a couple of little storage bags to put our vitamins and such in. Later at D and M, we had a sandwich and then went out to the movies. We saw Miss Congeniality II. You had a good time laughing and commented laughing was good for your health. 274 Shortly after we returned to the house, Vicki and Connie arrived. You were very pleased to see them. You clearly love and like them because of all the affection and support they have shown to you. The bunch of us went to the Mexican restaurant we like—Toltec. Day 236 (Sunday, June 05, 2005)—up and showered at the usual time, we got ready for church and so did D and M. The girls stayed in bed and later went to the beach. We arrived at the church, St. George, in Ocean City at 10:15. The traffic was light. The liturgy ended about noon and when we went for holy bread, Father Vaslios recognized you and gave you two big kisses on the cheek and said how well you looked. We joined the parishioners for coffee and sweets. They were very cordial and someone even recognized you from the People magazine article. The girls arrived from the beach shortly after we did. Since we decided to leave today instead of tomorrow, we caused a move-up in eating plans. You wanted to leave and get back to your bed. You also have mentioned a couple of times that you fear the trip to Greece. I hope that will not become a problem. Hopefully, flying business class—Magnifica Class--will make the trip tolerable. Dino grilled hot dogs, hamburgers and kielbasa while Myrna made salad, hamburger fixings and corn. You wanted Myrna’s lasagna. You ate a very big piece, corn, and salad. You really ate very well indeed. I was surprised that when we got home, you even ate a banana with left over strawberries. We arrived home at 6:40 PM. Dino was worried we would hit NASCAR traffic since there was a race in Dover. We did not. The traffic was a breeze. Day 237 (Monday, June 06, 2005)—well, today you once again brought tears to my eyes. I had told you that this coming weekend we would go to Vicki’s place for a manicure and a pedicure the way 275 we did several weeks ago. You seemed to like the pampering at the time but today, you decided to do your fingernails and toenails yourself and did not do a very good job. Why did I cry? Because you always did you own nails beautifully and now, not so well. It made me sad. You also did your toenails—again, not well. Where was I while all this was going on? I was doing trimming outside. You actually were proud of the way you did your nails and I really did not know what to say. I suggested that you remove your nail polish which you did. I guess I should be more encouraging because it did show initiative on your part. You took a shower with very, very little supervision from me. You have been selecting your daily clothes for sometime now. After the shower, I went out and mowed the lawn. I was pooped by the time I came in but still took the time to do some painting where the lovely (bah) contractors missed. I also put in some wash and you began working on shortening my jeans. I wish us luck with this activity. (Later this afternoon: Yea, you did a great job on the jeans.) After breakfast and before all of the above, you did some homework. You are getting better. It is hard for me to determine when you do have problems with the work how much of it is due to your brain injury and how much is due to the fact you never learned this type of stuff when you learned English. For example, you really never learned how to spell in English BA (before accident) so why should we expect you to do so now? Your failure to start at the extreme left when reading is part of the injury as is your occasional skipping of words or your not reading the whole word and guessing what it is. When I push you to read the word again, you do it properly. Well, we must keep working, it does help, I am convinced. Vicki called and said she is not coming with Connie this evening. Last night after she returned home, she went to turn on her ceiling fan and the globe around her light came loose and hit her on the head. She has a bump, no cuts, and had a headache that was cured with Advil. She had no dizziness and was at work when she called. I 276 cautioned that if she had any headache tomorrow that she should go get checked by a doctor. Pauline came over to chat. She also brought you some bagels. She stayed for about an hour while you were sewing my pants. Connie arrived and we left for Ambrosia for dinner and then to make a recon of your therapy location since she will be taking you there tomorrow. We followed this up with a trip to Kinkos where Connie went to get her credit card that she accidentally left a couple of days ago when she mailed the wedding picture CDs to her friend. She was the photographer at the friend’s wedding. Our next stop was Rite Aid for our meds. Connie left when we arrived home and you went to bed. There is lots of thunder—a big storm and we lost our satellite signal. That’s ok, I went to Maria’s Room and read. Day 238 (Tuesday, June 07, 2005)—week 34 since your accident. Oh, my! You are improving everyday. Your memory is improving and so are your actions in caring for yourself. We still have a way to go but you are taking positive steps on the journey to wellness. This was one of my teaching days at the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) located in Virginia about 20 miles from here. Connie came to stay with you. I got up at around 5:10 AM, showered, etc. When I asked you to get up to shower, you did so readily. You were very cooperative. You dressed, I made the bed and toasted a bagel for you. You ate the bagel and then waited for Connie to come. I left before she arrived as I had confidence you could remain by yourself for a little while, at least. I feel certain you’ll be OK by yourself allday when we return from Greece. We decided to meet at Le Madeline’s. You guys arrived early because Jan took you earlier for therapy. Connie said you did great together. Other than just enjoying each other’s company, you did the remainder of your homework, you dusted and you ironed your shirts and mine. You did a good job as a homemaker. 277 When I arrived at Madeline’s you both were snacking. You had a cup of tomato bisque and Connie a potato pancake. Then you had another cup of tomato bisque and we shared a cordon bleu and Connie had a chicken something. You did well eating but since you didn’t eat any lunch it was to be expected. You enjoyed the bread and jam that they provide. Connie, as usual, was a sweetheart and you were very cooperative with her. She’ll be here tomorrow. When we arrived home, you ended up going to bed at 7 PM. You did have a long day. Day 239 (Wednesday, June 08, 2005)—I did not sleep well and got up and read. You were sleeping peacefully. When I returned to bed I slept until the mean old alarm woke me. I could have slept more. You got up with me without urging and while I showered you made the bed. I went into the kitchen and made our breakfast while you dressed and did your face and hair. Again, it is nice to see you initiating stuff on your own. That is the key—initiating on your own. I left early for gas. Next stop was MDA for another day of teaching. All appeared to enjoy and learn. It was tiring for me to be “on” for two days, eight hours each day. I did leave a little early and arrived home where you and Connie had done the preparatory work for dinner. Connie said you were ready to make the pasta from noon and she had all she could do to prevent you from doing so. She named herself the “Pasta-Nazi.” The women who took our pictures for the Suburban Hospital newspaper dropped in and gave you a copy of the picture that will be used in the newsletter. Her name is Patricia and she even framed the picture for us. What a nice lady! We had a long wait for Niko. Traffic was terrible, the worst he’s been in for a long time now. Nina came too and also complained about the traffic, she said Cedar Lane was terrible. 278 You made the sauce, and the salad and finally got the chance to cook the pasta. All enjoyed the food and Nina did the cleanup. We talked about what they are doing—Niko goes to Las Vegas for a week’s work and then when he returns, he and Nina go to Germany on vacation for one week. They will check on our mail and water the plants. I gave them the gizmo to arm and disarm the alarm as well as keys for the car since we will be parking the car at Oracle while we are gone for six plus weeks. You and I had a good time with the kids they were very sweet. Connie, of course, is a real sweetheart and very good with you. You enjoy her company and she appears to really enjoy yours. Day 240 (Thursday, June 09, 2005)—good morning to us. You got up a little after six and after saying several times that you had to do the door (meaning turn off the alarm and unlock the double bolt) you went and disarmed the door. Next you wanted to shower and dress and you did that too. Following that, you made us breakfast and then went into Maria’s Room (our sunroom) to do the homework given to you by the speech pathologist as part of your rehab. This was all self-initiated. Good for you. After your homework was done, you were ready to go out so we went to the commissary, and the Post Office (I returned the shaver Amazon sent me—they wrongfully advertised it as world-wide voltage and it was not). We returned home and put away groceries. I then went to the Wachovia bank to pay for our safe deposit box and I also ordered Euros. I used the money from our piggy bank. Even while you were in the hospital, I continued to put $40 per week away (ostensibly $20 from you and $20 from me). It was another one of those things that made me feel better as it was projecting confidence in your getting well and that we would make the trip. It looks as if we will make it. At least we have paid for tickets. Next stop was the library to take back books and to renew a book. When I returned home you were relaxed and we waited for Joe Saul. He took us to lunch—we selected a Mexican fast food place. It 279 wasn’t bad. Joe then accompanied us to therapy. You worked with Jan and we chatted. Jan says you are doing very, very well. Another bravo to you! Joe left for his home when you finished your therapy. We came home, read some and snoozed a little. We then went to Monty Mall and had our you know what—a banana split followed by a walk. You went to bed very early but I decided I should not worry about this as it contributes to healing (I hope). I read and Niko came and dropped off a shaver that will work in Greece. Day 241 (Friday, June 10, 2005)—today was another one of those days that you did not want to go to therapy. I did manage to get you into the car as you thought we were going shopping and for lunch. When I made the turn for therapy, however, you did detect that we were not going the right way for shopping but rather the route was for therapy. When we arrived, we luckily found parking right away as I had difficulty getting you out of the car. You finally did get out and had your PT. When it was time for OT immediately following PT you balked. You even went outside and Melissa the OT and I talked you back. After a half hour, you were ready to leave. I went to speak to Melissa and discovered that she had you and another as a patient. I told her that this was not working. She agreed and said she told the administrators last week when you left early and were agitated that one-on-one was required. This time I spoke to the office manager and she promised to rectify the situation. I will certainly monitor. As daughter Dini said, patients must have advocates. Given that she is with the medical school at the U. of Wisconsin, she knows what she is talking about. Of course my eight months experience also underscores the need for advocacy. We left there and went to a food store and bought some rolls, seafood salad and hamburger meat. I was going to grill outside but it started to rain. We went home and put stuff away. You reminded me to make sure we see these items in the refrigerator because in April I put hamburger where it was hidden from view where it proceeded to spoil and stink-up the fridge. We then went to Monty Mall and had Chinese, a little McDonalds hot fudge Sunday (we 280 both did not eat it all) and then walked the Mall. We went to the movie at the mall to see. Mr. and Mrs Smith with Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. Ah, it was so-so, the action was too extreme to believe and Jolie’s action reminded me of Tomb Raider. I give it at most two out of four stars. The upside was that you sat through it all without complaint. You went to bed very, very early. This bothers me because it makes me lonely and it has me worried about your brain damage. I can only hope that this is a sign of healing and not something else. I will ask Dr. Lee when I see him on 21 June. I watched some TV after working hard to reconcile our check book. I made some errors that I was able to find after a little work. Day 242 (Saturday, June 11, 2005)—you disarmed and unlocked the door after we made the bed together and then you made us breakfast and cleaned up too. I then went downstairs to figure our estimated taxes for the June 15 deadline. That took a little work because I had an error in my estimating spreadsheet. I didn’t put a zero where it belonged. The other thing I did was fill out my annual Keogh retirement statement which is due to the IRS while we are in Greece (i.e., 30 July). I will mail this before we go. While I was doing these things, you came downstairs and told me you were going to take a shower. I was going to come upstairs to supervise and you said no, you only wanted to know which shampoo to use. I said Head and Shoulders and off you went. This is the first time you have taken an unsupervised shower. From what you said, you did very well. When I came up, you had dressed too. Bill and Priscilla Torpey came to visit and to take us to lunch. We all went to Le Madeline’s and had sandwiches. I wanted to share but Bill would not hear of it. We had a nice lunch and very pleasant conversation. We were together for a couple of hours. They had to leave because Bill is traveling on business tomorrow and he must get ready. They also have a church dinner to attend this evening. 281 We went to Panero’s and bought a couple bagels. The good thing is that while you got ready for bed early you stayed up with me until 7 PM. While watching TV, we ate the seafood salad we got yesterday. Day 243 (Sunday, June 12, 2005)—you took your bone building pill and made us breakfast while waiting for the half-hour before you ate. You did a little homework with me but you initiated the lesson. I read the paper and then we both showered (you on your own without me present) and then we left for church. We stayed for about 45 minutes and Chris was kind enough to give us Holy bread before we left. Connie and Vickie came right on time and we made pasta with shrimp scampi. I think you may have put a tad two much salt (not really bad). The meal was tasty nonetheless. The girls stayed for three hours and we had some of your nice strawberries for desert just before they left. Day 244 (Monday, June 13, 2005)—we arose early as usual. After breakfast, you finished your homework with some oversight by me. You still have a tendency to skip words and not scan as well as you could if you concentrated more. Well, therapy and homework is what this is all about. A gold star for us—we went and exercised for ½ hour. You did the bike and I the treadmill. I am in really terrible shape as manifested by my aching back later in the day. I did some desk work and you watched TV while we waited for clothes to wash and then dry. Later, you did the folding and then took a shower while I completed my desk work (e.g., paying bills). Before I showered, I grilled one hamburger each for lunch and we had a cheddar sausage each too. You cut up onion and tomato to add to our meal. I showered given my grill-like smell. We then went to the Navy Exchange (I bought a new belt, you didn’t want anything). Our next stop was Rite Aid for meds and then Target for a drink you like. We also went to Giants and bought the fish salad. 282 When we arrived home we went to Maria’s Room for R and R. You then got the idea to hang the large gold M that Dini got you some time ago that was on our downstairs mantel. Well, I did the hanging and changing around of pictures we had on each wall. It would have been easy to do except the nails I was using did not cooperate. They would bend or break necessitating additional trips up and down the stairs. The changes do look nice. I even measured well. You did disturb me again—mentally that is. You decided to go to bed at 5 PM. I tried to convince you to stay up with the enticement of the sea food salad, to no avail. This really causes me to question how well you are getting. I hope I don’t forget to ask Dr. Lee when I see him next week. Pauline called at 6 PM in response to your earlier call. I gave you the phone to talk to her. You got up from bed because Pauline was coming over to visit. She stayed until 7:30 and then you got ready for bed. So you can stay up if stimulated and I guess my habit of watching TV for me to gear down doesn’t suit you and you prefer going to bed rather than stay up. I came to bed at 9 PM as I teach tomorrow and get up a little earlier than usual. Day 245 (Tuesday, June 14, 2005)—this completes week 35 since your accident. The alarm woke us this morning at 5:30. I took a shower and you got up too and showered. We made the bed together and while you dressed, I toasted a bagel for you and I had cereal. I left the house at 7 AM for BAI and you waited for Connie. I had a good day teaching. The group I had was very stimulating and interesting. When I arrived home you both were relaxing. Connie said you did very well and you clearly once again enjoyed each other’s company. You went to Feline’s and bought a top and CVS to buy a tanning spray. I offered to take you guys out to eat but you were not interested and Connie followed your lead. But then, I was informed 283 that Marta called to enquire about you coming in for a touch up and I called her back and we agreed to Thursday at 10 AM—Connie will take you. This, of course, necessitated my taking her there to show her the route. You got shanghaied as well and lo and behold we saw Valentino’s across the street from our favorite Peruvian chicken place—Chicken-on-the- Run. All decided that chicken might make a nice evening dinner. I bought meals for us that included beans and rice and plantains for Connie and plantains and yucca for us— chicken too, of course. We picnicked at our kitchen table, in the air conditioning. It was a very hot day in the hole-in-the-wall restaurant would have been out of the question. Connie left at about 6:30—she is joining a band as a singer. Day 246 (Wednesday, June 15, 2005)—we went to Suburban Hospital to see Voula, the trauma nurse that was your receiving nurse at the emergency room until they transferred you to the care of the “intensivists” on the third floor. She is a Greek-American and has worked at Suburban for 18 years. You wanted to meet her. She found you looking wonderful and was amazed how well you are recovering. She affirmed that based on her experience and the extent of your injuries, she didn’t think you were going to make it that day. You mentioned that Father John called you his miracle and Voula agreed. She was very nice and gave you big hugs. She was super-pleased to see you so well. We went to see the neuro-PAs, Jacob and Steve, but once again, they were not available. I really want to see them because while they were compassionate, they were not encouraging in terms of your brain trauma. I think they will be amazed when we do get to see them-perhaps after we return from Greece. We did go to the PT area and did see Stacy the PT person and Nina the OT person who gave you some limited therapy to include getting you to sit up in a chair during the last weeks you were at Suburban. Their big challenge was to figure out how to prevent you from slipping out of the chair. I even brought some of that non-skid shelving material to put under your butt. It did help a little. They also exercised your upper (OTs work) and Lower (PTs work) parts of your body. They too were 284 very, very pleased to see you, gave you hugs and even shed a few tears. All of the medical people seem to really appreciate seeing survivors that are doing well. We left Suburban for your PT and OT sessions. You did not give me much of a hassle. You did some baking as part of OT. When we got home, you cut onion, tomato, and left over chicken for the leftover seafood salad. It was good but you ate only two bites. You did eat two of the sausages I grilled. As before, you liked them very much. By the way, before going to Suburban, you initiated the action to do your SLP homework. You still have some problem looking left and need to be oriented every so often as to where you are in the exercise. But, you are steadily improving. We went to BAI so I could do a little work with the new business development person. She really didn’t seem to have a plan on how to develop business and I hope I gave her some good ideas on how to proceed. I checked the many and I mean many emails I had. You were with the recruiting section ladies (Connie is a member) and you seemed to have a very good time. You were with them over two hours and only were ready to leave when I came for you. I offered to take you to the PX at Andrews to look for a skirt but you declined. When we got home I cut the lawn and when I came in you were ready to try on blouses and skirts. We were successful in finding jean-type skirts and some nice shirts but were out of luck to find a skirt you could wear to church. My sweet, you have gained weight and had some redistribution and thus the hips, waste and boobs have gotten bigger. Your skirts have not grown to keep up with you. Day 247(Thursday, June 16, 2005)—we got up early today to shower etc. because I was going to teach at BAI. Yes, I even painted you— well, not painted exactly but I did spray tanning solution on you so you could display a tan albeit it artificial. You like the idea of tanning without the possibility of sunburn. We ate and I was off by 7 AM. While on the beltway and between Connecticut Avenue and 285 Georgia, it occurred to me that I forgot to leave the handicapped placard for use by you and Connie. Today she was going to take you for a hair trim and color treatment. I returned. My teaching went well. I called you about 1 PM and you were winding up with Marta and were pleased with your hair. You guys then went to Chicken-on-the-Run for lunch and did some looking for a skirt while in Bethesda. You found the prices to be outrages. You went to Chico’s and were surprised that they didn’t have skirts but were filled with Capri pants. Talbot’s was your next destination as they were having a sale. You did find a very nice skirt there at a sale price—50% off. You put a top on hold as you wanted me to see it. Connie then took you to speech and language therapy at 3:30 PM. Reportedly, you did well with Jan. We met in front of Ambrosia but we decided to go next store to Tony Lin’s for Chinese. Mistake, the food was not up to par. Well, we will not go there for another ten years. We all went to Talbot’s and got one of the shirts you had on hold. Connie stayed to do some more shopping prior to her going to band practice—she sings. While you are getting well, some of the BA Maria has not completely surfaced. For example, when we arrived home, there were partially finished glasses with soft drinks on the kitchen table and a used paper plate. The sink had some dirty cups and flatware. The Maria of BA would never have left the house without cleaning up completely. I’m sure that will return too. You are now replacing the toilet paper when it finishes. Sounds like a small thing but every little thing does mean a step towards total wellness. Day 248 (Friday, June 17, 2005)—you gave me a little trouble on the issue of therapy again today. You see no point in going for PT or OT for that matter. You tolerated the PT but only lasted through 30 minutes of OT. I guess that when we return from Greece, we might not do either of these and just concentrate on SLP. You seem to tolerate that well and to like Jan. Of course, you call it kindergarten. 286 We ate at Madeleine’s and then went to the Navy Exchange where we bought some shirts for you that matched your skirt and some for me that I plan to leave in Greece. One of these days we should be able to go just with carry-on. We probably could have this time if it wasn’t for the new comforter, etc., we got for the bed there. Next stop was the commissary where I gassed up and got some groceries. We went to the movies at White Flint Mall. We saw a light movie called Perfect Man that had a happy ending. Heather Locklear had trouble finding or rather holding onto a man (that was a stretch) and she changed towns every time she was dumped dragging her two kids with her. Hillary Duff, her movie daughter, then dreamed up the Perfect Man to keep her in New York. In case we were not able to catch on to the plot, we saw Hillary in class where the English teacher asked the class to explain what was meant by Oh, what a tangled web we weave when we practice to deceive. Duh!!! There was one line I did like in the movie—Love is friendship on fire. Certainly this describes us. You are my very, very best friend and my feelings for you are ablaze. When you were in intensive care and even at NRH before you began to walk and talk, the pain I felt was searing. We still have a healing road to travel but we will traverse it hand-in-hand and with God’s help, you will be 100 percent. After a brief rest at home following the movie, we met Nick and Nina at the Athenian Plaka at 6 PM for a Father’s Day dinner. They even beat us there. Niko did the ordering, the usual selection of tasty small dishes such as chicken souvlaki, gyro, tzaziki, taramosalata, etc. I even had a glass of Retsina. They gave me a nice card with a gift certificate to Ambrosia. Tomorrow, they go to Germany for vacation. Bon Voyage!! Day 249 (Saturday, June 18, 2005)—you took a nap today and yet wanted to go to bed at 7 PM. I am disappointed. You were doing so well staying up. 287 After eating and showering, we worked on your tan some more—the spray on type, of course. Joe came promptly at 11:30 AM and we all went together to Ambrosia where we met Debbie and her mother. They are out together on a shopping safari. Everybody but Joe had salads. He did a gyro sandwich and all had the avgolemano soup. We did not have soup because we are fasting from meat, eggs, and seafood preparatory to receiving communion tomorrow. We hosted this time although Joe wanted to pay (as usual). We then showed Joe our local Trader Joe’s where he bought a few things and Debbie and her mother went on their own looking for clothes. Joe brought us home and we went into Maria’s Room to read and relax. Later I made us a fruit salad with the strawberries you had cut up and some sliced peaches we had. Later while watching Global Trekker and a History Channel presentation “in Search of Greece” we ate some nuts and I a piece of cheese. You went to bed early again—booo! Day 250 (Sunday, June 19, 2005)—this morning, as I predicted to myself, you got up before five AM and wanted me up too. Of course, you went to bed early and I didn’t. I would have liked to sleep more and managed to stay in bed until 5:30 with you. We did not eat breakfast as part of our fast for receiving communion. You showered and I helped spray you for more tanning action. We left for Church and arrived a little after nine. But, because this was Pentecost the service started earlier than usual. We received communion and then went to the commissary to buy a few things for lunch since Vicki and Connie were coming. They arrived at 12:30 and I grilled stuff, also we had left over Chinese, and the deli stuff we bought. It was an unusual combination but we all seemed to like it. You guys chatted up a storm. After we ate, we went to Maria’s Room, chatted some more and then you guys decided to go for a walk. I stayed home and goofed off. You were gone for awhile. When you returned you and the gals admitted to getting lost. You exited the park at one of the side exits 288 and got turned around in the neighborhood. Connie finally asked someone and they directed you back to Knowles. I thought that you were visiting Suzanne or Tonya. The girls stayed until 5:30 PM. Myrna called just after they left. She wanted to say bye to us. Tonya came over too and chatted with you for awhile. After that and some TV your day was complete. OK, you stayed up until 8 PM but I think you thought it was 7. Nonetheless, you get the proverbial gold star for staying up. Day 251 (Monday, June 20, 2005)—another day is drawing to a close and Pauline is here to wish you Bon Voyage. I’m glad that she is here since you started out wanting to go to bed at 4 PM. You didn’t do that but even saying it was not pleasant for me. As I told Bob when he called and while you were listening to my side of the conversation, I don’t keep you interested or stimulated enough, I guess. I did prompt you to read your magazine and you did do that. You went and changed for bed and read some more, gave us strawberries, and then went down with me to see some TV. That is when Pauline called and came to chat. We left the house early today and you initiated some of your homework before we left. I had an appointment with Dr. Lee to review my meds. All are OK. I asked and got a prescription for Lunesta to help me sleep if I needed it in Greece. It is supposed to be an improved sleeping pill but having read the Rite Aid info on the pill, I am not impressed. In reality, Dr. Lee did not seem so either. This is the first time he prescribed it and wants my feedback. By the way, Dr. Lee said we really must start walking again as we both gained weight. We’ll have to try in Greece. From Shady Grove, we went to the Navy PX and we bought a few more items for Greece. The packing is going really well and I hope we have everything we want to have when we get there. You’ve been a little, tiny bit of help when I asked you what you wanted to take. You never much liked packing so it is no surprise that you are taking advantage of your situation to have me do all of the work. I 289 worked on our meds today too so that we have the ones we need on the plane and arranged our vitamins too. We went to the Nordstrom’s Café where we met Harry and Mary Anna for lunch. We had a nice meal and enjoyed their company. We even did a little mall walking looking for a radio for Mary Anna. I bought a little transistor for us to use in our bedroom in Greece. Our newsmagazine had a brief article about Terri Schiavo describing the findings of her recent autopsy. Nothing—not even a mother’s soothing voice—would have gotten a response from…the comatose Florida woman whose right-to-die case entangled the courts….Any message would have to travel the neural pathway to a part of her brain called the neocortex. But that incoming route was destroyed some 15 years ago when, her brain deprived of oxygen, she slipped into a coma. Examiners said that Schiavo was blind….There was no evidence of abuse. Day 252 (Tuesday, June 21, 2005)—this completes week 36 from the date of your accident. You are really cute when you get up in the morning. You have taken on the daily responsibility of disarming the alarm for the house and unlocking the double bolt of the front door. That is your mission, you feel. Of course, you now fix me cereal and coffee on a daily basis and clean up the dishes too. We washed the sheets and pillow cases in preparation for our trip and you helped fix the bed when they were washed and dried. You also used Swifter on the kitchen floor and even used the wet version to mop. You did not want to vacuum. With a little urging you did a good job of dusting. You still are not back in terms of your fastidious approach to keeping house. I wonder if that will come back. Don’t forget, you became the rage of the Montgomery County Police Community when they had to enter our home in attempts to locate me following the accident. They had never entered, ever, such a clean and neat house they said. You do have a reputation to keep. On the way to therapy, we went to Rite Aid. They had shorted me one of my meds that I would need in Greece. They gave me an 290 additional amount with no argument. We also made a stop at Giant’s Food to buy some bagels as emergency food during our trip. Jan said you did well at therapy and she gave us stuff for you to do while we were in Greece. She said she wished she could join us as she had a wonderful time when there last year. Our next stop was Montgomery Mall. We had our Chinese meal and then you wanted to go to J. Jill for shopping. You bought two pairs of linen pants in different colors and a nice cotton blouse. The pants should be very comfortable for travel. We went to the movies and saw The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants on Nina’s recommendation. It is a sweet movie about four girls who are best friends from birth and all on the cusp of womanhood who exchange the same pair of jeans over the summer as a bond of friendship and the magical impact on their lives. Each of the girls, of course, has issues. One of them is of Greek extraction and for the summer she went to visit her Yiayia and Papou on Santorini. The island is very picturesque. Her issue is to grow up and accept the risk of doing so. The girls lived in Bethesda. The movie was sweet, I could have done without the sadness of a little girl who suffered and died from leukemia. The hospital scene particularly bothered me (as they all do) as it causes me to reflect about your days in intensive care. Yes, there was a point made to the viewers about the friendship of this little girl to one of the four, but….! While we were watching TV, Suzanne called. They wanted to come and bid us Bon Voyage. They stayed until 8 PM and then we watched a little more TV specifically a Kati Couric special about a so-called run-away bride. This woman has a history of instability that manifested in her running away (literally—she went out jogging and disappeared) from her home, family and friends and thus from her marriage ceremony that was to take place a couple of days hence. She even led people to believe that she was kidnapped. The wedding reception cost $50,000 and she had selected 14 bridesmaids and groomsmen. A ridiculous extravaganza! Her town and the police mobilized to search for her. Later, I think in Vegas, she called and turned herself in. Hometown agony turned into anger when the 291 townsfolk found out her departure was voluntary. We only saw ½ hour of the show when you announced she was crazy and you had to go to bed. Actually, the guy (the groom to be) is nuts too as he sat there in front of the cameras holding her hand and looking at her adoringly. He has forgiven her—ain’t love grand? He will have a fun future—not. Oh, yes, she has been offered a movie deal for her story. Only in the USA! Day 253 (Wednesday, June 22, 2005) and Day 254 (Thursday, June 23, 2005)--this is our big day, travel to Greece. We got up at 6:15 and you did your morning job of disarming and unlocking the door. We got dressed and made our traditional pre-going-to-Greece run to I-Hop for our pancake and eggs breakfast. Later, we decided not to keep this as a tradition because we were not satisfied with the meal. Laundry was our next event and making sure that the house was neat. We forgot to do the towels until the last minute so I left a message for Niko to take them out of the dryer when they come to water plants etc. Before we left, I gave myself a haircut too. I decided to combine this entry because as we depart on Wednesday, we fly into Thursday. To be continued……….. We are now at Dulles airport after an uneventful trip to the Oracle building and its parking lot. I unloaded you and the luggage in front of the building, called for a taxi and then parked the car in front of a security camera where Niko said I should. After joining you, a young man asked if we were waiting for a cab. I said yes and he said there was one parked on the other side of the building but not to worry, if it was ours he would send it around. It was ours and he did. The Alitalia check-in line was very long but since we were Magnifica class we went right to that window and its short line. After check-in we were given tickets to the Northwest Airlines lounge where we sat comfortably and had complementary drinks. They had wine we could have had but we stuck to soft-drinks and you had some decaf coffee. There were many people in the lounge. 292 By the way, you were a great help getting to the check-in desk. You pulled our carryon while I pulled the two suitcases. They relocated the Alitalia counter so we had a couple of false starts finding the ticket counter. You were a good trooper. When we went through security they had you take off your shoes—I don’t know why. Did you look dangerous? I don’t think so. I sailed through. I guess it is my trusting look. To be continued… EEEEK, “de je vous all over again” as my favorite philosopher the former New York Yankee Yogi Berra once observed. The flight departure time was scheduled for 5:20 PM. The agent arrived at the Northwest lounge, gathered us up about twenty minutes before the scheduled take-off time and a special shuttle took the 18 business class passengers directly to the plane. We entered without reference to the passengers flying economy. And then, we sat and sat, and sat. We did not depart until 8:00 PM and I envisioned the race through the airport to catch our plane without our luggage getting to Thessaloniki the way it happened to us last year. Oh, well! The Magnifica accommodations were really terrific. There was lots of space between rows and the seats had footrests that operated with the touch of a button. The seat backs went far back also with the touch of another button. The seats were very comfortable. The food, however, really was nothing too special, we had mixed grill instead of the fish they also offered. The penne course was pretty good and the catering excellent. We abstained from the wine, etc. They had two movies, one in English and the other Italian with English subtitles. The movie Hitch came on late because of the late departure and I conked out, too bad as I wanted to see it. You did a lot of your usual in-flight fidgeting but you did manage to catch a couple of winks too. I wrote a note to the head flight attendant outlining our problem with the connecting flight and the fact that you needed assistance to travel through the terminal to the next gate quickly which was at some distance. When I gave it to the attendant, he promised to take action. 293 Our flight made very good time to Milan and we made up a lot of the hours lost due to the late departure. We landed about 35 minutes before our connection was to leave. Waiting for us was a wheel chair with an attendant and off we went to the races. And, they were races. We arrived in-time, were boarded early and guess what? There was a thirty minute delay before take-off. Actually, this was a good thing because it gave our luggage a chance to catch up. We landed only five minutes late in Thessaloniki and our luggage arrived too and was quickly unloaded. We picked it up, passed customs with a wave of the hand from them. Marianna, Tarzanaki (little Tarzan i.e., Thano), and Litsa were waiting for us. I had a moment worry that we would not be able to load us and the bags in her car but we managed. Off to the village we went and were greeted with tears of joy by Gregory and Ellie. While you interacted with everybody, I got the bags upstairs with Gregory and unpacked all. I can’t believe the amount of clothing we brought for you and what you had left here from previous trips. I guess that I had not properly recorded all we had here and I must do that before we leave this time. Next time we come, we probably only need carry-on luggage. We had a nice evening. I ate some of Gregory’s great salad and dunked bread in the dressing called an hypobrechio (submarine). You had Ellie’s spinach-cheese pie. We went to bed a 10:30 PM. Day 255 (Friday, June 24, 2005)—it is a beautiful day. You stayed up interacting with all until 10:30 PM. A very good sign! For breakfast we ate the bagels we brought with us and later in the day you helped make chili to eat over pasta. We even walked to the supermarket to buy kidney beans for the chili. Walking there down “main street” was not fun because of the traffic and we did not much like the cars zipping by and the lack of good sidewalks. We returned a back way and that was fine although the hills were steeper. You did very well walking. 294 We did one two page lesson today that we brought with us from the US. You are doing a little better but still require cues to focus and occasionally must be reminded to read from the extreme left. I teased you that I needed a ruler to tap you on the hand when you skipped words or questions. In Greek they call what they spank kids with a “verga,” (a switch). You didn’t buy into the verga idea. You display more memory of things past but still retain some confusion on details. Don’t we all! In the evening, Gregory got the key to the nearby Byzantine church. The Church of the Transfiguration also known as Hagias Sotiris (in Greek) was built sometime in the 11th Century AD. It is octagonal in shape which is very unusual. We went there to pray and to light candelas in thanks to your vast improvement since the accident and our safe arrival. I took some pictures so that we can remember the occasion. The church is small and it is was desecrated by the Turks when they set it on fire hundreds of years ago. You can imagine how beautiful it was inside by examining the outlines and coloring of the remaining wall paintings of Saints. We said our prayers, lighted candelas and kissed the icons. Marianna and Thano came to the house a couple of times during the day. You enjoyed seeing the baby in action. And, I do mean action. Like many boys his age he is like a wind-up toy that never stops. Again I took several pictures. Day 256 (Saturday, June 25, 2005)—up bright and early, to wit 7 AM, work began on a nearby townhouse under construction. This was not conducive to further sleep. Gregory cranked up the hot water and we bathed. You continue not hungry in the morning. You ate half a bagel while I had cereal. The morning was cloudy but it cleared and warmed as the day pressed on. You made chicken salad for us all today. You put egg, onion, parsley, celery, and mayo on toasted bread. You cut the sandwiches in half. You didn’t eat a sandwich but did eat the salad straight. Marianna went to the Kioskia restaurant and added tsoutsoukakia 295 (football shaped meat balls), fries and roasted Porto Bello mushrooms to the meal. We had sort of a picnic and the food and company was enjoyed by all. I, of course, was pleased with the degree of preparation that you engaged in. You appear more alert and involved every day. I loaded pictures on the computer that Appostalos took on Easter day and showed you all a slide show. I also showed the pictures that I took here in Greece so far. Our little Thano is a cute kid. He is very alert and likes to get into everything. Marianna and Apostolos asked us to go to their home after our siesta. They will come and get us. After our nap, we went to the Byzantine church to once again light candelas and say our prayers. From there we decided to walk to their house and bought sweets for them on the way. And, nobody was home, seems as if we got our messages confused. We walked back to the house, mainly uphill, and really got in our exercise for the day. Later we found out that they had taken the baby to the beach. I think they were embarrassed and said they would come and get us for a 9 PM for the visit. Surprisingly, you said ok. As we were walking to Apostolos’ car, Voula your cousin showed up. You didn’t recognize her at first and thought it was Marianna. There was a choice to be made—go to Marianna’s or return to the house and visit with Voula. You chose Marianna. We saw Marianna’s in-laws and they embraced you commenting on how well you look and wishing you all the best. After chatting awhile, we returned home and found Voula waiting. I must give her credit for being the first cousin to come and to wait to see you. You chatted with her for a bit until you tired. This was a full day and we didn’t get into bed until 11 PM. This is worth a big, WOW! Day 257 (Sunday, June 26, 2005)—the St. George church bells started ringing at 7:30 AM. We got up and did our bathing bit, took our pills and ate some breakfast. You dressed in a silk skirt and blouse that we left here from visits past. You looked very, very 296 lovely. We went to church at 9:30 while it was well underway. We lit candles and kissed the Icons at the entrance. We noted that some old traditions still prevail in Greece. Most of the women sat on one side and the men on the other side of the church. More women then men attend. There were very few people in the 20 to 35 year old range among the 100 plus people there. Those that were there brought their young children. This lack of young people doesn’t seem too encouraging for the future of the church. In the US we have more young people attend. We received our Holy Bread from the Priest and he recognized you and blessed you for your current and continued recovery. When I mentioned the lack of young people to Gregory, he said that many are at the beach hence the sparse attendance by the young. For lunch, we had roast katsiki (goat) with potatoes and salad. The goat was tasty but a little tough, the potatoes great. We had wine (retsina) mixed with some cola for our drink and we both enjoyed the mixture. We’ve had that drink in the past and enjoyed it then. Your friend Aphrodite called and asked us to meet her and her husband at the restaurant Kioskia at 8:30 PM. You said OK. She later called and changed it to 9 PM and you again said yes. I was not happy with that and after several tries (the line was busy for 20 minutes) I got her and said that was too late and perhaps another time. The time was reset to the original 8:30. Our sweet Marianna came and drove us to the restaurant. We spent about an hour with Aphrodite and Niko recounting your adventure (rather, misadventure) and catching up on our mutual kids. They drove us back to the house. Day 258 (Monday, June 27, 2005)—today we went to Carrefour (it’s a super-market plus owned by a French company) to buy some groceries. I like that they accept credit cards. Marianna, the Thano, Litsa and we all piled into the car at about 10:30 for the ride there. We bought a bunch of stuff to include two rotisserie chickens for lunch today. The bill came to 123 Euros and I charged it to our Master Card. We saw the village priest there (he was shopping with 297 one of his daughters) and he blessed you on-the-spot. Since Marianna is driving us all over and I noticed she had only a quarter tank of gas, I had her stop for a fill up. You noted, gas costs more than twice what we pay. I mention this as a reminder that things are not particularly cheap in Greece any more and is rated far down among EU nations in terms of wages. Back home, we ate lunch (you made the salad), had a siesta, and you agreed with little encouragement to do some of your homework. You start out pretty well doing the work but tire when we hit the second page of a two page exercise. When you get tired, you lose your ability to concentrate. From here on out, we will only work one page per day. The good thing is that you are trying. I wish that I had more patience. I say again, I wonder how the therapists do it for a whole day times five with many different patients? Your memory is really pretty good and you continue to correct my Greek which is also a good thing for you and for me. I still make frequent mistakes selecting the wrong article for its corresponding noun. Oh, well! Your balance is good, you walk fast when required, but your steps are still a little tentative and you look stiff. You negotiate stairs with little problem and we do go up and down the two flights of marble steps frequently each day—I counted them, there are 22. However, there is still a child-like quality that you display and often you cast your eyes downward when you should be looking up. That before accident sparkle in your eyes is not quite there yet. You walk differently from before the accident. All of this and other small things mean that you still have much healing to do. The doctor said it would take time. Day 259 (Tuesday, June 28, 2005)—this day completes your 37th week since the accident. Everyday there is positive progress towards wellness. This morning after breakfast we showered and dressed and then did a lesson about Walt Disney. You did very, very well reading the paragraph and answering the associated questions. Tomorrow we will finish page two of the lesson. 298 Apostalos and Marianna came right on time. We took Litsa to their house to baby sit and off we went to look for screens to give us some shade while sitting in the patio in the afternoon. We also went on a hunt for a gas barbecue grill. We compared the offerings from Carrefour and Praktiker (a German owned store on the order of Ikea) and got the one from Praktiker. It was a little more expensive but overall appeared of better quality. It’s called an Outback. The instructions are in English thus it is either English (Australian?) or American made. Gregory loves to cook outside but the grill and charcoal he uses makes it more work rather then pleasure. He liked our grill when he was in the US and thus he should like this one. We got two bamboo screens from Praktiker too. We checked out several other stores for these items, to include Ikea. Apostalos, as the driver, was very nice to drive us around here and there and back. His station wagon made it possible to haul what we bought. We were lucky that the grill we wanted was the last one they had because we were then offered and got the floor model which was fully assembled. Since I hate assembling things, this was a nice touch. Apostalos assured me, however, that he is used to putting things together and thus one in a box would have posed no problem. We went to the Panorama Goody’s (the Greek equivalent of McDonalds) for lunch and after lunch we all went to our respective homes for a siesta. Following our nap, Gregory and I put up the screens. I impressed my self at the ease I went up and down the ladder. I guess the few days we’ve been going up and down the stairs have had some benefit. The screens are nice but they could have been about three feet longer. We bought the longest they had. We did a good job of making them even on the top but one was a little longer than the other by three inches. They are doing the job of providing us with some shade in the afternoon on the patio when the sun is most intense. We walked to Hagia Paraskevi church with Marianna, Thano, and Litsa. You did well going up and down hills and stairs. You led the way showing you remembered the route. This was more exercise for 299 us following the walking we did while shopping. We tried lighting candles just outside the church to no avail because of a breeze. There was no place to light them inside the church because they are renovating. The floor is now all made of marble. We did kiss the Holy Icons and then went to the place where water runs from under the church. This is considered holy water blessed by Hagia Pareskevi and I applied it to you and to me. After that we sat and watched Thano on a children’s carousel and Marianna chasing him around after his ride. You did a god job walking back too. We spent a pleasant evening sitting outside and talking. We went to bed at 10:45. You did very well indeed today with all our activities. Day 260 (Wednesday, June 29, 2005)—we arose late this morning in spite of the construction noises starting promptly at 7 AM. Hot water was ready for us so we showered, you washed your hair, I shaved, and we went downstairs to eat. Following that activity, we did your studies. We concluded page 2 of the reading. You did very well answering the questions. It is a little overcast today and cooler. You are ready to go home, you said. You like being with your sister but not here. You miss your own nest. It is true we don’t do much here but I think the interaction is good for you. You are not happy with the constant construction noises from nearby as they are working on finishing a townhouse. The cement mixer is making a constant noise as it turns. They are applying cement over the brick front of the house. This is a tough job and certainly must be tiring and back breaking work. You went with your sister to the beauty parlor where your sister is getting her hair done. It is run by a cousin and she wants to see you. I encouraged you to do so because the more interaction you have with people, the better for you. I love you baby and I need you completely well. This exposure to others is beneficial and helps you. We had a very relaxing day today. We went nowhere and no one came to visit except for Marianna and Thano. Our lunch consisted 300 of squash filled with chopped meat and rice with an egg lemon sauce and salad. Everything was very tasty. Later in the day we were once again bad as we had a desert called profiterole, that delicious combination of cake and chocolate pudding with whipped cream and topped with a cherry. Ellie and Gregory had ice cream. We sat around and chatted. Gregory disappeared to buy a chain and a lock for the barbecue grill. They feel it will be too tempting a target for the “Albanians” if not chained to the fence surrounding the patio. The Albanians are blamed for most of the crime in Greece. Apparently they also do most of the disagreeable jobs too. Later in the evening Gregory cut some delicious watermelon. You really enjoyed it and so did I. Of course, I had to embellish and did the Greek thing by eating feta too. Day 261 (Thursday, June 30, 2005)—we arrived a week ago today and awakened to church bells that sounded just prior to the usual construction noises starting at 7 AM. Today is the day of the Twelve Apostles and Gregory went to church for the liturgy which ended at 9 AM. Meanwhile, we ate breakfast and then showered after the hot water was turned on. While I was still in the bathroom, you dressed and off you went to Marianna’s with your sister to baby sit while Marianna went food shopping. Today is her husband’s name day and she must be prepared to receive guests this evening. When I came downstairs, Gregory was gone—I guess he went to the KAPI (the senior citizens’ club). I made my initial entries in this journal and then read my book. It is another delightful day. I paused reading my book to watch a workman apply cement to the front of the townhouse covering the cinderblock (actually they look more like blocks made from red brick clay). He is thin as a rail and no wonder given the work and the calories he must expend. First he puts cement on a pallet, walks on a scaffold to the place of application, puts some cement on a trowel and then slings it onto the side of the building where it adheres. Following the application, he 301 uses a long board to smooth what he applied. Talk about work! This guy looks to be in his sixties. Of course, he may be younger given the outside construction work he is engaged in would likely age one. I wouldn’t last five minutes mentally and certainly not physically doing such a job. While I don’t know how much he earns, I’m sure it is not very much. He does this eight hours per day, five days a week, at least at this construction site. There is another worker doing the same thing on the inside walls of the structure. While I am not thrilled with the noise these people generate starting at 7 AM, watching them work is interesting. It’s just afternoon now and you are still at Marianna’s with Litsa. About an hour earlier you called to see how I was doing. I could hear Thano in the background making his noises. You voiced a concern that he could fall off of the balcony and that he had to be watched. We had a nice conversation. Ellie is killing time too and every so often tries to communicate with me but I really don’t understand much of what she says. She just told me that Gregory called (I did not hear the phone) and he is on the way home. Right now it is quite here as the construction guys take a lunch break. The day is still very pleasant. You came with everybody after the shopping was done. It was lunch time and fish was on the menu. Gregory bought “ghavro,” a type sardine, yesterday. Litsa fried the fish until they were nice and crispy while Gregory made a great salad. We all enjoyed the meal. We then went up for the usual siesta, napping for an hour. We went to celebrate Apostalos’ name day. We wished him many more returns of the day and we enjoyed the nice spread Marianna made for expected guests. She did a very nice job and dummy me forgot to take pictures even though I had my camera with me. We left at 9:30 PM—you went by car with Litsa and Ellie while Gregory and I walked. I got my exercise in this way. I was surprised that Gregory got out of breath and had to stop to catch his breath. Surprisingly, I didn’t have the same problem. 302 Day 262 (Friday, July 01, 2005)—you slept like an angel and I did not sleep worth a darn. In fact, I got up at 12:30 AM and read for an hour in the sitting room. I returned to bed and still had a rough time of it, sleep-wise. I was hot and you were covered. When I observed you in the AM light, your cute face was framed in the cover and I enjoyed watching you sleep. Church bells rang again at 7 AM and shortly thereafter the construction people began their construction noises. Eventually this awakened you. We went and showered and did the breakfast bit. We started your morning lesson and then your cousin Evangelia, the Chiropractor’s wife, came to see you. I withdrew to read so that you could interact with her and your sisters. I sat on the balcony and finished the book I was reading while you chatted on the patio. After she left, we continued with your lesson. You are improving. You responded to twelve problems and we will complete the other 13 tomorrow. Litsa said you did very well conversing with your cousin, asking and answering the right questions. We ate leftovers for lunch and added a spicy spaghetti we bought from Carrefour a few days ago. Then it was siesta time again and we napped for an hour. You started reading one of the books we brought with us (we bought it in Delaware while visiting Dino and Myrna). You are enjoying the book whose title is Clearing the Aisle by Karen Swartz. It’s about the trials and tribulations of getting engaged and then married. You find it light and amusing—a great vacation book, you said. Marianna came and took Litsa to the Thessaloniki apartment so she could wash the sheets we brought—no washing machine here yet. I went along for the ride and then Marianna and I went to a supermarket owned by a German firm. Lidl is a discount place and they don’t accept credit cards. We bought lots of cola since you seem to like it so much, and other stuff to include cute little running shoes for Thano. We were looking for new ice trays but found none there so we drove to Carrefour where we found some. I even bought a pair of rubber sandals to use back in the US. I have a pair for here 303 that I like to wear with my cargo shorts. These shorts a very comfortable and its multiple pockets make it very convenient to carry stuff securely. I have no fear of pickpockets. You were up and waiting for me when we returned at 8:30 PM. It reminded me of NRH when I would come in the morning and you’d say “he’s here” with joy and love in your voice. We ate watermelon and feta cheese and were in bed by 10:15. I took a “Lumenista” pill to sleep better than I did last night. I was a very nice day but there may be severe weather tomorrow afternoon on its way from Italy. Day 263 (Saturday, July 02, 2005)—church bells woke us up but no construction noises. We did the usually morning things and ate the usually breakfast things. I was not impressed with Lumenista. Gregory and I went to the supermarket in the village to buy sausages fit for grilling. Apparently, the hot dogs I bought a few days ago are better when boiled. On the way to the market, we stopped off at the local betting parlor where Gregory cashed in a winning ticket for 10 Euros. He filled out new bets for Lotto and a game called Joker. It seems that every time we go to the supermarket, I find stuff to buy beyond what we originally went for. When we returned to the house, you were sitting with Litsa looking at pictures from last year and even older. Litsa said you recognized everybody in the pictures. Another sign of memory improvement. You also read your book. We are waiting for Gregory to return from the “KAPI” so we can grill the sausages. So far it is a very nice day. The temperature is perfect and there is a nice gentle breeze. So far so good! We’ll see if the severe weather predicted hits later in the day. The guys (Gregory, Apostalos, and I) are supposed to go see War of the Worlds at 5:30. We used the grill for the first time today. We bought Greek-style sausage at the village supermarket for 4.50 Euro the kilo. They grilled nicely and I supervised Gregory in lighting the grill and in 304 their preparation. The grilling disclosed the fact that we needed barbecue tools such as a long pair of tongs. I burnt my hand slightly moving the sausage to a safer spot on the grill when the dripping fat led to flames. As instructed, Gregory used squirts from a water bottle to reduce the flames. The sausage was delicious and the mashed potatoes and salad were a hit for lunch. We followed what is our tradition here and went for an hour nap. A little later I went to Apostalos house to go on the internet and sent emails to Dini, Niko, and Bob/Kathy. Gregory came and the “boys” went to the movies and what a lovely theater it is. It is located near Ikea and McDonalds. It has ten screens and the lobby is like any new multiplex in the US. When buying tickets you are assigned specific seats in the theater. The lobby is big and well appointed and popcorn abounds. They sell hot dogs, nachos, soft drinks and even beer. As in the US people line up to buy stuff to eat which is cheaper than counterpart movie food in the US. The theater itself is stadium-style but not as steep as ours stadium seating. The seats are comfortable but with more constrained legroom and without drink holders. War of the Worlds was OK. The critics gave it a good write up, I would have rated it less then the four out of five stars they gave it. Maybe I have outgrown science fiction movies. Tom Cruise did a good job and Dakota Fanning the little girl that played his daughter was excellent as always. She really is a great performer. The special affects were great and up to Spielberg’s standards the monster machines looked real and the aliens evil. The guys liked the show probably better than I did—you would have hated it, too much noise, destruction, violence, and nothing to laugh about. We arrived home at 9 PM and you were up. I snacked, we all chatted for a bit and we were lights out at 10:30. Oh, yes, the wind did pick up, the temperature did drop, and it did rain. The weather, however, was not as severe as expected. 305 Day 264 (Sunday, July 03, 2005)—it rained during the night. As usual, you slept very well and I not so great. The church bells rang at 7 AM and we got up by 7:30 to prepare for and go to church. We met many people you know and they all wished you get well. It is cool today. When we got home we changed clothes and wore jeans. Shortly thereafter, your sister-in-law Marika came to visit followed by her daughter Chrisoula and granddaughters Natasa and Maria. They brought sweets. Maria is as lovable as always and Natasa is growing into a lovely young woman. We gave her a little Euro gift to celebrate her graduation from grammar school. She starts middle school in the fall which is located in the village. They will build a high school here in the near future too. This is another sign that the village continues to grow. Maria brought you and your sisters an invitation to her birthday party to be held on July sixth. She was six on 30 June. They stayed a couple hours until we were ready to have lunch. After lunch and our siesta, we went to Marianna’s house where I went on the internet and you watched DVDs of Marianna’s wedding and Thano’s christening. You said that you don’t remember being at either occasion or having seen the DVDs. You didn’t see the christening DVD but you did see the wedding DVD. A little memory gap here. You really were beautiful at the wedding in your long dress. While at the computer, I sent many emails to friends and relatives. This is much easier than sending postcards. Dini replied to one I sent yesterday saying that it felt funny being in Bethesda on business without us being there. She, Nick and Nina went to some expensive restaurant where a hamburger was $41. She sent us love, misses us and hopes someday to come to Greece with us. We were going to walk home from Marianna’s but it began to rain so Marianna drove us back. On the way, we stopped and bought some sweets. Marika had left us koulourakia which we later found out were left in error—they should have been pastries. Natasa came and made the exchange. We were all bad and ate the sweets we bought saving the new ones for another time. 306 There was a very nice Greek film on TV. It was an old movie, in black and white, that Gregory said won many awards in its time. I must admit to liking it more than War of the Worlds. The film’s name was The Counterfeit Gold Coin and consisted of four vignettes all connected by the counterfeit gold coin. The first was about a craftsman who made the coin. He was an honorable and church loving man until seduced from his righteous path by a man, depicted as Satan, and by his mistress. Satan’s seduction was through words and tempting images of wealth and travel while the mistress used her body for the craftsman’s ultimate fall from grace. The craftsman made a perfect looking coin that matched those in circulation but there was one flaw, the coin when dropped on a surface did not make the sound of a true gold coin as this was a common test for authenticity when they tried to pass the coin, all determined it was counterfeit. Thus, the get rich scheme to counterfeit countless gold coins failed. The craftsman/counterfeiter who was really a good person came to his senses, disposed of the tools used to counterfeit the coin in fear of being arrested. He went to church and prayed for forgiveness and was redeemed because of his innate goodness. The incarnate Satan was arrested for theft at the place of his employment while the woman was punished because she now had no one and no money. The next vignette was about a mean landlord just interested in amassing money by collecting his rents from his rental properties. One of his leasers was a poor family consisting of a wife, husband, and their lovely little girl. The kind father was a house painter who died part way through the vignette leaving the family even more destitute than they were before his death. As is usual in such stories, the mother became ill, she and the child were starving, and faced eviction. The mean landlord, who had no children, was scolded often by his wife because of his obsession with money. She observed how terrible it was that they were childless and suspected his attitude was at fault. All was not lost, however, and redemption was possible. The mean landlord became captivated by the sweetness of the little girl and recognized the errors of his ways. The little girl when all 307 was at its blackest found the counterfeit coin on the street. Her mother believing it was real asks the child from her sick bed to cash it, shop for food, other necessities and to pay the rent. The little girl fails because all recognize it as counterfeit. The landlord finds her crying and succumbs. The landlord knowing the coin is counterfeit gives her cash in exchange for the coin and tells her she will never have to worry again, that he will be there for her. The third vignette dealt with a beggar posing as a blind man and a prostitute both working the same corner and in conflict. The beggar finds the coin and spends days trying to cash it to no avail. He figures that he can fool the prostitute that is working his corner with the coin and thus derive some pleasure from her. All goes as planned until the next morning when he discovers that he has a hole in his pocket. There is no coin to pay the prostitute for services rendered. Screaming and yelling ensue between beggar and prostitute until a policeman comes and arrests them both. The final vignette was about a poor artist and a young woman from a wealthy family. The counterfeit coin finds its way into a New Year’s round loaf of sweet bread. As is the tradition, the bread is cut into slices with the objective of awarding the coin and its good luck to someone in one of the slices. The coin is between two slices, one for the artist and the other for the young women. They see this as a sign that they as lovers should marry. They do and the young woman is disinherited by her disapproving wealthy father. The coin is placed into a small clay bank to safeguard their love and they vow never to spend it. The artist has his wife pose for him. While she was posing he asks her to say “se ghapo” (I love you) to achieve the exact facial expression he seeks. Their life together becomes more and more difficult because there is little income as the artist focuses on his art. Services such as electricity, gas, etc. and credit are extinguished one by one. Her ability to say se ghapo becomes strained as the passing days become truly harsh. She comments that artists should not marry since they are wed to their art. To his credit, he does go to earn some money by painting the walls of a local tavern and excitedly returns with the money to find her gone. 308 A note in the room announces her departure. She returns to her father, gets a divorce, and eventually marries someone that she has known since childhood. He is a wealthy banker. Upon return from their honeymoon, her husband reads a notice in the paper that an artist (her artist) is having a show and that he is critically acclaimed. The newlyweds go to the showing and there is the portrait of her displayed and it is titled se ghapo” It is not for sale, the artist declares, and never will be as she herself was for sale. More years pass. The couple has a little boy. The artist becomes even more famous and now rich. The artist and the woman meet on the street and clearly they still love each other but too much has passed. He tells her that he opened the clay bank and found the coin to be counterfeit as perhaps their love. After they take leave, he takes out the coin and throws it away while commenting All money is counterfeit. TELOS!!! (The End). So, OK, maybe it was hokey but we all liked it. We went to bed at 10 PM. I give these times to show that you are able to stay up when there is some stimulation. Of course, every once in awhile, you do say “nahni” (sleep) in a very cute way. Day 265 (Monday, July 04, 2005)—Happy Birthday USA! Construction, not fireworks, woke us up this AM for in Greece it is a usual work day. It is cool again today but nonetheless we showered since the bathroom is warm and the water hot. When we went to breakfast, we found that Litsa was at Marianna’s to baby sit Thano. Marianna and Apostalos had to go to Thessaloniki to receive a payment of some sort. You did some homework with me. For some reason you continue to make your Ns backward. Given that the capital N in Greek is the same as in English, I can’t figure out why. You practiced making the letter N as well as responding to the lesson. Following that you read your book a bit and then announced you were bored. We went for a walk to Marianna’s that you enjoyed very much. On the way, we saw Voula’s husband Theodore and he greeted you with much 309 affection. After the kids returned, we walked back home with Litsa and had a lunch from leftovers and then the usual siesta. The day continues cool and you felt cold in bed. We had the usual afternoon sweet—bad us but we can’t seem to escape the really wonderful pastries they make here. Marianna came and we decided to go shopping for Maria’s birthday party. Before we left, I noticed that you dropped some chocolate ants on yourself and they stained your shirt. You didn’t seem to care. This is certainly not Maria BA. I tried to clean the spots and they did clean but of course the shirt got wet. Your sister did not approve of your going out that way so you went upstairs and changed. We went to the toy store Jumbo and Apostalos met us there in his car arriving from work. We put Thano in a basket and off we went to search out gifts. This store is by far the largest toy store we have ever seen. It had a numberless amount of toys and related items such as notebooks, beach stuff, etc. We bought a gift for Maria and one for Jenna, cute porcelain doll. All and all the shopping went well and I paid by credit card. Upon our return home, Gregory cut some watermelon and I had that and feta. You didn’t eat any because you had lots earlier. It was very nice with us all sitting outside tonight. Day 266 (Tuesday, July 05, 2005)—this closes 38 weeks since the accident. We got up to the sounds of the usual construction. We slept under blankets last night and boy did it rain hard. We both slept very well. We showered and made the bed. You preceded me down and prepared breakfast. Outside everything was very wet. Following our meal we (meaning you) did your homework. It consisted of 25 questions each with three terms or words that have some association or similarity and required the student to provide a fourth term. For example, they supplied the words: screw driver, pliers, hammer and then the respondent would provide the name of a fourth tool. You did very, very well. One thing that stumped me 310 (and you) however, included the following words: ant, penny, paperclip. For the life of me, I still can’t figure out what the commonality is between these terms. I’ll send an email to the kids and see what they say. Hey, maybe the answer that alludes us is copper as these items may have that color. Overall, you did very well and I gave you an “A.” We practiced more letters N too. Gregory asked me to keep him company on his trip to the city. We had to take two busses there. We walked quite a distance to pick up his wrist watch, then a bunch more to go to his apartment to potty, next stop was to get you “sporia” (pumpkin seeds), and then we went and bought two rotisserie chickens for lunch. Gregory insisted with vehemence to pay. We had to wait about 15 minutes for the return bus. We got off at Panorama to buy the nice wheat bread we like and walked far to the bakery where we bought five loaves— Gregory permitted me to pay for these. We now had more packages to carry and to walk with. We returned to the bus stop and it was a good 20 minutes before it came. We changed busses at the bus station about five miles from the village and arrived at the end-ofthe-line about 12:45 PM. More walking to the house and it was uphill at that! I really got very, very good exercise today. As usual you were pleased to see me and said that you missed me. While we were gone, Marianna wrapped the presents for Maria and for Jenna. You liked getting the sporia and you informed me that you got your sister to make French fries for me. Greek French fries are really wonderful. Our meal of chicken, French fries, and salad was very enjoyable. You and I made many submarines (the Greek term for dipping bread into the salad dressing). You had some sporia and did your amazing trick of shelling these very flat seeds with your teeth and extracting their contents. I was never able to do that and your sister says she can’t do it either. Our Siesta was for the usual hour. Litsa and Gregory did too and then they watched Young and the Restless They enjoy it very much. They are addicted. We went for a ride with Marianna to a nearby Goody’s near the bay. You had the urge for soft ice cream much like we eat in the US. 311 We walked a bit and then went and got our soft ice cream, vanilla with chocolate syrup—you liked it and so did I. We walked some more, and found a place to sit overlooking the bay. Marianna took our picture with the bay in the background. Since we were close, I proposed that we visit Avdela 28 where we lived from 1962-1964. The house was still there looking much like it did 40 plus years ago only now it was surrounded by apartment houses. Kitsonides son, the dentist, still lives there according to the signs at the entrance way. I took two pictures of you standing in the mouth of the entrance gate. It was a nostalgic moment as Thalia, the kids and I lived there for two years and you were the kids Nanny and a member of the family even then. Just prior to our arrival in Greece, Thalia had been diagnosed with MS. Seventeen year old you were wonderful with the kids and would be with them and us again eight plus years later when you arrived in the US in December 1972. Day 267 (Wednesday, July 06, 2005)—as has become usual these mornings, construction noises woke us up but we lolled around in bed anyway ignoring the noises until almost 9 AM. We then did the showering, breakfast bit and then did your homework. You did well in both spelling and the thinking processes involved in completing the series figuring out similarities and adding one of your words to each. Of course you had to be cute too when you responded “Arion” to the given words of “weight, elephant, and dinosaur.” Next we read some and Marianna called to go somewhere only to discover that she left her driver’s license in Apostalos’ car. Litsa puttered around making bean salad for our lunch and Gregory went and did his KAPI thing. When he came back, we ate and then the usual siesta for one hour. I copied photos to the computer from the camera and adjusted some. It really is nice to have a program for fixing one’s photographic errors. You, your two sisters, Marianna and Thano went to Maria’s birthday party after Litsa convinced you to change from shorts into jeans. Maria (she calls herself Malia as she still has trouble with the 312 letter R) is Chrisoula’s daughter and while she turned six years old on 30 June today was selected as the party day. There were about ten kids in attendance and assorted mothers, aunts, grandmas, etc. You met a classmate, Eleni, that you hadn’t seen in years and she was surprised to learn of your accident. You were taken aback for a moment when you saw your nephew Apostalos, your brother’s son. You said it was like seeing your brother resurrected. You told me that they had the usual food for parties of this type. You didn’t much like the cake as you found it mushy. Since I like mushy cake, I was disappointed that you did not bring me some to eat. You left for the party at 6:30 and didn’t return until 8:30. You said that you enjoyed yourself. We had a late bite to eat. You said you wanted nothing until I got my “tost.” Tost is a grilled ham and cheese sandwich. You like what you saw and ate a half sandwich, mine of course. After the snack, we went inside and watched some TV and watched a movie about a unicorn (in Greek, monokeros which literally means one horn). Niko called from the US. Litsa answered and was thrilled to hear his voice and his few words of Greek. All is fine at home, he took the towels out of the dryer and our Oracle parked car is OK too. He told me that a letter was sent to our lawyer from the Ft. Meade JAG requesting certain information and telling us that there was a new action person on our case as the former had been promoted. It was nice to hear from Niko. You stayed up until 11 PM. Day 268 (Thursday, July 07, 2005)—Marianna came for us at 10 AM as promised. We got up late so we were rushed to bathe, get dressed, and eat. We did not squeeze in the early morning lesson. Perhaps later! We drove to Thessaloniki in very, very dense traffic—a trip that should have taken 30 minutes took an hour plus. The traffic has increased with a vengeance but the road network is still horse and buggy. Street parking is a terrible problem and people leave their cars every which way and double parked. There seems to be little 313 traffic or parking enforcement. The traffic situation and the way folks drive reaffirmed my decision to not drive here unless there is some emergency. Driving in the US even in heavy stop and go traffic is a dream compared to here. Marianna does drive well but I did find myself constantly applying a phantom brake—she has a tendency to tail gate. We parked in a parking garage near the YMCA. It was a really advanced parking structure and very impressive. You pull onto a turntable, get out of the car, the car is turned on the table and lifted onto an elevator where it is whisked off to a parking space. The garage was well lighted and very clean. Upon our return, the reverse took place after we paid for our stay. An hour-and-a-half (up to two hours) cost 5 Euros thus not cheap but it does avoid the headache of trying to find a hen’s tooth of a parking space. We went to the emblem of Thessaloniki, the White Tower, which as we know, is not too white. I still don’t know why they don’t paint it given it supposedly was once white. I asked Gregory but he didn’t seem to know. There is much construction around the Tower to repave the area. I tried to take a picture while avoiding the construction. We’ll see if I was successful. We went present shopping at a tourist store and found a calendar for Niko and a cookbook for Nina and one for Dini. We need to buy something for Connie and Vicky too. We’ll make another trip to some other tourist location to avoid traffic and parking problems. We used the grill today. I took a couple of pictures of Gregory making hamburgers. They were very good eaten with salad. Siesta was next. Marianna came to take you gals shopping but you all declined and she left Thano with us. He is a very noisy and active kid. He requires a lot of attention. We did two lessons in the evening and you did OK on the first and great on the second. For these lessons, you read a paragraph (one about the Grand Canyon and the other about the Empire State 314 Building) and answered question—five with yes or no and five multiple choice. I was going to check email this evening but Apostalos was called away to work--hopefully tomorrow. Marianna came back with clothes that she purchased at Jumbo. She will give these to the boy being Christened on the 16th. Day 269 (Friday, July 08, 2005)—the usual construction noises started promptly at seven but you slept through them. We got up at 8:30 and bathed. I took longer because I gave myself a haircut. To your credit, you made the bed all on your own and then went downstairs and made us breakfast. Litsa went to Thessaloniki to cash a check, Gregory went to buy peas with Ellie and then the KAPI for him. You did your lesson for today and really got an A+. You did very, very well. I uploaded the most recent pictures I took from our camera to the laptop and then worked on them with my editing program. They all look pretty good now. In one, I even “painted” an ugly kidney bean can that was on the table blue and stuck a flower into it to make it look better. After the family reassembled, we ate peas and pilaf with some of yesterday’s leftovers. We seem to overcook here and always have something to eat from the previous day. Litsa showed me a magazine published periodically by the Mayor of Hortiatis. It was interesting and had articles on many subjects from how to have a safe summer to the various activities scheduled throughout the summer in the area. One article I particularly liked concerned the history of the area and I thought I would include my understanding of what was written here. The name Hortiatis is not only ascribed to the village but also to the municipality. The Municipality of Hortiatis consists of four villages: Avestohori is the largest with an official population of 4,789 and is thus the current seat of the mayor and his administration; next in size is Filiro with 3,620; Hortiatis is third with 2,946 and then Exohi with 1,511. Hortiatis is designated as a historic district. 315 Asvestohori was first called New village and established in 1600 AD while the Turks occupied the area a location for a protective force to guard the passage toward Thessaloniki from nearby lakes. The population quickly increased there because it also enjoyed a significant economic potential. The inhabitants exploited this potential by exporting lime that was quarried nearby. Known for its lime exports, by 1700 the name of the town was changed to Asvestohori (literally in English, “Limetown”). Filiro was established in the early 1930s and occupied by refugees expelled from Asia Minor and the Black Sea area by the Turks. Hortiatis is located some 600 meters above sea level rising from the base of Mount Hortiatis part way up its slope. The name Hortiatis is probably derived from and in honor of the blessed Monastery Hortiatis sometime during the 11th Century AD. Its first inhabitants occupied the area during the 4th Century BC under a king named Kiso. One of the first major building efforts in the area was the construction of an aqueduct by the Romans during the 3rd Century AD. On 2 September 1944, the German’s as a reprisal against the local resistance movement, burned the village and with it 149 villagers that they had locked in a local bakery. Not too long ago, the village was designated as a “martyr” village by the President of Greece. This is the only village so designated in the area dominated by Thessaloniki. A more contemporary 21st Century problem is villager dissatisfaction with the vast number (over thirty) antenna erected at the crest of the mountain used for TV and radio broadcast purposes. The villagers believe that such a vast array brings or will bring health problems to them but especially their children. There are frequent demonstrations held to protest and to ask that something be done. The smallest village in the area is Exohi (literally in English, “Countryside”). The village was established in the early 1900s to house the staff of what was then called the Sanitarium for patients with TB. Today, it is the site of the Papanicholas Hospital. The 316 former and current medical facilities enjoyed a great gift of the area —a good climate and clean air. Sweetheart, I hope you will enjoy this capsule of history when you read it at some future time. I did read it to you while you sat on the couch with your feet on my lap and my computer on you. I explained what I wrote to Litsa and she clearly remembered the day that the village was burned in 1944. Even when you are only eight years old as Litsa was at the time something so traumatic will leave a lasting impression. Here is her story: Your mother was alerted by other villagers that the Germans were coming to retaliate for the killing two of their soldiers. While some said retaliation would not be taken against women, children, and old men, others counseled all to run for the hills surrounding the village. Your mother, Chrissy, rounded up your bother and sisters—Stelios, Litsa, and Ellie--and she told your brother to take you all to a location she thought would be safe. By the way, your mom was pregnant with you. Your mother’s plan was to stay home until the bread she was baking in the stone oven was finished—it would only be a short time. She wanted to take the fresh bread for food and then join her kids. When your siblings left home per instructions, they saw a group of villagers going in a direction different from that designated by your mother and Stelios chose to follow them—he felt safer as part of a group. A villager noted they were without an adult and told Stelios he and his sisters needed to be with your mother and he obeyed. As he started back towards home and at the point where the trail was at a crossroads, one road leading to the area designated by your mother, your mother appeared and led all to safety. Your father, meanwhile, was already away from the village herding his animals and managed to locate the family that same day. The Germans did search the open areas of the hills (Litsa said they could hear gunfire) but the Germans feared to go into the woods and be subject to ambush by the resistance. Your family lived in the woods in a primitive shelter constructed by your dad until late November when it appeared safe to go back home. When the family returned home they discovered it had been ransacked and many 317 precious belongings stolen. Since most of these belongings were clothes, Litsa believes other Greeks were the thieves. Not a pleasant piece of history for Hortiatis or your family. After our siesta, you and I walked to Marianna’s and Apostalos’ house. You were entertained by her and Thano while I went to check on any email. We received several in response to my “Greetings from Greece” email. It was nice to hear from home. Nick and Nina both sent their love, Connie wrote as did Dino, Bill Torpey/Priscilla said hi too. I got an email from Fred McDougal confirming Connie’s info that BAI is to move to Tyson’s Corner area in Virginia with Analex in November. I’ll have to think about what I will do with all the stuff in my “consultant’s office.” I don’t know if Analex will provide me with one or even if I want one there —I don’t much like the drive to and especially from Tyson’s—my experience is not pleasant with that drive if after 2PM. It looks as if my working days may come to a close. Another thing Apostalos and I did was to use his scanner to scan a picture of your father as a Private in the Greek Army taken on 7 July 1924. The scan worked pretty well and I don’t think it will need to be repaired. Litsa, Ellie and Gregory came and off we went to visit your cousins Panayotis and Georgia Mane. They had invited us yesterday to come at 7 PM for some pita. Marianna and Apostalos came later when we found out it was Georgia’s intention to invite them too. Georgia made spinach pie, a sweet squash pie, and even dolmades. I focused on the squash pie, it was delicious and you stuck with the spinach pie and likewise found it very good. She also made us American style coffee which I managed to have black, you just used cream. As the final item to top everything else off she had some very tasty ice cream. We all chatted while feeding our faces. You told everybody what you learned happened to you when hit by the pickup truck and saving Jenna. You did a good job in general chatting as well as holding forth about your accident. We left there at 9:30 PM. Day 270 (Saturday, July 09, 2005)—there was no construction work today but the church bells sounded at their usual 7 AM. Shortly 318 thereafter we got up because today we were to have a big adventure. After breakfast with Gregory and Litsa, we took the two busses necessary to go to Thessaloniki. You tolerated the trip very well and had no problem getting on and off the busses. It is a good thing that we board early enough on the route to be assured seats. While you tolerated the trip, you weren’t particularly happy on the bus as it negotiated the serpentine curves. We got off the bus about one mile from our initial and ultimate destinations. Our first stop was Litsa’s Thessaloniki apartment, she needed to unload some stuff and get my Greek-American/AmericanGreek dictionary. Next, we walked to what we would call the Farmer’s Market and what in Greek is called the “People’s Market” (laiki). Everyday throughout the city, streets are closed off to permit farmer’s the sale of their produce and others to sell their wares (such as skirts and stuff). The place was jumping and after just a short time we were loaded with purchases. We teased you by letting you carry a package with some sponges and parsley. You announced that you could manage the load. We took a cab back to the village. I am angry with myself for getting angry with you during this phase of our journey back. It was a small cab and you got into the back seat first, followed by me and then Litsa. For some reason, you would not scoot all-the-way across the seat next to the door. I told you move, I pushed, to little avail. I don’t know if you did not understand what was wanted of you or if you were (you thought) being cute. Finally, you did get you over so Litsa could squeeze in. I was not happy with your intransigence. I’m still not sure what was going on. Later, I apologized for my anger and you apologized for you behavior. The ride was not very comfortable and Litsa said we should have waited for a larger cab. At home, we unloaded the grocery bags, and Gregory made a beeline to his favorite KAPI. At about 1 PM, he returned and we had lunch. We grilled bratwurst we bought a couple of days ago at the German owned supermarket. To that, was added those wonderful Greek French fries, salad, fried eggplant and green 319 peppers (ugh from me for the latter two, you liked them). After that, we bathed and then went for our siesta. You slept for about two hours. You have the weekend off from lessons. The evening continued in a relaxed mode until 9:45 PM. While we were watching TV, your sister-in-law Marika and her 6 year old grandchild came for a visit. We were watching a Greek comedian who was skirting the limits of propriety for little ears to hear. I asked Gregory to change channels and he did. About 10:10, however, you gave up and we went upstairs to sleep. You got the hiccups and we tried the hold your breath bit to no avail. Finally, I gave up and went to get you something sweet. Guess what? Marika and grandchild were still here. I got you a half-teaspoon of cherry jam, you ate it and away went the hiccups. Something sweet and an immediate cure. Amazing! We had our lights out at about 11:15 PM. Day 271 (Sunday, July 10, 2005)—what a busy day we had today. The church bells awakened us at 7 AM. We went downstairs about 7:15 so you could take your bone building pill. You did make me breakfast of coffee and cereal and ate the same when it became your after pill time. We dressed and went to church with Litsa at about 8:30. The church really filled up as there were two memorial services following the liturgy. Today, we supplied the wine for communion and the oil for the candelas of the church. After services, I engaged in a tradition I’ve never seen done in the US Orthodox church or anywhere for that matter. Last night we received seven loaves of sweet bread that we ordered a couple of days ago. The bread was sliced and blessed and at the conclusion of the services, I stood outside of the church’s main door with the bread in a basket. As parishioners filed out they took a piece of bread and offered a blessing for God’s help in making you healthy. Gregory said that he had done the same thing for you about a month after your accident. We came home and changed from our Sunday clothes into something we could travel in. Marianna’s in-laws, Thanasi and Alkesti, came about 11 AM and off we were for the 90 minute car 320 trip to Vergina. This was where Alexander the Great was born and where Philip II, his father, had a Palace. His tomb, with others, was found in the area in 1977 by Manolis Andronicos with excavation completed in 1984. The tomb was something to see as were the artifacts. The art work was beautiful including golden diadems and weapons. They even had a silver service on display used during festivals and parties. Thanasi gave us a present of a very, very nice book written in English by Andronicos which tells the whole story of the area and the excavations. We also visited the Palace grounds and the size and scope was truly magnificent. The defensive walls are more than 250 meters in length and two meters thick. The internal walls of the palace are 180 meters in length. The palace was constructed in the last years of the fourth century BC. There was a drawing at the site depicting how the archeologists believe it might have looked. Anybody with a little imagination will view these ruins in awe—as by the way, you did. You were most impressed. We also visited the amphitheater which is 60m to the north of the palace. It is believed that Phillip II was assassinated here in 336 BC. It was interesting to note that only the first two rows for seating were made of stone, the rest apparently of earth and wood. There didn’t appear to be any special seats for the King and retinue and it is surmised that a portable wooden throne was moved into place on the occasion of the King’s attendance. The Kings of Macedonia trace their lineage to Heracles. Thanasi told us the myth on how an early king of Macedonia selected the site of his palace. This King Karanos (I later found out), the founder of the Macedonian dynasty, supposedly saw a herd of goats going up a hill in the area. He reasoned that where they stopped to graze would be a good location for a palace. He followed them and sure enough, they grazed in an area that was commanding (with a beautiful view of the plain stretching before it), it was cool in the summer, and with plentiful water. The area was called Aigai which is a term meaning goats. This was the first capital of the Macedonians. 321 Following our archeological adventure, we went to the town of Veria for lunch. We sat in a restaurant that was perched on the top of a hill and enjoyed the shade, a cooling breeze and a good meal with a bottle of the local white wine. You ate well and were really hanging in there with all of the activities. We also stopped to buy some of a local sweet that this town is famous for—Revani, a cake steeped in syrup—a wet cake, if you will. Thanasi suggested that since we were in the area that we visit a church of some fame. The Church is called the Holy Virgin— Summela. Summela was a place in Asia Minor where many Greeks lived until cast out of the area by the Turks in 1924. Talk about ethnic cleansing! Those cast out by the Turks left with some of their possessions, their most prized one an Icon of the Holy Virgin. They built their church to house the Icon high up in the mountains. The road leading there is serpentine with many, many hair pin curves and that climbs higher and higher. As you reach the heights, the climate becomes very refreshing and the quality of the air invigorating. This part of Greece is very green with many trees. The visit to the church was interesting but you were not thrilled with the road and its twists and turns. We lit candles and kissed the icons. I even purchased Icons of the Panaghia for Connie and Vicki. The trip from the church this time travelling in the direction toward home was equally harrowing as the road fished hooked continuously. We were looking for the national highway to start back to the village. Eventually we could see it from the road we were on in the distance. Getting there was another matter and that too was an adventure. Thanasi looked as if he knew where he was going but he took many wrong turns and we could not find an entrance onto the national highway—he finally stopped and asked for directions and we were soon on the way home. The road we got on is a recently completed national highway. It really is a great feat of engineering and must have cost big bucks to construct. There were many (and I mean many) tunnels carved through the mountains one of which was at least 2 KM in length. Quite impressive! It took 322 another 90 minutes to get home after we found the highway. Through it all, you were a real trooper. After we returned home, you chatted with Litsa. I had some of the Revani that we bought and then we went up to shower. At this point, you decided to rest. I could not object to your going to bed early given your good attitude throughout the day. You were terrific! By the way, you seem to have finished engaging in “confabulation.” I haven’t detected you making up any stories to fill in memory gaps for some time now. As I have said, earlier in this rather long journal, you now seem to know who is who and who belongs to which person. Once again good for you! I haven’t used the term for awhile, but your cognitive dots are being joined. You are still not the BA Maria but I continue to see positive steps in that direction. Physically too, you are getting better. Your ribs seem to be improving and since we have been here, you have tolerated wearing a bra. I couldn’t get you to try wearing one earlier but your sister has been a good influence. You are dressing better, doing your hair better, and generally doing more things for yourself. You continue to voice a degree of homesickness and stated that six weeks is too long. I, however, feel the interaction with people and the surroundings are of a great benefit to you. There was a lot of noise. Marianna and Thano showed up and you decided to come and join us all after what became brief rest. We all sat comfortably in the courtyard and chatted. After Marianna and Thano left, we went inside where we had melon and watched an American made romantic-comedy. You enjoyed it and we stayed up until after 11 PM. Day 272 (Monday, July 11, 2005)—nothing much to report today. We did all of the usual things plus I uploaded pictures from the camera and read many pages of this journal to you. I do that to correct obvious errors in the journal and I do make them. Also, I want to make sure what I write makes sense. 323 We ate lunch, had our siesta and then walked to Marianna’s home. While there, I got on Apostalos’ computer and looked for email. We walked home in the sun but it was quickly turning cloudy again. You chatted with your sister while I worked with the computer. You came back to me and I asked if you wanted to do homework and you agreed. You did two lessons designed to make you think. One was to select the word that did not match the category of the four other words listed and the other was to read a paragraph about Eli Whitney and answer questions. You did OK on the word lesson but I would not say great. You did much better with Eli Whitney. Gregory bought watermelon and we had some in lieu of dinner. The watermelon was not nearly as good as others we had. We tried honeydew melon and that too didn’t quite make the grade either. Day 273 (Tuesday, July 12, 2005)—this day closes 39 weeks and thus it is nine months since your accident on 12 October 2004. What a monstrous day that was. Thankfully you do not remember since there was much physical pain involved for you. But, all of us that love you certainly felt much mental pain. As I’ve described elsewhere, I have never felt such complete anguish. The tintinnabulation of the church bells and the not so tintinnabulation of the construction work awoke us as usual. The story to tell about the wee hours of this morning (about 12:30 AM) was that you had to go to the bathroom and got disoriented in doing so. First, you had trouble opening the sliding door and I got up and helped you. Next, you turned left into Litsa’s and Gregory’s room instead of to the right and the bathroom. You even turned on their light. You woke them up and your voices got me up and I asked why I was not invited to the party. Apparently, you were more asleep than awake. Thankfully, you did not turn in the direction of the stairs—they are hard as only marble can be and a fall would be disastrous. The door leading to the stairs remains closed. This morning when you awoke, you told me about this dream of walking into….I told you, no dream. You pronounced yourself a jerk. 324 We ate breakfast and then bathed. You hung things outside to dry, we went downstairs again and you read your book while I continued to make corrections to this journal. Marianna came and off we went with Lisa and little Thano to Carrefour. Thano was in a car seat this time and he really seemed to enjoy being high in the car and having the opportunity to look around. He was quite for the entire trip. He was quite in the store too riding around in the shopping basket. We did a lot of shopping and bought a lot of stuff for the house. We bought two chickens for lunch but I sneaked in my first gyro sandwich since arriving in Greece. It was delicious. You sneaked in some rice made with muscles, shrimp, and I think bits of chicken. You enjoyed that. We even bought a frozen apple pie to make later (it certainly did not match US versions). You were disappointed that they did not have Cool Whip. After lunch, the traditional siesta was enjoyed by all. Following that, we did two lessons and you did “fabulous darling, simply fabulous.” You are catching on and your writing is improving. By the time we leave, you should be aces. By the way, you are still expressing a readiness to leave, like now. I’ve been reading the book Marianna’s father-in-law gave us— Vergina, the Royal Tombs by the archeologist and excavator Manolis Andronicos. It is very interesting but frankly when it gets into too much detail one needs to speed read i.e., skip. Day 274 (Wednesday, July 13, 2005)—what noise we had today from the construction people. They were packing up and throwing the pipes from their scaffolding into a truck and yelling instructions to each other. There is more work to be done but by others such as installing windows, the floor (probably tile of some sort as is the norm here) and so forth. Our hope is that it will not be as noisy work. You, by the way, slept through the noise and the usual morning church bells. 325 I went into the sitting room to read but Litsa and Gregory were up and thus we chatted. At 8:30 I got you up. We had breakfast and then bathed, shampooed your hair and dressed. Your sister convinced you to use your hair dryer to help style your hair when you combed it. Apostalos was here when I arrived downstairs. He was waiting for the new village post office to open. He said they are supposed to open at nine but it did not open until 10—Greek-style, he said. Apparently, unbeknownst to him one must still go to the post office to get one’s mail (they were supposed to deliver if you had a mail box and he had one). He failed to do go--hence when the phone company sent the phone bill he never got it, did not pay, and as of last night had his service cut. Starting it up again will be a pain and of course an extra charge. Apostalos took you and Litsa to visit Marianna and to do a load of wash. They have a washing machine. The clothes to be washed are all mine. In the old days, I would wash individual items by hand practically on a daily basis but I guess I have grown lazy especially now that I know there is a washing machine close by. Litsa, by the way, still does the clothes while in the village by hand. She even did our bath towels yesterday. Litsa hung the clothes at our house clothes line and they dried very fast in the sun. She was kind enough to fold and you put the clothes away. We ate chili and tomato flavored spaghetti for lunch. Boy, were they hot. Chicken and salad supplemented the pasta. After our siesta, Marianna came and Litsa went to baby sit. You, Gregory and I went with Marianna for a ride. She needed to get some stuff at Carrefour and then Lidl. Gregory bought a bunch of bratwurst from Lidl as he very much enjoyed them when last we grilled them. I bought a brighter night light to guide your way and hopefully prevent you from making any wrong turns. Day 275 (Thursday, July 14, 2005)—the thunder crashed and lighting lit the sky during the night. At one point, I thought the 326 thunder was in our very room it was so loud. You, however, slept through it all you told me the next day. It also poured down rain. You did say that you heard the rain sometime during the night. We awoke in the morning later than usual to the delicious smell of spinach pie cooking. Ellie used the dough she made yesterday and rolled into her “village filo” and used a type of spinach she grew herself. To that she of course added eggs and feta. The result was delicious and we ate some for breakfast. Today is cool 70 degrees so we are both wearing jeans. It is cloudy and the storm clouds seem to be gathering again. They did and let loose—another downpour. We heard on TV that parts of Thessaloniki got flooded and then saw pictures of people bailing out there ground level apartments and stores. The weather is staying cool today and it is raining off and on. This is not at all weather for Greece in July. Today will end up being one of those super restful days. You are a little bored and express a desire frequently to be back in Kensington. I am disappointed in many of our and your friends and relatives. I thought more would visit and thus provide you with a diversion. Your sister and Marianna have been great. They are both very, very hospitable, very kind and understanding. I really have to remind them to let you or even ask you to do stuff. You, in most cases, are content to have others do for you right now. Not the BA Maria style at all!! We spent most of the day inside. We walked to the sweet shop and bought some pastries for everybody. We had one each too and I decided I am going to try to avoid them in the future. They are tasty but as you like to point out “a moment on the lips, a lifetime on the hips.” My hips are growing. We walked to Marianna’s. Apostalos just finished synchronizing his laptop with his desktop and I was offered the opportunity for checking my email. Yesterday, Apostalos went to the telephone office to pay his bill and restart his phone service. He found out that his phone bill had been padded by some internet site that redirected 327 his connection to one that he had to pay for. The telephone company while sympathetic still wanted their money. They pointed out that he was lucky because others have paid thousands of Euros because of this scam and he only had a 30 Euro charge. We got an email from Niko, from Kathy and another from Bob. They had been to the beach for a week with Bob’s brother and his family. They both sent love and hugs. Fred from BAI wrote and said that Bill Torpey has been offered the job as President of BAI. We’ll see what happens. After the email bit we returned to the house and sat and chatted some more. Apostalos and Marianna came too and he fixed an extension cord for me so that I could run electricity outside for use with my lap top. Day 276 (Friday, July 15, 2005)—we got up at 8 AM and you jokingly asked if we are going home today. No construction noises this morning to awake us. You had a restless night probably due to no pill. We’ll try a quarter pill tonight. Both Dr. Lee and the NRH folks said we can stop it as long as you don’t get agitated during the day. We’ll see how you behave today. At 10 AM you are fine. Earlier you made breakfast and cleaned up, then we showered, you dressed in jeans and a jean shirt (it is cool again today), you hung out the damp towels, and we made the bed together. Of course, you combed your hair and applied some make-up too. During the night and the many times I got up, I reflected how the village changed over the more than 20 years we have been coming just from the changes in the noise we hear or the lack of certain sounds or sights. During the day, there are people hammering and other construction noises indicative of village expansion. There are fewer partially completed houses while people save money to finish them and now you can get loans. There are no sounds of donkeys braying and very few chickens chattering or crowing--an indication that agriculture is no longer the principal occupation of the villagers. In fact, I’ve only seen one flock of goats in the fields since we’ve been here and within the village confine saw no indications of their passage. We’ve only seen one donkey munching away in 328 somebody’s yard. At night, while you hear occasional dog barks and cats mewing or fighting they are not nearly what they were in the past. Apparently, some type of animal control is at work. At 3 AM it really is very, very, quite and the mountain air delightful. Gregory was off to the KAPI and your sister had an appointment at the beauty shop and asked you to go and keep her company. She was disappointed when you said no so I intervened and convinced you to go. Upon return, you said there was nobody to speak to so you read a magazine. When you got back, you gave me a spinach pie snack. I was still working on reviewing this letter-journal and adding new items. You were dissatisfied with the book you were reading so I gave you a new one. We’ll see how that goes. I encourage Gregory to go to the KAPI because I don’t want to feel like a burden and besides I like to read and enjoy the courtyard. We both stay happy that way. We did two paragraph readings today for homework: one about the Pyramids and the other about the Roman Coliseum. You were not to with it and the best grade that I would give you if I were to grade you is a C. Well, we’ll keep working, you have done much better. Since you were not into academics in the past that might be the problem with what we are doing: it smacks of school. Your memory seems to be as perfect as we could expect of anybody’s memory— both short and long term. After we ate Lunch, we napped and then went for a walk to Haghia Paraskevi. We sat under the trees on a park bench and chatted. It has been pretty cool today and we both had jeans on. Marianna and Thano came soon after we arrived back at the house. He was sporting a haircut, his curly locks had been shorn. He looked pretty cute. I took his picture sitting on Gregory’s lap. After a bit Gregory went to KAPI again and Marianna disappeared. After she left, you told me she was going to Panorama for Gyro sandwiches. She came back loaded with them. I wanted to pay for them but she refused. When she went inside, I gave you money to give to her and you convinced her to take it. The sandwiches were really crammed full 329 of stuff and the French fries tasty. You didn’t want any gyro but did eat French fries and the pita bread from one of the gyros. Thano is used to seeing us now. He sat on my lap and ran around the patio with me. He allowed you to give him some French fries. Day 277 (Saturday, July 16, 2005)—you had a very restful sleep while I seemed to get up every two hours. We ate breakfast, then bathed and dressed. You and Litsa did your fingernails. I gave myself a haircut. You got your book and read for quite awhile and even got a little sunburn while doing so. I finished checking and correcting earlier entries of this letter-journal and then made an extract for submission to the Washington Post writer Mike Ruane should he want it for a follow up article. I started from Day 134 to Day 276 which was yesterday. The day was cool and very nice. We did the usual things for the majority of the day but this was in anticipation of going out in the early evening. The news of the day is that we went to a Christening of your first cousin’s child’s child. Evangelia son Iani christened his son Haryton (a very unusual name) in St. George which is very near the house. You wore the flowered skirt you bought in the US with a green top and a linen jacket. You looked very nice indeed. The Christening was to begin at 7 PM but as usual in things Greek it began at 7:30. That’s ok, we had seats and waiting in church was not too tiring. You had the chance to greet many relatives during the evening but were pretty quite. Perhaps there was too much sensory stimulation for you. At any rate, the Christening took the usual hour or so, the child was immersed in the baptismal font, then dressed in his new white finery. He took the whole ceremony very well. Upon exiting the church, we congratulated the parents, received a boubouniera with its almonds and a little cup of ice cream. Your cousin invited us to the celebration dinner which was at Tsitsos’ restaurant. A granddaughter of Tsitso is the Nona and thus this location was very convenient and very close-by which made it good for us as no car was required. Our whole immediate family to include Marianna and Thano walked there and we sat at a nice 330 table. Soon we were joined by Evangelia, her husband, and Iani’s wife’s parents. There was quite a crowd of people at the celebration both old and young adults and lots of kids running to and fro. The meal was substantial and the service excellent. The meal started with drinks. We, and all at our table, had Retsina wine with Coca Cola. Next came feta cheese with bread, then salad followed by roast potatoes. The main course consisted of one of a variety of offerings: grilled chicken breast, souvlakia, grilled pork chop or hamburger. We shared the grilled chicken breast and the pork chop. We did not stay for dessert but left at about 9:45 PM. When we left and as exiting we said goodnight to a young women who you were very gracious to but I had the feeling you did not recognize. She was Christina, your cousin Voula’s daughter. When I told you, you apologized to her and gave her a kiss. She is a very pretty young lady in her early twenties. We went to bed at about 11 PM but it was noisy outside. I figured the Christening party turned into a dancing party given the significant number of young people there. The Greek music was pulsating into our room until 2AM or so. Day 278 (Sunday, July 17, 2005)—I guess we were tired from last night and we got up late and thus did not go to regular church services. Since we lighted candles, etc., and prayed last night, hopefully we will be forgiven for this lapse. Also, you had to take your bone pill today which curtails your movement for ½ hour. We had the usual breakfast bit following your pill wait. We read a lot today. Later we anticipate a visit from your cousin Anna. Her sisters, Evangelia and Helen, live in Canada. You now understand this relationship and the fact that Evangelia is married to Rudy. In March (the 20th to be exact), you had a big problem getting this straight and you got very agitated as did I. You sister made delicious stuffed squash for our luncheon meal today as supplemented by the usual salad. We did the siesta bit and 331 when we got up we awaited the arrival of Anna. She came right on time. You ladies had a nice chat with her during the 2½ hours she was here. When she left, it was about to storm. She was lucky because when it did start raining she had already boarded the bus and in Thessaloniki it did not rain. Here it rained a lot. While you guys were chatting, I went and used Apostalos’ computer to check email. We received one from Connie and one from Niko where he announced the purchase of a house in Washington, DC near Van Ness. Another email was from Mike Ruane from the Washington Post. He asked that I send them a letter outlining your progress. He observed that I write well—yeah! We had more visitors today. Marianna’s in-laws came with Thano. They stayed about an hour. We were asked how late we go to bed and we said NLT 11:00 PM. They were disappointed. They wanted us to go with them to a musical review. Here in Greece such reviews normally end at 1:30 AM and to that add the time devoted to unscrambling of the parked cars and the trip home. We gracefully declined because you thought you’d never be able to stay awake comfortably. They then suggested we take a day trip on Saturday to the village of Ourianopolis which is the gateway town to Hagion Oros (the Holy Mountain also known as Mt. Athos). Oros has many monasteries populated by monks with significant ecclesiastical treasures. Unfortunately, no women are permitted to enter the Holy Mountain. The only thing female allowed are chickens. Too bad, the monasteries throughout the peninsula are very interesting to see. You’ll recall that George Contis and I went there several years ago for several days and visited many monasteries. There is a boat that tours around the shoreline pointing out some of the monasteries and their significance. Perhaps we’ll try that. Day 279 (Monday, July 18, 2005)—we both slept well last night. We got up around 8 AM did the breakfast and then bathing bit. Marianna called and asked if we wanted to go anywhere and we decided going to Carrefour was required for milk and such. Of course, it is the “such” that adds up. In addition to the “such” you 332 wanted spinach pie and later ate a free sample cookie and some really interesting yogurt. We bought some luncheon items for the home folks (and me) too—gyro, to be precise. We gassed up Marianna on the way home. When we returned you went upstairs and hit the sack. I stayed downstairs and had a bite to eat and then joined you for the ritual siesta. When we came downstairs we did some homework—reading a paragraph and responding to questions. The afternoon was uneventful. No visitors and no calls. Of course, Marianna did come after going to the pharmacy and buying some ointment for me to treat my bites or whatever they are. We ate watermelon, feta cheese and bread we bought from Carrefour. Day 280 (Tuesday, July 19, 2005)—this day concludes 40 weeks since your accident. What a ride this has been. I have finished the piece for the Washington Post that Mike Ruane will use as background for what he writes as an update. I will email it to him. The morning has been very calm. Your sister went to her Thessaloniki apartment to do some wash. Gregory went off to get a haircut and then KAPI. Ellie puttered here and there, and we read our respective books. We both got hungry for a snack and Ellie brought forth the tsoureki I bought yesterday. We all enjoyed a couple of slices of the sweet bread. Gregory finally arrived and was disturbed that nothing was done for lunch. You were very, very stubborn in refusing to supervise preparation or even to participate with Ellie in preparation of lunch. You just wanted to sit. Later you said that you had to go inside and you did help a bit. Marianna and Apostalos came and Gregory grilled the pork chops and supplemented them with bratwurst. Ellie fried a bunch of French fries and salad completed the meal. We accompanied the kids back to their house where I checked our email. Dino and Myrna wrote and Nina sent me birthday greetings. 333 I sent the article above to the Washington Post. Marianna drove us home because it was very hot. When we arrived Litsa had finally returned. Later she went to Mariana’s, by invitation, to check out how they rearranged their furniture. You were invited but refused to go, another show of stubbornness. Today, you showed a lot of stubbornness. The therapists et al say this is a good thing as you’re asserting your personality. This, of course, is not the first time as reflected by my troubles in getting you to therapy. Already you have started a campaign to not go when we return to the US. I hope to convince you to go to speech, at least, since this helps cognition. As far as PT and OT are concerned, I think you can skip those. Day 281 (Wednesday, July 20, 2005)—well, today is my birthday— 72 years old. I am certainly beyond question a senior citizen. I believe my mind is staying young and it seems to be working well (praise God) but there are body parts that don’t move well anymore and functions that are not functioning as they once did. Plus, I am fat right now and hope when we return I’ll be able to diet once again. I’ll avoid starches and such—a modified Atkins. When I am around my colleagues, it still amazes me to think about my age because I used to be the younger guy of the group and now I am the elder statesman. Here in Greece, a lot of the relatives are around my age so the differential is not as bad. The nice thing early today was that you remembered it was my birthday and greeted me with that salutation, a kiss, and a nice hug. You felt bad that you didn’t have a present for me. I told you that you were my present and that truly is the case. I need no other present but a healthy you. We invited all to the Kioskia restaurant for lunch today to celebrate. Today is also Marianna’s anniversary but her husband left early this morning for Athens on business. Next week is our anniversary. 334 You helped Litsa strip and change the bed. You then went off with her to go to Marianna’s to wash the sheets in her washing machine. Gregory says that by next year they will get one for the village. They do have one in Thessaloniki. Gregory was off to church—today celebrates the Prophet Elijah. His next stop was KAPI. You guys came home and hung out the wash and then you and I were off walking to the restaurant. We were there promptly at the designated 1 PM and ordered Retsina, Cola, bread and oil for dipping while we waited for the others. For Greeks, their arrival time was pretty good—everyone here by 1:15. We had a quite a spread: potatoes (both fried and roasted), fried squash, tsatsiki, salad, roasted Porto Bello mushrooms, and a variety of meats (chicken breast, pork chops, lamb chops, sausage, hamburger). We also had rice and mixed veggies. The meal concluded with some sweets. All of this including two bottles of Retsina and many colas only cost 90 Euros for seven adults. Our guests included: Gregory, Litsa, Ellie, Marianna and baby, and her father-in-law Thanasi. Alkesti was at work and Apostalos in Athens. After the meal, we returned to the house with Thanasi leading us a back way. It was very uphill and hopefully we walked off at least a tiny bit of what we ate. The number of houses under construction on the route we took must have exceeded 15. Soon parking will be a problem in the village as it is in Thessaloniki. After siesta time, Marianna and Litsa went to pick up your Koumpara, Kati, from Thessaloniki. She is not in very good health and her husband had a mild stroke. She also doesn’t hear very well and given you speak softly now, you had difficulty communicating. The visit was pretty boring, you thought. Marianna left right away for Thessaloniki to pick up her mother-in-law. She left at 7:30 and did not return until 9 PM with Alkesti. Marianna now had another drive to Thessaloniki to take Kati home. Gregory bought us a beautiful torte cake. I say “us” because he had it inscribed with “Happy Birthday Mary and Arion,” in English. 335 While it was my birthday in a chronological sense, he felt you were born again from your accident (it is nine month now after all). To say the torte was delicious would be an understatement. The icing was whipped cream followed by cake, a layer of whipped cream, cake, a layer of chocolate mouse and the final cake layer. Wow!!! Day 282 (Thursday, July 21, 2005)—another day and it is overcast and stayed that way all day. It was cool but humid. You noted that we are approaching a month here and observed that it felt like two months. You still want to go home and I’m wondering if I should check on an earlier departure. I’m concerned that if we do, Litsa, Gregory, Marianna will be insulted. We’ll play it day-by-day. Another relaxing day until the news came on and we learned that there were four additional bombings in London. I didn’t write about the four that occurred there exactly two weeks ago that killed 51 people when they exploded at three different subway trains and a bus. There was extensive coverage here on TV of both terrorist attacks. The bombers committed suicide exploding their devices. In Greece they call them “Kamikaze” bombers. Today’s explosions occurred at three subway stations and a bus. Fortunately, there was only one person wounded. You didn’t recognize the names of the stations although you lived there for one year. You insisted that today was St. Elijah day. I insisted that it was not. You would not believe me until verified by another source—your sister and Gregory. You did very, very well doing homework today and I gave you an A +. We visited Marianna and I used Apostalos’ computer to access my email. We got a message from Kathy and Bob wishing me a happy birthday. Nothing else significant to report. A thunderstorm in the evening--lighting near by and very loud thunder. We even unplugged the TV to include its attachment to the antenna. It was over in short order and the evening was very cool. 336 We are lucky to have cool weather here. Reports from home indicate that it is very warm and very humid there. Day 283 (Friday, July 22, 2005)—you got up early today, before the church bell at 7:00 AM. You dressed while I still lounged in bed. You selected a very appropriate outfit for the day and coordinated in color. We ate the usual stuff for breakfast. We went shopping at Praktiker and found the lava stone we were looking for plus some grill tools, as well. Next. we went Carrefour and bought you a nice tank top and two for me. We bought some groceries to include chicken for lunch. Lunch went well with the chicken and the potato stew your sisters made upon my request. I really must stop eating sweets. In transferring the birthday pictures to the laptop, I saw one taken of our group where I was closest to the camera. I have entitled that picture “fat Pat.” We had our siesta and then did homework. Today we did two exercises that required you to read a table of contents and then answer questions about the table. You did very well and I give you an overall A. You only had trouble with one of the questions but you did figure it out. We sat outside in the shade. I worked on this letter-journal and then read. You finished one novel and started another by Nora Roberts, Charmed and Enchanted. It is warmed up a little and we both wore tank tops. The evening arrived and Marianna called and asked if you wanted to go to a discount women’s clothing store. You really did not want to go but your sister convinced you and I pushed too. I suggested that you take the opportunity to take Ellie and you did. Earlier Gregory went to KAPI. You all left at 6:45 PM and I was left all alone until Gregory came about 9:15 and then I got worried—you guys finally arrived at 9:45. You were in the same store for the entire period and you were not impressed. The styles were mainly 337 for young people. Marianna paid for a t-shirt that you wanted to charge which became too complicated. We plan to give it to Maia. Day 284 (Saturday, July 23, 2005)—to say this was a full day would be to belittle the meaning of the statement. In fact, you commented upon our return from our trip this day that we had just journeyed to the US—we were gone for 11 hours with most of the time spent traveling by car or boat. We got up at 6:30 so we could bathe, eat, dress and be ready for an 8:00 AM departure with Marianna’s inlaws for Mount Athos (The Holy Mountain). Actually, we were headed to the village just outside of its boundaries called Ouranopolis (literally in English, Heaven Town). Mount Athos is an autonomous region in Greece located on the easternmost leg (there are three) of Halkidiki. It is an area devoted to the Eastern Orthodox religion and is governed by monks. The Athos peninsula was populated by monks starting as early as the early fourth century with specific documents citing no later than the ninth century AD. By the mid-point of the ninth century several monasteries were constructed and monks began to gather. There are twenty principal monasteries that govern Athos and they, in turn, oversee other religious communities located in their areas of responsibility and authority. Seventeen of the monasteries are Greek, one is Russian, one Serbian, and one Bulgarian—all Orthodox, of course. Prior to WW II, its population consisted of an estimated 5,000 monks and 430 others. There are no women. Women are not permitted entrance to Mount Athos, in fact the story is that the only females allowed are chickens. Today, it is estimated there are 1,600 monks spread among the monasteries and their communities—and even in this modern epoch, still no women. The peninsula is about 60 KM in length and eight to 12 KM in width. It took us two hours traveling a road with many curves to reach our destination. We wanted to board the tour boat that left 10:30 AM for a look, from a distance, at several of the monasteries. Thanasi went off to buy the tickets and refused my offer to pay. We sat and had some delicious “bougatsa,” a creamy cheese wrapped in filo. 338 The cruise boat departed promptly for its 3 hour round trip with a guide describing the different monasteries and the history of Athos in three languages—Greek, English and German. It was a pleasant and calm day and the trip about ¾ of the way down the west side of the peninsula was uneventful. I took pictures of a few of the monasteries and we’ll see what develops (is that a pun, or what?) when I upload them to my computer. Typically, the monasteries look like fortifications or at least surrounded by fortifications. In earlier times, Pirates frequented the area and were attracted by the reported treasures under care of the monks. These treasures are both ecclesiastical (rare manuscripts [12,500 plus], relics, and icons) and historic. To satisfy the taste of pirates there are gold and gems. There are crowns, scepters, bibles encrusted with pearls and gold and other similar valuables. The largest piece of the Holy Cross of the crucifixion known world-wide is kept at the Abbey (Monastery) of Vatopedi. We are told that the second largest bell in the world is located at the Abbey of St. Panteleimona—it weighs 15,000 kgs (you do the math, 2.2 lbs to 1 kg). Apparently the biggest danger to the monasteries was fire. It seems that all at one time or another were destroyed or almost destroyed by fire. What I read did not indicate the causes of these fires but probably the many candles they use. Again as a reminder, George Contis and I did travel through Athos about five or six years ago for four days—permits to non Greek citizens to travel into Athos are restricted to four days. It was fascinating. We slept overnight at three different monasteries, ate their food with them in a common dining hall, prayed with them, and were offered the opportunity to view sacred relics. No payment is required but donations are gratefully accepted. We visited about eight monasteries. We journeyed to them by car over dirt roads and had some scary moments looking over the side of the road far, far below to the water. The roads were very primitive and carved into the sides of the mountain. We even hiked between two monasteries on a path. It’s good that my sense of direction and map reading skills were still sharp as the trail was poorly marked and there were 339 many forks on the path leading in different directions. We made it as I recall and were very pooped upon arrival. On this trip and when the boat turned for the journey back to Ouranapolis, we went to the boat’s lounge and had Ouzo made by the monks of Athos and appetizers (made by the ship’s crew). Once again Thanasi paid. The boat docked, Thanasi retrieved his car and we began our journey back to our village using a different route. But first, Thanassi wanted to stop for lunch. We drove and drove and finally came to the village of Marmara (Marble). This was on the middle peninsula of Halkidiki. We found a nice restaurant overlooking the bay. After many appetizers, we ate gigantic grilled shrimp. Umm, ummmm, very good! I managed to pay this time. The return journey began once again continuing on the new route home—we were not backtracking. We drove and drove, it felt endless and Thanasi wanted to stop for coffee and sweets but his wife would not hear of it. She wanted to get home (as we did but were too polite to say). On the way, we saw the aftermath of a very bad traffic accident. From the looks of it, two cars crashed head on and at high speed. There was nothing much left of the cars and I suspect the same is true of any passengers. Police were on the scene directing traffic that was alternating one way at this point. The traffic was backed up which added to our delay returning home. We arrived home at 7 PM. Thanasi and Alkesti were very, very hospitable all day as they were on our trip to Phillip II’s tomb. As I told you then, I’ll say again, you were quite the trooper. In spite of the tiring trip, you hung right in there—no whining or complaint. That’s my sweetheart!!! Of course, when we got home, you wanted to rest and who was I to object given how good you were. You rested for about an hour and then you were up and at ‘em. We went to bed at 10 PM and we both conked out. Day 285 (Sunday, July 24, 2005)—we awoke early again today so that you could take your bone pill. Following your half hour wait, we ate and dressed for church. We arrived at Church at 8:30 and it 340 was over by 10:00 even with a memorial service. It is nice to walk to church and that it begins and ends early. We changed clothing and waited for Marianna to arrive with her car. She was to take us to visit John and Roula Nikolopoulis. Litsa came too and it was not a comfortable trip for you given you, Litsa and a car seat with Thano in it occupied the back. I would have had you sit in the front but no way could my butt have fit with the others. It was a 40 minute trip to their apartment that fronts the sea shore. What a pleasant view of beach, swimmers, and sea. We visited with them at their home for about one hour and they were delighted with Thano and his antics. Of course, they were delighted with you looking as well as you do. You could tell that Roula was under a lot of stress. Her mother recently died and John looks very bad, health-wise. They both have finally stopped smoking—locking the barn door after…comes to mind. John and Roula invited all of us to a local fish tavern where we once again gorged on food. Today again, seafood rather than meat was the theme. We had muscles (both fried and sautéed), grilled octopus (very tender), fried calamari, fried fish, broiled fish, tzatziki, and skordalia with cod fish. The ubiquitous French fries and plentiful bread complimented the meal. We also had ouzo with orange drink and cokes too. Another all you can eat spread. We got home by 3:30 and found out that terrorists had struck in Egypt this time killing over 80 people and injuring perhaps another 200 people, 25 seriously. They were mostly tourists. A hotel was the target this time with a drive-in kamikaze. We managed a siesta. Later, I caught up on writing this letterjournal and loaded our new pictures into the computer. You chatted with your sisters and then you all came for the slide show of the pictures taken the past couple of days. I even added something to one of the birthday pictures taken at Kioskia. The caption now reads “Fat Pat’s Birthday” with an arrow pointing to my gut. There was a nice play in Greek on TV. It was a comedy that, I believe, was adapted from a British play about a man with two wives 341 with whom he had children and how paths were crossing. It was very amusing and you laughed a lot. It kept us up until 11 PM. Later Gregory told me that it went on until after 1 AM when he gave up. Thus, we don’t know how the complexities associated with one man having two families was solved. Day 286 (Monday, July 25, 2005)—we got up late today—about 8:30. I guess getting up early the past two days, the travel and the food tired us. We ate breakfast, bathed, dressed, made our bed and are waiting to hear from Marianna. If she plans to go somewhere, perhaps we’ll tag along. You helped your sisters clean the house. Another ata-girl for you! We left for the village of Panoroma with Marianna, Thano and Litsa. Marianna went to pay some bills while Litsa cashed a check for me at the National Bank for some Euros. We were lucky while we were parked there—a cop was writing tickets and placing them on car windshields for those (such as ours) illegally parked. We managed to leave on time. Next stop was good ol’ Carrefour where once again we stocked up on groceries. I think we are preparing Ellie for the winter. It was hot upon exiting Carrefour and a relief to get back to the cooler village. We ate, had our siesta, you chatted with Litsa, and then we did homework. You read a paragraph about Cracker Jacks and then answered a page and a-half of questions. You are showing progress and I more patience. A little while ago, Gregory brought a watermelon weighing in at 28 lbs. He was really huffing and thus puffing upon his arrival. While the distance is not great to the supermarket, walking the mostly uphill return is not fun—we’ve been there done that. Encumbered by a 28 lbs watermelon makes it even less fun. You wanted watermelon and of course, he complied. The sun has finally hidden itself behind a building and the courtyard is nice and cool. Gregory and I are outside—he is doing 342 his cross word puzzles while I work on this journal. It is interesting that what I thought were hives I now suspect are bites. But I can’t detect the biters although I know I itch as the bitee. You don’t seem to be nearly as susceptible as I. Litsa, Elie and Marianna decided to go to the festival area and partake of the festivities and religious activities preceding tomorrow’s holiday in honor of Hagia Paraskevi. She is a martyred saint who when pressured to renounce Christ, choose death instead. She is the patron saint of Hortiatis and thus a festival is held near her church annually. They returned around ten. Day 287 (Tuesday, July 26, 2005)—happy wedding anniversary to us—I love you baby with all my heart!! This completes our 24th year of marriage and the first 23 years were filled with magic and with love. This last year, at least 41 weeks of it as of today, has been super stressful but still filled with lots of love and some miracles too. This especially is true commencing 12 October 2004—the day of the traffic incident and for three months following. That you survived such trauma is miraculous and stands in testimony to God’s grace and your toughness—the Greeks use the “setherenio” which means “steel,” as a way to encourage someone injured or in bad health to hang tough. You certainly have been “setherenia.” The fourth month and after following the accident were filled everyday with your steady progress toward wellness—you learned to walk, to talk and to use your cognitive processes. You have not quite achieved a return to the old you but in many, many ways you are doing oh so well. Your memory seems very, very good now. You don’t confuse the who’s who of relatives and friends. Communicating in Greek and English are no problem for you. You’re still doing a great job of correcting my Greek. When walking, your stride still seems a little stiff but your balance and flexibility is very good (better than mine) and you can walk quickly when required. Left eye neglect is still apparent and you still need occasional cuing to look left. You often appear introspective and when I ask what you are thinking you don’t respond—I wonder 343 where you are at those times. Something is still missing in how you act and react but I really can’t put my finger on what it is. Hopefully, it too will soon pass. I am still waiting for that little extra sparkle in your eyes. Notwithstanding some of the downer things I’ve mentioned, by the time we get home I do believe I will be able to leave you alone in the house and to do some teaching. From what I observe, you know what you are doing and you will stay out of trouble on your own when I am not hanging around. I am confident. We went to Hagia Paraskevi for this morning’s church services. They were long but Gregory got there early enough to grab a chair that he relinquished to you when we arrived. By the time services were over, I must admit to an aching back from standing. Nonetheless I made it to the end. There were two visiting priests participating in the ceremony in addition to the village priest. One of them, the representative of the Metropolitan, gave a very nice sermon (albeit a long one). It reminded me of our Father John who is a long sermonizer. Many more than usual received communion. The area around the church square has vendors setting up for the days festivities. Some are selling small stuff such as bracelets and necklaces that are mostly for kids. Others are setting up food stands. We huffed and puffed are way back home (we huffed and puffed getting there too) and I for one was pooped. You held up very well. We changed into cooler clothes, you chatted with your sister and I worked on this letter-journal. Gregory went to KAPI. Marianna came and dropped off Thano and she went somewhere. We await Gregory’s return and lunch. After lunch we had our usual siesta. We did your homework and there continues to be improvements in that area. Our next activity was a walk to Marianna’s where you chatted with her while I went to Apostalos’ office. He had me set up on his lap top as he was doing some work on his desk top. I had problems connecting with Comcast and even after I did, there was some problem that caused the laptop to shut down on a frequent basis. All-in-all, a frustrating experience! Tomorrow the desk top will be free and I’ll try again. 344 We walked back home with Thano in tow. You held one hand and I the other. Given the distance and the uphill climb, he was really great. He just kept plugging along observing the cars as they went by and making no move for one of us to carry him. We were puffing by our return but I don’t think he was. Later in the evening, we went to the festival honoring Hagia Paraskevi. The place was jumping with song, dancing, and lots of people. The smells were delightful too-souvlaki on the barbi, roasting corn, hamburgers, etc. We didn’t stay too long since we couldn’t find seats but we did see a bunch of different relatives and what was nice, you recognized them. We each had a loukaniko (Greek hot dog) sandwich (too much bread but the loukaniko was tasty) followed by some loukoumathis (they were very, very tasty sweet). We returned home, sat with all to include Apostalos and Marianna, and then went off to bed. Day 288 (Wednesday, July 27, 2005)—the really great thing is that you want to do homework. You did exceptionally well with the exercise requiring you to determine which word did not fit with four other words. I gave you and “A” as a grade. We ate fish on the barbie today—tsipoura (porgies, in English). They were very tasty with olive oil and lemon as a sauce for them. You enjoyed the fish very much and did a good job of de-boning it. After siesta and you read more of your book and I read mine. Later I went to Marianna’s and checked email. I found that an article about you appeared in the Washington Post, the Sunday edition, 24 July 2005. Mike Ruane wrote it based on my input. It was in their “updates” section and thus Mike emailed me that it could not be very long. Here is what he wrote: The Washington Post July 24, 2005 Sunday Final Edition 345 SECTION: Metro C02; LENGTH: 504 words; UPDATE: Memory Recovery a Daily Task for Md. Woman The gaps in Maria Pattakos's memory still are there. Were her parents really deceased? Yes, her husband, Arion, gently assured her. They died years ago. Her brother, too? Yes. And how did the alarm system in the house work? And how did you make the bed? And fix breakfast? Arion showed her. Nine months after Maria Pattakos of Kensington was struck and seriously injured by a pickup truck on a neighborhood walk after pushing a friend's granddaughter to safety, she is still reassembling the shattered pieces of her memory. Five months after she was released from Washington's National Rehabilitation Hospital, where she was treated for a severe brain injury, her restlessness and weariness are waning, she shops and goes to church, and she is painstakingly reconstructing the person she once was. Pattakos and her husband, a retired Army intelligence officer, are currently on a therapeutic trip to the village where she grew up in Greece. "Is she completely the Maria of old?" her husband wrote in an email from outside the city of Thessaloniki. "Not yet. "She still needs some cuing to do some things," he wrote. "She is not yet the proactive person she was. . . . At this point in her homework, she still needs a lot of help and explanation. But, she is getting there and the hope is within at most two years she will be back completely." Maria Pattakos, 60, was out for a walk with a neighbor on Oct. 12, 346 pushing the neighbor's granddaughter in a stroller. They were walking along Beach Drive in Rock Creek Park near their homes when they paused at Cedar Lane to cross the street. After waiting for the illuminated "walk" signal, Pattakos started across with the stroller. At that moment, a pickup truck driven by John Paul Purcell, 54, who lived about four blocks from Pattakos, turned onto Cedar. Pattakos shoved the stroller out of the way, police said, and then was struck by the pickup. Purcell told investigators that the sun was in his eyes and he didn't see her. Pattakos suffered broken ribs, a broken collarbone, a broken hip, punctured lungs, a fractured skull and brain damage. She spent weeks at Suburban Hospital, unable to speak or walk, and then three months in the rehabilitation hospital, relearning who she was. She went home Feb. 24. All the while, her husband kept a daily journal, recording her progress and his emotions. He is still keeping it: "Entries every day," he wrote. "Her interaction with relatives and friends in Greece has been wonderful. We have been in her home village of some 3000 people for about 31/2 weeks now and every day is a step toward recovery. She engages in discussions without fault, displays an improved memory on a daily basis . . . and walks up and down the hills of the village where we are staying: showing more and more endurance. "The journey to wellness thus far has had its very, very low points but we are overcoming them as they occur," he wrote. "It has had many, many high points too and for these we rejoice." -- Michael E. Ruane Another email informed me that Bill Torpey will be the new President of BAI commencing 1 September and Lew Thompson will 347 be a Vice President. If this really happens, I guess that I will continue to work for BAI. With those guys, it should be fun. Apostalos rented a video called National Treasure with Nicholas Cage. He lent it to me for viewing with you, Litsa and Gregory. You were not interested and disappointed me by going to bed at 9:30 PM. This is your earliest bedtime since we’ve been in Greece. Litsa went to bed at that time too. Day 289 (Thursday, July 28, 2005)—the big event of the morning is confirmation of our flight back to the US on 7 August. All is on track for our seats and for a wheel chair to be there for you in Milan to make the trip between terminals easier. So, my sweet, in ten days, God willing, we will be home. You are ready to go now and have been for some time but as I’ve said before, the stay here has done you much good. Your sister has been great with you. Today is another beautiful day. It is cool here in the village but once again hot in Thessaloniki and reportedly hotter still in Athens. Near Athens there is a bad forest fire that has burned some 1.200 homes in addition to valuable forest area. Fire fighters have been mobilized and the flames attacked from the ground as well as from the air. Progress has been made but winds hamper the effort. Today you had a good day. You made lunch for us all consisting of tuna salad and in the process taught Litsa how to make it. You also set the table. Lesson-wise you did very well too. You read a paragraph about the Pyramids in Egypt and responded to five yes and no questions as well as five multiple choice questions. You also read your Nora Roberts novel for about an hour. I went to Marianna’s and checked email. You did not walk there with me but stayed and chatted with Litsa and Ellie. We received and email from Nadine. She and Will are in California vacationing without the kids. Another one came from Niko and the house deal once again fell through. It faired poorly in the inspection, he wrote. So, they continue their quest. Following email, I watched the last 348 hour of “National Treasure” with Apostalos. It was nicer to watch on the bigger screen. He drove me home and given it is mostly an uphill walk that was appreciated. Upon my return, we sat outside in the courtyard enjoying the cool evening and chatted. Day 290 (Friday, July 29, 2005)—it is another cool day—so far. We are venturing off somewhere with Litsa and Gregory to visit a friend of his father’s. Gregory’s father died some time ago thus she is probably not too young. Apostalos is to drive us there if he is not summoned to do any emergency repairs on a dialysis machine somewhere here in Northern Greece. So far this week he has made two trips to Kavala—a two hour drive. Apostalos came right on time and off we went on the trip to Plaghia located at the upper end of the first peninsula of Chalkidiki. The trip took about an hour. I dreaded a trip back using the bus system. Surprise, Apostalos hung there with us. We visited with the lady for about 1½ hours. She made coffee and had sweets for us too. You had coffee but no sweets, Apostalos and I ate and drank nothing. When we left, we searched out a restaurant that we had gone to many, many years ago—Saliaris. Gregory found out that it was in a town called New Trighlia. Since it was also on the way home, we decided to go there. We remembered them serving very, very tender meats. We were not disappointed. You made a particular point of saying how much you enjoyed it. So, I guess you can return to some places years later and still feel satisfied. It is too bad that they closed their place in Thermi which is just 20 minutes away. We did the usual appetizers bit followed by a main course each. The guys, excluding me, had a German beer called Kaiser (a Pilsner). It was another of those all-you-can-eat deals and you in fact could not finish the meat we ordered. Too many appetizers do prevent a full appreciation of the main course. The trip home was uneventful and the day grew hotter. We were ready for the cooler village and our siesta. Upon arrival, we went straight away to our bed to nap. We slept about an hour and then 349 came downstairs. You and Gregory ate ice cream—I abstained. Next on our agenda was homework. This time the paragraph you read was about the Roman Coliseum. You enjoy these paragraphs because you feel that you are learning something not only being subjected to therapy. You did well answering the exercise questions. Day 291 (Saturday, July 30, 2005)—we started the morning off early today. You agreed to go with Gregory and I to the agora in Thes/niki. We left the house at 7:45, caught the two busses required to reach our destination and arrived downtown at 8:35, the stores were to open at 9 AM. You were not thrilled with the bus ride although we were lucky it was Saturday and thus not crowded. On the way, I noted that there were parking spaces that during the week were almost impossible to come by. Many flee the city for the beaches on the weekend. We went to a small store and ate some bougatsa to pass the time and since I ate no breakfast. Gregory and I had the cream and you had spankotiropita (spinach-cheese pie). Both of you did not finish your portions since you both ate breakfast. We then ventured into the area where all the stores (more like stalls) sell a variety of goods. We found the tee-shirts we wanted for Niko and Alec with just the Greek flag on the front. I also found a couple of tank-tops for me and a pair of long pants with side pockets. They need shortening and I trust you and Litsa will perform the operation. Gregory bought some nice shrimp—you said you wanted fried shrimp and Gregory wanted to please you. He also bought some green beans. To save you the trouble of a bus ride back, we took a taxi to the village. It was getting hot and it was a pleasure to return to the cooler village. Upon arrival, we showered and you rested a bit. Marianna called and she and I went to buy Cola at Lidl and other stuff at Carrefour. You helped prepare the noon meal by making the salad. Litsa made two types of shrimp—fried and others cooked in a tomato-feta sauce. Both were tasty but your focus and mine were on the fried shrimp. As usual, we enjoyed our meal very much. 350 After our siesta we read our respective novels. Then, you engaged in a big discussion with your sisters. You wanted to hear a cassette of your brother singing and Ellie could not find it. You are very disturbed with the behavior of your sister Ellie. You observed that she needs much therapy to at least alleviate her handicaps. You said that it was too bad that your parents were uneducated and poor and thus did not seek help for her when she was young (if any existed here in Greece at that time). My guess is that the necessary therapy such as that administered by a speech and language pathologist did not exist here some 50 or so years ago. You should take comfort in the fact that she can take care of herself and really does not need to be cared for in a day-to-day personal care sense. It is too bad that she does things that bug Litsa and Gregory (she bugged you too) because she does need them for shopping, home repair, etc. It is difficult to have rationale discussions with her given her thought processes and her speech impediment. Because we have been here so long this time, you now find many of Ellie’s actions to be very upsetting. Well, we only have one week to go until our early Sunday morning departure. You also took the time to point out that since I have no brothers or sisters I really don’t understand your feelings in this matter. You are probably right. The Greek singer we like very much was on TV this evening. His name is Eleutheri Pantazis and he is a Greek who was raised in Russia around the Black Sea somewhere. He was participating in a program honoring the first Greek women athlete to win the Gold at the 1986 Olympics in the 100 meter hurdles. Her family also immigrated to Greece from the Black Sea area. In fact, all on this particular show had that heritage. Eleutheri produced a CD that we both loved and played incessantly in the car before the 12 October incident. You don’t remember, of course, but I played it to you frequently while you were in a coma with hopes that the music and his singing would get through to you and bring you back. I would put earphones on your ears and play the CD for 15 minutes several times each day. To play it longer, the experts say, would cause you to ignore it. I don’t know if it helped 351 you but I think it did and some of the readings I did support the notion. You really enjoyed the program. Maybe your subconscious remembers my playing the CD for you or do you just remember that I told you I played it frequently while you were hospitalized? We’ll probably never know but you really did enjoy the program. Day 292(Sunday, July 31, 2005)—we went to church today and it was very crowded and hence it got very hot inside. After services, we went home and goofed around i.e., I read and you chatted with Litsa and then helped make lunch again. Today, you made me green bean salad while everyone else ate Greek-style green beans which, as you know, are far from my favorites. Thank you my sweetie. I appreciate the effort and really enjoyed the beans. We had our siesta, I got up and read some more plus made entries into this letter-journal. I also spoke to Ellie and told her she should not stay angry at you since we are leaving soon. We’ll see if I had any affect. [Note, it did and Ellie is speaking to you.] It is now 4:40 PM and this certainly is a quite Sunday. Again, I must say I am disappointed in friends and relatives, except of course your immediate family. The people who have been the greatest in terms of interest and hospitality are Litsa and Gregory, Marianna and her in-laws. Your interaction with Litsa has been very, very good and helpful to your rehabilitation. Others haven’t knocked themselves out to see you. Chrisoula came with her Mother and kids after we were here three weeks. She did invite us to dinner last Sunday but we were busy with another engagement and she failed to follow up. Aphroula took a couple of weeks to invite us out to dinner at the Kioskia and said she would invite us to dinner at her home after her husband returned from a trip, but that hasn’t happened either. We only saw John and Roula once during our six week stay when we went out to lunch with them—we invited them to the village but they were non-committal because of John. As I said last week, he looks bad, has trouble breathing and walking—so they have their issues too. Voula came the first evening we came to Greece but not since. Georgia and Panaioti invited us to their house three weeks ago but 352 have not visited here—she is very involved with her grandkids and I heard they have left for vacation in their little mobile home. So there are a lot of excuses but I wish these people tried a little harder to visit with you and I sense your disappointment in them too. Oh, well, back to reading for me while you chat with Litsa. We went inside after it cooled some to await a program about Princess Diana. You wanted to determine if you had seen it before. Litsa said it was to begin at 10 PM and you said you thought it would be 11 PM but were willing to wait if it was 10. You were correct, by the way, it was scheduled for 11 PM. Falling into the category of beware what you wish for was a visit by your sister-in-law Marika and her granddaughter little Maria at 9:45 PM. This is the second time she came so late. Her daughter Chrisoula and granddaughter Natasa are working at Costa’s (Chrisoula’s husband) restaurant and she was at loose ends (I guess). We stayed around until 10:15 until we confirmed the Princess Diana show was not on until 11 PM and then said goodnight to all. We don’t know what time Marika left. Day 293 (Monday, August 01, 2005)—our morning adventure was going to the church we visit before we leave Greece each time. You did this before we got married and I have joined you since. The church, Hagia Irene Hreso Valandi follows the old calendar and is somewhat ostracized by the main stream church. You like to go because somehow you feel it ensures your return to Greece and I guess it did do just that under more trying conditions than usual. We did go last year just before we left and here we are again—not a small thing given the 12 October incident. Apostalos picked us up and found the church in its obscure location in Thes/niki. He took us last year and remembered enough to find the church easily this year. We left the house at 9:15 to beat the heat but it rapidly warmed up. You had to wear a skirt since women are not permitted to wear pants into the church. Fortunately, there was someone their to let us into the church. We bought and placed 353 candles, unlighted, into holders as there was nothing to light them with. The acolyte advised that they would be lighted later during the service. We said our prayers and kissed the icons. I was permitted to take a couple of pictures. We weren’t long and off we went with Apostalos for the return trip. He needed to stop for some florescent bulbs. It got hotter still while we waited in the car and until he made his purchase. We returned to the village at about 11:15 AM. Litsa had gone to Marianna's and Gregory to KAPI so you relaxed in front of a fan to cool off while I read outside in the shade—later you came and read too. For lunch we had chili over spaghetti. The spaghetti was a unique type—very spicy made with tomato, chili, and paprika. All-in-all, it was very tasty hot stuff. Next was the usual siesta—we have napping for one hour down to a science now. Others were still napping so we came downstairs and did homework. You read and responded to questions about Eli Whitney and got 100%. We also did an exercise requiring you to add a fourth term similar to three other terms. You recognized the similarities well but sometime found it difficult to think of something else similar. I walked to Marianna’s to access the internet and to send a message to Niko. I wanted him to check and make sure the car would run when we arrived this Sunday. We received a message from Bill Torpey advising that he has accepted the position of BAI President. We received another from Joe telling me the same thing and adding that Dick Powers would once again become PM of the MDA contract. Joe and Debbie send their best to us. Connie wrote and said she was to go onto Bill Russell’s contract—a good thing because she will no longer be on company overhead. She will also save about $100 per month as she can now walk to work in Crystal City. Dino wrote too and said the heat wave finally broke as did his TV. Something went wrong with his tube and with this particular RCA replacement is difficult and would cost $1100 which is more than buying new. He also said he can get an ear operation that would 354 likely result in better hearing. Harry is not having good luck with his new (and expensive) hearing aids. Day 294 (Tuesday, August 02, 2005)—this closes week 42 since the incident and is another day closer to our Sunday departure from Greece. Gregory, Marianna, and Thano went to the beach for a swim. We declined to go with them although later in discussion we thought it might be nice to go tomorrow if there is some seaside place we can sit in the shade and sip cool drinks. We walked the entire village downhill and up (wow). That was a job given our poor shape—we vowed to start our exercise program upon our return home. We were searching for a birthday card for Apostalos = no luck! The only place that might have had one was the book store and it was closed while the owner went on vacation. Hopefully we can go somewhere later with Marianna and find one. On the walk back, we bought some coffee and a “koulouri.” The beach guys came home and they really enjoyed the beach. Thano did not want to get out of the water. The beach they went to has a lot of nice sand, no pebbles as others have. Where they went is called Potamos (River). Meanwhile here, it is getting hot getting hotter—right now (1:30) it is 90 degrees. There is a slight breeze. Thes/niki must be hell! We ate and then the one hour siesta was followed by your daily lesson while in the distance we heard much thunder. Today you read about the Grand Canyon and did very well indeed responding to questions. Marianna arrived and we went with her and Gregory for the final shopping trip to Carrefour. We bought groceries and a birthday card for Apostalos who celebrates today. He is 32 years old. On the way home, Marianna stopped at Miltos and bought a black forest “tourta.” It rained a few drops but that was enough to cut the heat a little. At 8:30 PM, our family, Marianna, Apostalos and his father and mother went to “Remvi,” a combination pizza, spaghetti, ice cream 355 place. It is run by Chrisoula’s husband Costa. Apostalos treated us all to pizza. Thano had fun running around pursued by Marianna and corralled by grandpa Thanasi. The view of the village from Remvi was spectacular since it is located higher up on the mountain. The pizza was very tasty and enjoyed by all. We went back to the house and had some delicious tourta. We gave Apostalos the card with a cash gift. In the card I wrote in English: “Apostalos, may you live to be 100 years old and beyond in good health and joy.” Day 295 (Wednesday, August 03, 2005)—we arose late today to new construction noises. I had one of the best nights of sleep in a long time and did not get up at all for 7 ½ hours. So, what was different that enabled me to sleep so much better? Maybe I need to have pizza and chocolate cake each night before I sleep. We had planned to go to the beach today but our plans have changed. Litsa wants to come and the car will not take us all with Thanos in a car seat. The new plan is to go tomorrow by the bus that is especially for that purpose that leaves from the village. I guess we’ll spend another peaceful day here relaxing. Plans changed again! Gregory wanted to go to Thes/niki to do some stuff and Litsa decided to stay home and catch up with housework. Thus, we went to “Potamos” about a 45 minute drive from the village. It was a nice sand beach and not too crowded. Since there were no trees there, shade was hard to come-by but we were lucky to find a small table under some shade at the local “kantina.” We parked ourselves there and drank iced coffee, some bottles water, and shared an ice cream sandwich. Marianna and Thano went swimming. We stayed about 1½ hours and returned home for lunch. Gregory had not yet returned and I started to grill the hamburgers when he showed up. He said Thes/niki was hell with the heat. It was warm in the village so I can image what it was down in the city. After lunch, the traditional siesta but you were not in the mood for homework and you and Litsa went to visit Marianna. There was no argument from me as I thought that such a walk and visit was 356 certainly as good as sitting here and reading a paragraph and answering some questions. You stayed away until 9 PM because on the return trip you saw Voula and chatted with her for awhile. She says she has turned over a new leaf and no longer talks about others (I bet!!) and is now good buddies with her sister-in-law Georgia. It will be interesting to see how long this entente lasts. Day 296 (Thursday, August 04, 2005)—we tried the bus-bit to the beach today. Every day, an air-conditioned bus leaves from the village at 9:15 for the beach at “Vergia.” The trip takes about 1 hour 15 minutes, one way, and departs the beach promptly at 12:50. The round trip costs 5 Euros and every seat in the bus was taken. Obviously, this is a very popular outing with oldsters and young taking advantage of swim-time. Gregory, Litsa, Marianna with baby Thano and the two of us joined the crowd. Gregory insisted in paying for us—Thano travels free on Gregory or Litsa’s lap. He was a good boy and did not fuss. Upon arrival, Gregory, Marianna, and Thano were off for a swim and we remaining three searched out a place to sit in the shade and relax. We did find a location but it really did not permit us to see the beach well. It was warm but with a breeze so it was comfortable in the shade. You had iced coffee, I a coke and later water. Litsa passed on wanting a drink. Later when Gregory joined us, he had Greek coffee. Litsa has some spanakotiropita with her and the three of you made short work of what she brought. I passed to search out some cheese bougatsa. I found some but it wasn’t the usual type and I didn’t care for it too much. You had a couple of bites. The bus did depart at 12:50 for the return. I make a point of this because Greeks are not famous for their promptness but in this case all were there and ready to return. The trip back as was the trip going was uneventful. Traffic was light. So, OK, we are spoiled. We both commented that taking a bus for such a venture was not for us—even in this relatively new and airconditioned bus. We are used to our air-conditioned car. Many of 357 the passengers do this practically every day—a good example is Chrisoula, her kids and her mother. Upon our return, you went promptly upstairs to rest. You and Litsa were not hungry but of course Gregory and I ate. Following lunch, I completed the novel I was reading and then joined you for a few minutes. I did not sleep, just rested. While we were doing this, it rained a few drops but the big thing was the temperature also plummeted about 10 degrees. A 5 PM as I write this outside, it is now in the lower seventies. I like it but apparently the flies do not as they seem to be hiding out somewhere. Your friend Aphrodite came at about 6 PM bringing some sweets she bought while visiting the island of Thasos. I was not here when she came. I went to Apostalos to look at my email. I really did not want to see her as I was disappointed in he overall lack of interest in seeing you as manifested that she only made the effort twice in over six weeks. As a childhood friend, she is a bust in my book. She stayed about an hour so I missed her when I came back too. Apparently, you were not overly impressed with her visit because you had little to say. I received two emails from Niko. In one he reminded me how to get back to our car at Oracle and in the other he assured me that my car was in running condition although dirty. I guess washing the car will be one chore for the week. I do dread the mail chore. I am sure the amount will be overwhelming and who knows what pain-in-theneck issues will be hidden there. Lew Thompson sent me an email to tell me he has accepted the position of Vice President with BAI. I hope that joined with Bill Torpey as President things will improve. Another email was from the place where I teach and they want me to teach in October. Marianna drove me home--a good thing given the rain. Apostalos was home watching Space Station 9 from a DVD. It was all in English (no subtitles) and he was following it intently to understand 358 the words. I had trouble understanding all said. I wonder how much he got. He assures me that he can follow the dialogue. Day 297 (Friday, August 05, 2005)—it is cool this morning, barely 70 degrees. We are both wearing long pants--a first for me in a long time except for church on Sunday. It is overcast and we expect more showers. It is 9:25 AM and we are sitting outside. You are reading your novel and soon will read my archeology magazine. At 1:30 PM we went to Panorama with Marianna to buy gyro sandwiches for all for lunch. Upon arrival, we got caught in the rain and had to wait it out for a short time. The drops were huge. We went to a hole-in-the-wall called “Manderini” that makes very good sandwiches. We bought eight and three side orders of French fries. All were hungry by our return and ate with gusto. For the record, gyro sandwiches differ from those in the US. Here they are made from thin slices of meat that were stacked on a skewer and grilled on a vertical electric grill. As you know, in the US, they make the gyro out of a shaped hamburger meat. Thus, the taste is different but I like them both. We also bought a tourta of whipped cream and pineapple, topped with a thick meringue. We ate that later in the afternoon. It was very tasty. You, Litsa and Ellie went to visit Marianna and ended up baby sitting. She and Apostalos drove to the small city of Drama so he could repair a dialysis machine. We had lots of rain and plenty of lightening and the thunder was very, very loud. After the rain slowed up, Marika, Chrisoula and kids showed up at 9 PM to say goodbye to us. Gregory and I were upstairs watching a DVD, The Day After Tomorrow when we heard the doorbell. After, we let the visitors in, we called you and Thanasi brought you home. Alkesti arrived to take over the baby-sitting chores. You got home and chatted with them while Gregory and I went upstairs to finish the movie. Chrisoula brought us a beautiful icon of the Theotokos. Day 298 (Saturday, August 06, 2005)—well, this is the day before we leave. What shall we do today—I guess the usual = eat. We invited 359 all the relatives to the Platanos restaurant and had a fantastic meal with wonderful appetizers and individual entrées. I had the grilled lamb chops and you had roast pork. The serving amounts were very substantial. We drank a little wine, had much conversation, and all seemed to enjoy the time together. We, in turn, were invited to go at 7 PM to Panorama for iced cream or some dessert. At home we had a short siesta and then started that terrible time— packing. You were marginally helpful and I got stressed. You kept insisting we did not bring certain items when we had. Since you didn’t do any of the packing when we came, I guess that is understandable. Anyway, we got through this effort and I closed and bound the bag with a bright yellow band for easy identification. I struggled with it down the stairs so I could avoid doing that early on Sunday. The whole effort required a lot of perspiration so my next step was bathe and shave (I wanted to avoid that early Sunday too). You opted to bathe after we came back from Panorama. The unpleasant feature of the evening was generated by Marianna. She got it in her head at about 5 PM to go to the beach. She and Apostalos took off there over the objection of Litsa. In order to accommodate us, her father-in-law Thanasi had to make two trips to Panorama, about ½ hour round trip. We went to the Hotel Asteria which had a commanding view of Thes/niki. It was a very pleasant interlude. Thanasi said he would pick us up and take us to the airport tomorrow. Everybody was miffed with Marianna. We were on the first trip to the village. Litsa, Gregory, and Alkesti waited for the second round. When we got home, you bathed, I worked on packing the carryon. Day 299 (Sunday, August 07, 2005)—we got up at 2:45 AM—we had to be at the airport at 4 AM for our plane’s departure at 6 AM. Marianna came to take us and, of course, the wires got crossed and she arrived at 3 AM instead of the 3:30 time we had set up. Gregory, to his credit, loaded our big bag into the car (and let me tell you it 360 was heavy). We then sort of hung out until 3:30 before we left. Litsa was up but Ellie was not. Gregory came to the airport too to keep Marianna company on the return trip. We arrived right on time but the ticket takers didn’t get there until 4:15 AM. We processed through quickly but were disappointed that the business class lounge, The Philipos, was not open. Seating there would have been much more comfortable than the terminal. Our flight departed right on time for Milano. They gave us a little snack on the plane and just before landing at 7:30 AM we were advised to stay seated until the wheelchair arrived. Actually, the plane stopped a distance from the terminal and people had to take a bus. In short order, a van came and picked us up— personnel transportation. We were then escorted to your wheelchair and the attendant got us quickly through security (she bucked the line for us) and into the Alitalia lounge in the international terminal. We would stay there until the 10 AM boarding time. The attendant then had us board first. The business class seats were once again comfortable. The food was OK but nothing special accept for the pasta course. The movie was good but you didn’t watch it much. We were both anxious to get home and it felt as if the 8 ½ hour trip was taking forever. Finally, we landed at Dulles a few minutes before 2 PM, processed through immigration quickly and had the usual wait for our bag. We really need to travel with just a carryon each given the amount of clothing we now have in Greece. Customs was a breeze too after waiting the obligatory ½ hour for our one bag to spin around the carousel. A taxi was waiting, we boarded and made a quick trip to the Oracle garage. The car was waiting, responded to the twist of the key in the ignition and off we went. It felt good to drive again after six weeks, in a car of reasonable size and power with great air conditioning. Our first stop was Safeway for milk, some fruit and then home. It was great to enter our home. Nick and Nina did a god job of piling the mail—there had to be at least thirty pounds of it. 361 You were very tired and got into bed while I unpacked. I piled your stuff on one of the bedroom chairs so you could put the stuff away on Monday. I put my stuff away and sent stuff down the laundry chute too. I did a wash and while that was happening, sorted mail— stuff for Monday action, stuff to look at but no action required, magazines to read, and lots, I mean lots of stuff to go into recycling. Day 300(Monday, August 08, 2005)—I got out of bed at 4:30 and read the Sunday paper. You got up at 5:30. You made me some breakfast and I then went down to do the immediate action stuff. I called Sheree the USFHP rehab lady and left a message. I spoke to our lawyer and we’ll meet Wednesday in the AM. I talked to a billing department that submitted their bill to the wrong insurance for some x-rays they took of you while at NRH. I called the guys who are supposed to do our driveway this Friday and left a message. I wrote a bunch of checks and worked on updating our check register. Meanwhile, you put away your stuff and did a load of wash too. We then exercised, you on the recumbent bike and I on the treadmill. We showered and then went to the Post Office to mail a package to Maia—she is at camp and Dini thought it would be nice for Yiayia and Papou to send her a note. We lunched on the chicken and coleslaw that Nick and Nina so thoughtfully brought and put into our refrigerator. I then went out to do a little trimming. I was really pooped. Fat Pat needs to lose weight badly. We went to the library and got you some big print books. You did some reading today without complaining about your eye sight. We even went to Montgomery Mall as I needed a new battery for my Casio “atomic” watch. We had a cold drink at McDonalds and left for the Chinese restaurant in Kensington. Day 301 (Tuesday, August 09, 2005)—this concludes the 43d week since your injuries. It is cool and rainy day. I got out of bed at 4 AM and you followed at 5:30 AM. I guess jet lag is still bothering us. We 362 went into Maria's Room and read (I might have napped too) until 7:30 when you did our cereal bit. I made a phone call to the driveway people and they will come next Wednesday instead of this Friday. We did our second day of exercise for thirty minutes each and then showered. Oh, yes, I cut your toe nails per your request. I spoke to Sheree Gorden, USFHP, outpatient rehab coordinator. We agreed that you no longer needed PT and OT but if we wanted to continue SLP we needed another referral from Dr. Lee. We went to the commissary and restocked on fruit, salad, and other stuff. You were very helpful. By the way, you are now carrying your purse on a regular basis now. You have your ID card and presented it when we had to pass through security. When we got home we both worked on putting what we bought away. You cut up an onion for me to use as I prepared an onion-cheese omelet for our lunch. You told me it was very good and I agree, if I do say so myself. You did the clean up. We went to the movies at White Flint and saw Wedding Crashers. It was so-so, but you stayed and were attentive through the whole thing. You gave it a so-so rating too. My computer network is acting up as it did yesterday. My laptop does not seem to want to connect so I started writing this and precisely at this point, it connected. Weird!!! You came in and advised you couldn’t find your mouth piece. It was on a white surface in the bathroom (not next to your bed) and to the left. Perhaps that is why you couldn’t find it. Day 302 (Wednesday, August 10, 2005)—I got early—4 AM, and tried to get my computer to behave. I did a system restore, checked for viruses, and installed updates. I then returned to bed. You called for me and said you missed me. We slept together again until 6:15. You made us breakfast and cleaned up. While we were eating, at 6:40, Tonya showed up outside and was puttering around with the 363 vegetable garden she planted in our garden square. We tried calling Litsa but nobody was there or at Marianna’s. We both exercised for thirty minutes with you on the exercise bike and I on the treadmill. After that, we went outside to do yard work since the yard looked terrible. I started out with the trimmer and you started clearing our garden areas from weeds. I joined you doing that when using the trimmer started hurting my back. We worked for about 1½ hours and the sweat was pouring off of us. We have more to do and we’ll try again in the morning after exercise. After showering, we did some reading and left the house a 10:30 for David Lease’s office, our lawyer. We departed his office at about 11:35 and off we went to eat at Phillips on our way to our physicals with Dr. Lee. I found I-270 with no problem but then missed our exit at Shady grove somehow and we had to backtrack. In spite of my poor exiting skills we were OK time-wise. We arrived at the Shady Grove Health Center about ten minutes before our appointments. We were there for annual physicals—we missed them last year as they were scheduled for October 15, the Friday following the Tuesday incident. Everything appears OK. We have several referrals for me and for you. Dr. Lee said I need to lose at least ten pounds before I see him in October. I need to loose much more than ten pounds overall. We found out from Carol, the admin person supporting Dr. Lee that they could not authorize another referral for SLP beyond the 12 visits they already authorized. Since Sherree is away, I could not call her and discuss this. Next, we went to the NRH/Suburban rehab center to coordinate follow-up therapy. Fatima, the office manager cancelled all OT/PT that we had scheduled. She also advised that we had two more SLP visits authorized and we scheduled them with Jan Carl when she returns from vacation. At that point, if more SLP work is required, she will deal with USFHP. I will call Sheree next week and advise her of what is going on. We received the letter from her advising that visual therapy is not authorized. I will forward to our lawyer. 364 We went to the commissary again to buy a few more things that we forgot yesterday. At home, you put what we bought away and you cut up the strawberries and added peach brandy to make a delicious dessert. You added some Cool Whip that you missed having in Greece (that was one of the few items we did not find there). This became our dinner. We then read some more, watched TV to include a special about Peter Jennings, the TV journalist who died this week at age 67 from lung cancer. His career was very interesting as was the fact that his father was a TV journalist on Canadian TV. Day 303 (Thursday, August 11, 2005)—I got up at five and you followed at six. I was working on the letter-journal and when you came, you disarmed the door and then made us some breakfast. We did our exercise—are we good or what, four days in a row now. We then went out and worked for another 1½ hours in the yard, cleaning and trimming. Hopefully, I’ll mow tomorrow, perhaps around 7 PM when it is cooler (I hope) and the grass dry—this morning it was very wet. When we came in, we were really perspiring and, of course, showered. We did a lesson about Mt. Athos. I downloaded some information from the internet and then developed questions based on the text. There were five yes/no and five multiple choice questions. You did very well. I made many medical appointments for us today—two for you and three for me. I am not looking forward to a colonoscopy. The nice thing is that Joe volunteered to drive me when we get to that point. You prepared Greek-style green beans for lunch (your own initiative). Luckily, I am going out to a lunch meeting with the BAI PMs. I say luckily because as you know, I do not like Greek-style green beans as they are too cooked (mushy) for my taste. This is the first time since February 24, 2005 that I’ve left you completely alone—no sitter such as Connie or anybody else. I left 365 the house at 11 AM for a BAI meeting in Virginia (the Marriott off route 50) and returned at 5 PM. You told me that Pauline dropped by to chat for awhile and you didn’t get a chance at a siesta. I’m pleased that you did have some outside company today. At the BAI meeting, I ate chicken fajita filling (no soft tortia) and a little salad. I am proud to say that I ate no dessert and that was something because they had several types all of which I love—chocolate mouse, chocolate layer cake, and crème broulé. The trip back was as horrible as I remembered it in the past when I taught for BoozAllen. It was bumper-to-bumper traffic from Tyson’s to the Wisconsin Ave exit. Given the temperature was 95 degrees; it was nice to have an effective car air conditioner. When I arrived home, you were in Maria’s Room and contrary to previous behavior (BA), you did not get up to greet me with a kiss. After I changed, I came to you and gave you a kiss. Next action was grilling the porterhouse steak outside (in the heat). You enjoyed the filet portion. By the way, I tried your green beans and I liked them. They were not mushy but in your opinion they also were not as good as your sister Ellie makes. You did the clean up honors. Day 304 (Friday, August 12, 2005)—jet lag, jet lag, jet lag—I awakened at 3 AM, read until four and we both got up at six. You disarmed the alarm and I went out to test the lawn to see if I could cut it at first light. The answer was no as it was soaked from dew. I checked email, and you made us breakfast. This day marks ten calendar months since that horrible incident. You have come a long way since then but still have a way to go before you are completely well--still not too much initiative in doing things around the house. You do make the bed and get it ready at night. You do make breakfast and clean up and even a little bit of cooking. But, not much activity in the house-work arena. You were the original white tornado but not so much anymore. We left the house a 9 AM to mail a package to Dini with presents from Greece. Next we drove to Shady Grove so I could have an 366 echocardiogram. We finished that at 10:30 and we decided to go to Phillips for lunch. Once again, we enjoyed the meal very much. On the way home I stopped at a sign store to price a bronze sign with “Maria’s Room” would cost. Unfortunately, the appropriate pricing person was not there and will call. Home we rested and had a siesta. You then said you wanted something sweet and I wanted a tower fan so off we went to the Navy PX and found the fan. Since McDonalds is there you wanted a soft ice cream hot fudge Sunday. When we got home we had a package from Dini containing workbooks. I assembled the fan and set it up to blow air conditioning into Maria’s Room. We’ll see if it works—it does say for circulating air conditioning. While Maria’s Room does have an air conditioner it is very noisy as all such wall units are and thus hard to tolerate. I wrote some emails, one to Dini thanking her. I searched for a possible movie for us and found none. It is very hot out. When the sun goes down, I’ll start mowing. We went to White Flint Mall for a walk. After two turns around we sat on one of the couches and observed people. It was nice and cool in the mall and there were a lot of people there. It was about 90 degrees when we got home but that was better then the 98 it was and the temperature was gradually dropping. I did mow but was very disappointed in you because you did not partner with me and use the light weight blower we had. So, not only did I mow, I did the blowing and rinsing with the hose. I only did the front and the hill. I still have the back to go. Day 305 (Saturday, August 13, 2005)—today is another heat alert day. After breakfast instead of doing the treadmill, I decided to mow the lawn in attempt to beat the heat. The grass was moist from dew which added to the difficulty of cutting it. I stopped twice to clean the undercarriage of the mower. Luckily we have an electric mower 367 so hopefully I did not disturb the neighbors. It took me ½ hour or so and meanwhile you did the recumbent bike that you had started some 15 minutes before I mowed. After showering, we picked up our meds. By 10 AM, the temperature reached 88 degrees. We went to the commissary for milk and South Beach cereal. We returned home and you gave us some of the green beans you made yesterday. They were very good since you did not cook them to yucky softness. You’ve been doing a lot of reading today which I really like to see. After our siesta, we went out and bought some country bread you wanted and then went to Monty Mall and walked too full circuits. We bought a large drink at McDonalds upon arrival and managed three free refills. You were thirsty today. Since our return from Greece you’ve been carrying your purse. Your purse has your wallet and your dependent’s ID. You are watching it very carefully to avoid a repeat of what happened at the church in Greece when you forgot it and we didn’t even realize it. This is still another step toward wellness. Day 306 (Sunday, August 14, 2005)—we were up early again. No breakfast this morning since we plan to receive communion. After taking morning meds and my reading the Washington Post we went downstairs and exercised. Good for us. We left for Church at 7:45 AM and arrived about 9:15. We lighted candles, said some prayers and sat in the first pew. When Father John brought forth the bible to be kissed, he welcomed us home, said how good you looked, and even said that Harriet, his wife, saw us on Greek TV. I think she must be mistaken. Church was tiring for me today (my back was hurting) but you did well by standing during the appropriate time without finding it necessary to sit. Our usher friend Chris gave us some holy bread in advance and put us at the head of the line when it was time for communion. When we 368 departed at the conclusion of services, Father Steve welcomed us too and remarked that you looked well. Connie and Vickie came at 12:30. We called Niko and apparently he and Nina went to Annapolis yesterday and stayed overnight. We went to Phillips for lunch. We all enjoyed our selections. On the way home, we stopped at Target so the ladies could do some shopping and they did buy. They are going to the beach this coming weekend and next and want us to go too. Maybe we will, we’ll have to check with Dino and Myrna. At home, we had cool drinks. You also gave them some sweet Thasos walnuts. I think Vickie liked it better than Connie. We also gave them some dark chocolate for the brain. They left at 3:45. Connie had to go to band practice. We went into Maria’s Room and read. Day 307 (Monday, August 15, 2005)—we arose early again. I went to exercise prior to going to BAI while you rested in bed. I even made my own coffee and cereal when you showed up. When I returned from BAI, you told me that you dusted and vacuumed. I only hope you did those things. You did make up our bed and did a great job of cleaning off the cement slab at the back of our house. I went to BAI for ½ day to review a proposal. It needed some additional work so I edited and provided input. Since it is your name day, when I arrived home I offered to take you to Ambrosia for lunch but you declined—you said we should go for dinner. Your Canadian cousin called to wish you a happy name day. Later, Roula called from Greece to wish you the same thing. Since you did not want to go out, I reread the BAI proposal, made additional corrections and called them in. We left for Ambrosia and arrived at 5:15 PM. There were a few customers but there was plenty of room for us and no line. We ordered a combination appetizer (with tarama, fire feta, spanakopita, and skordalia) and chicken livers with a salad and Greek green beans (on a separate plate). We shared everything but 369 the green beans which I left exclusively for you. I brought my own lo-carb bread to eat with the appetizers and the chicken livers. We enjoyed the meal very much but both of us started to generate a lot of gas while we were walking off our meal at White Flint mall. After we arrived home, we read some more, watched a little TV and went to bed. I was awakened by fire engines at 11:30 and because I had so much acid reflux I couldn’t sleep. I read some more and then made this letter-journal entry. I took some stomach stuff and hope it works soon. Myrna sent an email inquiring about your eating habits, etc and I replied. I told her you LOVE cola now. I went back to bed at 2 PM. Day 308 (Tuesday, August 16, 2005)—this day ends the 44th week since “the incident.” We got up a little later than usual, about 7:30. I could have stayed in bed some more given my crazy sleep pattern last night but you were up and at ‘em. I just had coffee for breakfast because I felt that I overate last night. We exercised and increased our time to 40 minutes. I read that a two mile walk each day reduces the probability of dementia by 50%. I assume this is good for the recumbent bike. I called Sheree Gordon, the USFHP rehab coordinator, and told her what I found out from Dr. Lee i.e., that he cannot authorize more than 12 visits. I mentioned that for SLP we had two to go and those will take place next week. After an eval, Fatima the NRH/Suburban Office manager will coordinate with Sheree. I cancelled all OT/PT as no longer necessary. I think she saw that as proof we were not trying to milk the system. She will keep in touch. Bobby dropped in. He stayed about 15 minutes. He seemed pleased to see you so well. He is talking more and more about retirement after Kathy retires next year. The truth of the matter is that they will have a significant income and need not work. Given the number of hobbies he has and sports activities they both like, I’m sure he will not be bored. He does have his health to worry about so it 370 doesn’t make sense for him to retire and go into some high pressure corporate job. We’ll see! It is a gloomy day with rain and such. Hopefully it will only last today since we are expecting the driveway folks tomorrow. We went to the commissary—you wanted fruit. When we returned home, you chopped up a whole onion and I used it to make an omelet with cheddar cheese. I used four eggs and with the other ingredients, it seemed like plenty. I gave you a little less then half (as you requested) and you had rustic bread with it and I lo-carb bread. I am giving all of this detail because you all of a sudden decided you had not eaten. I ended up making you four more eggs with cheese. Later after reading, I wanted to go for a walk somewhere. You refused to go out. We did a lesson and you did well. We read some more, you made us some dessert and of course after I ate it I chastised myself. Day 309 (Wednesday, August 17, 2005)—we got up at 7:30 AM. You made me breakfast and then went to exercise while I waited for the driveway people. You showered and dressed and I went to exercise. You called me to tell me that they had arrived but it wasn’t them but it was Jack Emanuelson who is a colleague and works with me as my back-up instructor. He came a ½ hour earlier than expected. You did not let him in—I did after you came and got me. Jack and I worked on making some revisions to a scenario we use in teaching while you read. He left at about 11 AM and then the driveway people came and did some preliminary work in preparation for covering the driveway tomorrow. They seem to know what they are doing. They are covering it with something called durastone which is a combination of epoxy and stones. Hopefully, it will last the 40 years that our concrete driveway lasted. When they left, we went to Montgomery Mall and ate Chinese. Our next stop was Bed, Bath and Beyond, followed by Panero’s where we bought some more country bread for you. At home, we read, napped 371 and you ate your last yogurt and some ice cream too. I don’t think you have this diet thing down yet. We did a lesson and you did not do too well. We will try the same lesson again tomorrow. This one required you to draw a conclusion e.g., a nail is smaller than a: pin, a microbe, a car. You had to choose the appropriate response but I don’t think you got the premise of the exercise. Day 310 (Thursday, August 18, 2005)—I don’t know why I am having trouble sleeping but I am. It is now 4:30 AM and I decided to get up for awhile and then go back to bed and try again. You, meanwhile, are sleeping like an angel with a little snore thrown in every now and again. When I returned to bed at 5:30, you said hi to me, we chatted for a few minutes and then slept until 7:15. The next event was your preparation of breakfast for us and then cleanup. You then went to exercise while I waited for the Dura-stone people. The guys came just minutes after nine and were complaining about the traffic they hit coming from Woodbridge. Even using the HOV lane they took two hours to get here they said. The driveway looks great. Hopefully it will hold up without a problem. We left with Joe for Chicken-on-the-Run at noon so we didn’t actually see them complete the job. One of the guys will be back tomorrow to remove some edging boards they still have in place. I will pay the remainder of what we owe them. The coating looks very substantial. The color we selected looks very, very, nice. No walking is allowed on the driveway for 24 hours and no parking for 48 hours. This will not be a problem since we leave for Lewes tomorrow AM and the car is still parked in Pauline’s driveway. We ate as a guest of Joe and then all went to observe you getting your hair shaped and trimmed by Marta across the street from the chicken place (convenient, huh). It took her an hour to do the job. Next time we visit Marta, we will get your hair tinted again. Joe and I chatted while you were undergoing your haircut and when you were finished, he brought us home and we went forth in our car to gas up for our trip to Lewes tomorrow. 372 When we returned home, you went to Maria’s Room to read and I did two miles on the tread mill. You finished your book and have started a new one. Heidi Blaker called and invited us to dinner the following Sunday. Her newly wed daughter Ursula and her husband will be there. Day 311 (Friday, August 19, 2005)—I will not take the laptop with me to Dino/Myrna’s in Lewes, Delaware, so the entries from now until then will depend on my memory or better still any notes I jot down. If I have to depend on my memory, the entries will be sparse. We got up at 7 AM, ate and exercised. We packed and are ready to leave except it is raining with gusto. So, I am writing this and you are sitting quietly in the living room, eating chocolate, you informed me. I will move the car from Pauline’s driveway to the mouth of our driveway since I can’t drive on the driveway. One of the driveway guys came to pick up the wood edging they had to contain the new surface while it dried. He also picked up the red tape they had to prevent people from walking on the surface. I had hoped they would leave the tape across the mouth of the driveway to prevent cars from entering the driveway. They did not and I had to make up a sign asking drivers not to enter. We packed the car with our carry-on bag and our pillows. We departed at 10 AM, as planned. There was little traffic on the way. We stopped at WaWa for coffee the way we used to when traveling to Ocean Pines and also bought an apple fritter (bad us). For some reason, we each did not find the coffee mixture to our taste and didn’t even finish the fritter—remaining coffee and fritter into the trash when we stopped at Denton’s Burger King. We both ate chicken tenders, French fires (bad again), and coke with a dash of lemonade. I ate while in the King and you made yourself a little package and consumed your share while I was driving. We arrived at 1:15, or so, and were warmly greeted by Myrna and Dino. We chatted a lot and then at 8 PM, Connie and Vicki arrived. 373 They said the traffic departing DC was really bad but once they were on route 50 they had no problem, not even crossing the bay bridge. Perhaps the earlier monsoon discouraged people. We watched TV all together then hit the sack at 10 PM. Dino bought a new TV since his old one went bad. This one is a 46 inch rear projection theater style. It has a very nice picture. Day 312 (Saturday, August 20, 2005)—we got up earlier than everybody else (about 7:30) and thus went on the porch to read until the others were up-and-at-‘em. The group managed to arise at 9:00 AM and we all had breakfast. Myrna made eggs and other stuff. We left for the beach at Cape Henalopin around 11 AM. We took the handicap permit to help us find parking. No handicap parking was available but we did find parking at some distance. The beach was crowded because much of it had eroded and thus very narrow. We got you under an umbrella and into some shade. We were right next to the fence that protects the sand dune. You had no interest in approaching the water. Of course, you did not take a bathing suit and only had shorts on. We others went into the water—it was not cold but the contrast with the heat of the day made it seem so. I used the boogey board. I offered it to others but all declined. The waves were not great but I managed to catch a bunch and rode them into shore. I did this for about 45 minutes and was pooped. The others were too. We stayed on the beach to dry and left about 1 PM. After showering and changing, we hosted lunch at our favorite Mexican restaurant. We had chicken fajitas and they were very good. You were stuffed. After eating, we took a ride to Black and Decker. I wanted to see how they placed the string on the spool of the edger. I was doing it right. Connie and Dino made some purchases. You were with Vicki and Myrna at the Dress Barn. Vicki treated us to a TCBY cone but you did not think much of it. I agree. We went to the house and the girls went out to do some 374 shopping. After they came home, we saw a TV movie, The Judge. It was good and kept us up until 11:30. Day 313 (Sunday, August 21, 2005)—again we beat everybody up. Bobby called and said he was disappointed that they could not see us because he had to catch a plane in the afternoon. After breakfast, we left for the beach. This time we went to Dewey Beach in hopes that it was in better condition. We did find handicapped parking right next to the ramp leading to the beach. This is a good thing given all of the stuff we were hauling. The beach was in good condition and we managed a place near the water. After setting up, we all went in while you guarded our belongings. The waves were less than inspiring but I did manage to ride some and Connie took pictures of me the great surfer. The big event was that Myrna and Vicki convinced you to get your feet wet. You came to water’s edge and got in up to the height of your ankles. This was a very good thing and I complimented you all over the place. We left the beach about 2 PM. After showering we had an all-youcan-eat buffet at the house. Dino grilled all types of sausage and some hamburgers, Myrna had stuffed peppers, squash pie, a squash fritters plus more. Once again, we stuffed ourselves. We went to visit Jim Linnen and his wife Gabriel (Gaby) who now live in Lewes near the Cape May ferry. Jim worked for me a long time ago when I commanded the 902d MI Group. They have a huge house that includes an elevator. They live on the third floor while their daughter uses the second floor. The daughter was visiting with her four daughters—she is a doctor and so is her husband and he is currently serving in Afghanistan. Jim and Gabby are collectors and their house was chock-full of stuff. We stayed about an hour. They were full of compliments about you. On the way back home, we stopped at DQ for a soft ice cream chocolate dipped cone. It was much better than TCBY. At home, we watched Mystery Woman on the Hallmark Channel. 375 Day 314 (Monday, August 22, 2005)—we got up at 8 AM. You dressed and went to the porch and I did some packing and then dressed and I joined you on the porch. Myrna was there. We chatted a bit and then Dino got up and we had breakfast. We loaded the car and left at 9:37. You agreed that we had a very nice time. You did not get restless during our whole stay and participated very nicely. The traffic was light as expected. We arrived at the restaurant Red, Hot and Blue, near Annapolis, at 11:15 and ordered our whole slab of dry ribs to take home. We got home at 12:10, unloaded and ate our lunch. We unpacked and threw stuff that needed washing down the laundry chute. You went downstairs and started the wash. We had a brief call on our answering machine from our brother-inlaw Gregory. I guess he was worried when we did not call on Saturday. We forgot to tell them we were going to Lewes. We called back but got no answer. We then called Marianna and spoke to Apostalos. Litsa and Marianna with Thano went shopping. I told Apostalos that I sent him and email but he doesn’t often access his email. He said he would (later he did reply to my email). We received another book from Greece written by Uncle Stelios. You called Pauline and left a message on her answering machine and then you called the Reatigs to wish them a welcome home. Suzanne was at work but Noonie was there and came over to visit with you. Meanwhile, I was catching up with this letter-journal. We went to White Flint Mall for a walk. Initially you did not want to go until I pointed out it was good for our health. One circuit of each floor took us a total of 25 minutes. When we came home, I tried to get you to blow the leaves off of the front porch—you were not ready to do that so I did the job. Dini sent us pictures from their trip to Boyd’s. They looked very nice and Alec seems to have lost a lot of weight. 376 One bit a confusion you had today is insisting that we had two cars —both Buicks. I assured you that we only have one car but I’m not sure that I convinced you. We’ll see. Day 315 (Tuesday, August 23, 2005)—this concludes week 45 since THE incident. You got up shortly after midnight to go to the toilet and got disoriented. You were not sure where the bathroom was located. Fortunately I was awake and thus told you where to go. From thereon you were OK. In fact when you got up early this AM to go, you had no problem. We both got out of bed at 7:00 AM and you made us our usual breakfast. We exercised for 45 minutes and you then showered and dressed while I did some desk work and watched a movie. After filing some stuff, I showered and then we both read a bit. Now the good news, you made a great salad while I grilled the bratwurst. We then read some more and here is the bad news. You were terrible when I said it was time to go see Jan Carl the SLP. You frustrated me to the point that I can’t coherently describe how bad it was. We both were not at our finest. We had not so loving words, you got down on the floor and refused to get up. I felt betrayed by your attitude and your earlier expressions of love. It did not seem very loving what you did. After all, I am thinking of you and the need for you to improve your thought processes. I guess you feel that this is school and you are not pleased (perhaps embarrassed) by your performance. Finally, I had to put on your shoes, you wouldn’t go outside but somehow I got you there. You begrudgingly got into the car. At least you did not make a scene going into the center. Jan was the sweetest thing to you. She expressed how much she missed you. I sat in on the first half hour per her request and you responded well to her questions and observations. You wanted to be more in control and independent, you told her. I guess you resent having to rely on me. You explained all of the independent things that you do such as showering, dressing, and often making the bed, etc. Later you said being with Jan was like marriage counseling and that we shouldn’t fight. Hopefully, you won’t carry on this way on Thursday, our next appointment. That is, if you honor your promise to Jan. 377 Following your SL therapy, we went to the commissary. We got a bunch of stuff and I gassed-up the car. Mail was waiting for us when we got home. We received the two pairs of scissor tongs I ordered over the internet—one is for Greece when next we go. We also got a magazine for you and one for me. We did more reading, Noonie came with tsoureki from Stella for you. You came downstairs to watch TV with me until 8 PM. I did not encourage you to stay longer. I am still an unhappy camper and depressed. See, I suffer from human frailty. Day 316 (Wednesday, August 24, 2005)—well, I woke up at 3 AM after coming to bed at ten. I had trouble getting back to sleep and gave up at 4 to go to Maria’s Room and read. I finished the book I was reading by 6 and came back to bed. You were awake and said you missed me. That was nice of you to say so I hope we are back to normal. We both got up at about 7:15—I did snooze a little. You did the breakfast bit for us. You exercised for about 1 hour on the bike and I did 40 minutes (2 miles) on the treadmill. We showered, dressed and went to Costco. We have not been there for awhile. For the most part, we replenished our vitamins. When we got home, you marinated the steak which I later grilled on the Barbie while you made us another nice salad. I did some BAI work in the afternoon while you read in Maria’s Room. So far we’ve had a pleasant day that I hope extends into tomorrow when we once again go for SL therapy. Joe came and picked me up at 4 PM to go to an OPSEC Society meeting. He found you looking really well. He sat in Maria’s Room for a few minutes and was really impressed with it and the way it was decorated. He said that Debbie thinks you have the best decorating sense and taste over everyone else she has ever seen. The meeting was not a big deal—they didn’t even have a quorum. We returned at 7:30 and the big deal was that you stayed up to greet 378 me. We watched TV and you went to bed at 8:15 and I stayed up until 11 PM. Hopefully, I will sleep better. Day 317 (Thursday, August 25, 2005)—I slept really well this evening and until 7 AM. Of course, I took a couple of nonprescription sleeping pills. I really did not want to get up this morning but you were up and at ‘em at the usual time. You let me stay in bed a little longer and after you ate breakfast, you informed me mine was ready. I got out of bed and ate breakfast; you went to do the recumbent bike. Today, you did about an hours worth of exercise. I did the usual 40 minutes and then did some filing while you dressed, made the bed and went into Maria’s room to read. After I showered, it was time to go to therapy and you were wonderful. We went there without argument and you had a great session with Jan. You told her your goal was to become more independent and relieve me from things I have been doing for you or on your behalf. She (and I) thought very highly of that answer. You both agreed that one session each week for one hour was adequate and that you did not have to do homework for the remainder of this week. When we got home, you noted that you did not have your purse. We looked in the car, no purse. You determined that you must have left it at therapy. I called and they held it for you until we finished lunch and went there. You went in by yourself and retrieved the purse. Next, we went to hardware city and I bought a tube of asphalt crack sealer. A little piece came off where the new driveway meets the asphalt. I sealed the piece and I hope it works in keeping it together. I guess I am going to have to buy 5 gallons (the smallest amount they have) of the stuff and seal the whole mouth of the driveway. It needs to look better the way the rest of the driveway does. At 6 PM we went to the Athena Plaka and met Niko and Nina. They invited us for dinner there. They arrived right on time and Niko ordered and we had a variety of appetizers the way he likes rather than an entrée. I even had two glasses of retsina. Well, not really 379 two glasses since when I turned my head you took my first glass and poured it into your glass of diet coke. You like that mixture. We had a nice couple of hours with the them. Day 318 (Friday, August 26, 2005)—yesterday, we noticed that the headlight and touring light of the car were out. So, after breakfast, I went to the dealer to get them fixed. I had to wait awhile because they did no have one of the bulbs. When I arrived home, you had exercised, made the bed and were reading. I proposed we go to the movies and you agreed. We went to White Flint Mall and saw The 40 Year Old Virgin. It was a little raunchy but we did have a couple of good belly laughs. You seemed enjoy it. We then went to the food court for lunch. After we arrived home, we decided to do some yard work. We trimmed some plants and the hedges. We worked like a good team. Just as we finished, Dee from NRH showed up (an hour early) for a six month follow on to some testing they did of your memory. They are doing research into brain injury. She was here for about 1½ hours asking you many questions and I filled out two questionnaires too. You received $20 for your participation in the study. You did a load of wash to include the stair runners. After the wash was dry, you put the runners down on the stairs once again. You have the knack of laying them down smoothly but this time you didn’t lay them properly. When I went upstairs with you I noticed that you left the bottom step uncovered because you made an excessive overlap at the landing. You did not make an adjustment on your own when this happened—I pointed out the problem and helped you strip the stairs starting at the landing. You then laid down the runner perfectly. Day 319 (Saturday, August 27, 2005)—at breakfast, we called Greece and both spoke to Gregory and Litsa. I asked if they had a zip code and they said no. I told them that we would be sending a card to the house and to be on the look-out for it. After exercising, we did the usual and then took off for the Post Office. We went to 380 there to mail Marianna’s birthday card. You wrote some nice words and I included a check. She will get it late but we will call her and let her know it is on the way. Our next errand was to Shady Grove Road (Gaithersburg) to pick up the sign I had made for your name day. It reads “Maria’s Room.” They did a very nice job. Next stop was Home Depot for screws to hang the sign and to by some asphalt to make the mouth of the driveway look better. I then started further down the road when you asked where I was going. I said to eat at the fish place and you vetoed the idea—you were not hungry, you said. I guess we had an earlier miscommunication. Rather than come straight home, we went to the commissary to buy a plant for our visit to the Blaker’s tomorrow and we also bought some chicken livers for lunch and harvest brand spaghetti. Here again we had a miscommunication because even though you filled the pot with water for the spaghetti and we got the water boiling, you announced you did not want any. I cooked the livers, you chopped some onion which I added to five eggs. You also made some salad with avocado that I thought was for the both of us but you ate it all and thus you were too full for the livers. You saved your share and the leftovers from the frying pan for a later meal. You did the entire clean-up while I put up the Maria’s Room sign. Something strange: our calendar that normally hangs on the side of the refrigerator is missing. You claim no knowledge of its location. After lunch, Pauline called and you had a nice long chat with her. It rained all day so we stayed put and did the usual reading. We watched an adventure movie on TV that managed to keep your interest until 8:30 when you decided to go to bed. I stayed up until 11 PM watching the story of Pope Paul II. It was very interesting to see what he went through with the Nazis during the war and later with the communists. Day 320 (Sunday, August 28, 2005)—you, of course, got up early (6:30) and I still wanted to sleep but you got me moving at 7 AM. By 381 7:30 you were exercising and I read the Sunday paper. I told you it was time for you to dress so that we could go to church. We got there a couple of minutes later than usual for the Orthos. We lighted our candles, enjoyed the singing and the prayers. Chris, the head usher, gave us Holy Beard and we returned home about 10:20. It is a very humid day, not hot, but the high humidity makes it feel so. After changing clothes, we went to the Navy Exchange and bought a few things—a plant for Heidi and something for Ursula. We also have a nice bottle of wine to take with us when we go there for dinner tonight. When we got home, we warmed up the left over chicken livers and ate them for lunch. We did some reading and I took a short nap. We went for a walk at Wheaton Plaza Mall. The place was really jumping. It was full of people. We did a circuit of each floor, sat on a bench, and bought some vitamins (B1) for you. As the day progressed, the temperature went up and with the humidity high it was not pleasant. As usual, we arrived at the Blaker’s precisely at the time invited—6 PM. They live close in Chevy Chase so the trip only took 10 minutes. Ursula and her husband Otto arrived at about 6:30. They are a very cute couple and were married on July 15. Ursula was a beautiful little girl and now a beautiful young women. Otto is an entertainment attorney working for the Discovery Channel. You were terrific the whole evening—you were funny, engaged in conversation, and overall great. Since Heidi visited you while you were at NRH, she had a basis for comparison and was most impressed by your progress. They went all out with the meal: grilled marinated flank steak, fresh corn, and from their garden green beans, tomatoes (with mozzarella), and small potatoes. For desert, she made peach cobbler topped with ice cream and Cool Whip. It was an excellent meal with very, very nice company. We stayed until 8:30 and you were in bed by 9 PM. I watched TV until 11 PM. 382 Day 321 (Monday, August 29, 2005—we were up by 7 AM again generated by you. First, you nudged and petted me followed by a hi, Arion. Shortly thereafter, you popped out of bed and asked if I wanted breakfast as you headed for the kitchen. So, I got up too. You did the breakfast honors and then went downstairs to exercise. After exercise, I announced that I was going outside to do some work. You said OK but evidenced no other interest on what I planned to do. In fact, even though I was gone for some 90 minutes, you made no effort to determine what I was doing. This makes me sad as it shows that the “initiative dots” have not connected. Anyway, I spread asphalt on the mouth of our driveway. It was a lot of work compounded by the fact I had a hell-of-a-time opening the can. I finally had to tear a whole in the lid. Unfortunately, I got a couple of drops of the stuff on our new driveway area. Not much but I hope it will wear off. The mouth of the driveway looks much better than it did and all the cracks are sealed. Hopefully, it will not break up the way it was beginning to do. I now have an achy-breaky back. I took some Tylenol after I showered. Last week we received another book from Uncle Stelios. It is nice of him to think of us but my Greek is no match for his writing. On a little card inserted in the book, he complained that I have not written to him. Since we are waiting to go for your mammogram, I wrote him a letter. We went to Shady Grove Radiology. They took you about 15 minutes late but that was OK given the forms we once again had to fill out. The annoyance was two little girls the parents were not controlling. I mentioned that the kids should not stand in front of the door or they might get hurt if someone opened it. No sooner did they move them the door was pushed open. I was thanked. You were not happy. You let her do your left breast (and that hurt given the compression). You did not let them do your right breast. Even though it’s been hurting less and less it is still too sensitive to be flattened like a pancake. This depressed you. You wanted to go 383 home and not eat out. I made some pasta and shrimp scampi but that still did not entice you. In fact, you tried to sneak off to bed. I asked if you were sick and you responded, yes, mentally. I guess the whole mammogram thing depressed you. You were even angry with Dr. Lee for suggesting it. Well, at 4:30 you did go to bed and said “see you later.” This, of course, worries me. Hopefully after you rest you will get up. I went downstairs to watch TV and you appeared at 6:15. You watched a TV movie with me and were hungry so I heated up the pasta with shrimp scampi that I made earlier in the day. You asked me to add a piece of feta and enjoyed every bite. I told you that if you stayed up with me until 9 PM I would go up to bed with you. You sneaked away at 8:30. I tracked you down (it wasn’t hard, you were in bed) and we said prayers. I went back to watch TV. I saw Turning Points in History which dealt with the battle of Salamis between the Persians and the Athenians. The Athenians won. Day 322 (Tuesday, August 30, 2005)—this day closes the 46th week since “the incident.” You awakened me at 6:30 AM (I could have slept more) and went into the kitchen to make breakfast. Initially, you couldn’t find my cereal bowl. I told you it was on the counter. You said you looked there and in the cabinet but when you went back you did find it on the counter covered by a piece of paper towel. I mention this because you are still not very good at searching for things. I wonder if your vision injury is the problem. After cleaning up, you went down to exercise. I followed a little later. You did about an hours worth and I (with cool down) did 45 minutes and a distance of 2.5 miles. We are certainly getting better exercising. I had put the bed pillows away, but you made the bed as you have been the past few days. This is a good sign as is the fact that you straighten the throw rug in the hall. We left for your SL therapy at Montrose with Jan and Fatima gave me a once per week schedule for the rest of the year. Except for one day when I teach, Tuesday will be the day we go. Jan said you were 384 fabulous today. Later Dee the research person from NRH called as I had missed a couple of questions on the form she had me fill out. She too said you did remarkably well. She called you a sweetheart. In the afternoon when I called the Blakers to say thanks, Jim said you were terrific too. So, my dear, as I keep saying, everyday and a little bit better. Following therapy, we went to Rite Aide to pick up meds and I had to get phospho-soda as a lovely drink for tomorrow prior to my 1 Sep colonoscopy. From there, we went to Monty Mall for our weekly Chinese. Both of us did not finish our meals. When we arrived home you went to Maria's Room to read. I walked to the mail box and mailed letters and then to the library to return books and get some new ones. I joined you and read some and then did my BAI voucher. I also called the Montgomery County Public Works sidewalk people to mention the poor state of repair of the sidewalk. They said they would send someone to check it out. Day 323 (Wednesday, August 31, 2005)—you got up at 6:20 and I by 6:30. You had a nice mug of water waiting for me and were cute about it. You remembered that I could not eat dense food today in preparation for “the day” tomorrow. In fact, I will confine myself to water all day. We went and exercised and after I showered and dressed I was off to BAI for a couple of hours to catch up on what was going on. I got home around noon, continued to drink water, and at 1 PM took the 1.5 ounces of Phospho-soda in about 4 ounces of water as required. It was not fun. I drank plenty of water and shortly after I went you know where many times. That too is not fun. I can’t wait for the next dose (only kidding). You’ve are pretty relaxed today. You made the bed but not the proper way. You only pulled the comforter halfway and then did the regular bit with the pillows and the shams. When I asked about it, you did not give a coherent reason. We made the bed correctly together. You read much of the day. And, you did not eat anything 385 except breakfast until 3 PM when you had the rest of the tsoureki with some cream cheese and orange marmalade. Nothing interested you, you said. You really enjoy laughing to Everybody Loves Raymond. We saw an hours worth and you chuckled a lot. You went to bed at 8 PM and I waited up to see how much reaction I would have to the additional Phospho-soda I drank per doctor’s orders. I’ve already made one trip. Well, make that two trips. I guess my anxiety and desire to finish the book I was reading kept me up. At any rate, I did not go to bed until 12:30 AM. I said my prayers, kissed you goodnight again (you grunted) and hit the sack Day 324 (Thursday, September 01, 2005)—you got up bright and early, kissed me, ate breakfast and went to exercise. I got up at 8:00 AM. I was very tired from my late bedtime. I admired the fact you went to exercise while the good and the bad Arion argued about going to exercise. The bad said, Oh you’re too tired and weak from no food. The good said, You must exercise, you’re fat and out of shape. I am pleased to report the good Arion won the battle and I managed (I know not how) to walk 2 miles. When I came upstairs, you were sitting on the floor in Maria’s Room tending the plants. You watered all of the plants in the house and cut the dead leaves. I find this a very good sign and stride toward returning to the BA Maria. Joe arrived promptly at 10:00 AM. When I say promptly, I mean to the second. He is a good friend. After greeting you, we were off to the doctor for the colonoscopy and by 11 AM I was undergoing the procedure. It was completely painless, at least during the procedure. I got home feeling a little weak but the bad part was that I had severe cramps for most of the rest of the day. You were very, very sympathetic. I had some eggs at about 6:30 PM (my first food since Tuesday evening) as I was not at all hungry earlier. I really wasn’t very hungry at that time either. Sometime during the day, you did the homework Jan gave you. You asked me if I knew where the Grand Canyon was and I said no. You 386 informed me that it was in Arizona. You enjoyed doing the homework because you were learning something. You did not want me to check your work as that was Jan’s job working with you. You were being very independent, a good thing. Pauline called and came to visit. You chatted for about 45 minutes. Day 325 (Friday, September 02, 2005)—you got up at 6:30 AM, again. You roused me. After you made breakfast, you went to exercise. I didn’t see you go because I didn’t get out of bed until 7:15. But, you had all of my food ready to eat. I feel much better today. I did not exercise because I plan to cut the lawn. After you came up, I went with you into the bedroom and noticed you had another lapse in bed making skills. You pulled up the covers and had them very smooth and then placed the pillows and shams on them. You did not, however, pull up the cover. We did that together after removing pillows, shams, etc. We went to the commissary after you showered and dressed. You put on one of my shirts that matched your pants. The only trouble with that was it was gigantic on you—a men’s size large. I suggested you change and you did. On our way back from the commissary we mailed a donation to the Red Cross for the victims of Katrina. What awful devastation! I was going to do the lawn after we returned from the movies but did it upon our return from the commissary while it was relatively cool. There is low humidity today. The good thing about mowing was you. You came out and swept the grass clippings making things look neat. You did this without any suggestion from me. With the lawn done I showered, dressed and then looked at email. I found the time for the movie (2:05) and suggested we eat lunch/dinner after. You agreed. Later you asked what time the movie started and my mind was blank. You recalled 2:05, how great is that! We will read some before we depart for White Flint Mall. 387 We saw The Constant Gardener. The critics gave it four stars. Here is what it is all about: In a remote area of Northern Kenya, activist Tessa Quayle (Rachel Weisz) is found brutally murdered. Tessa's companion, a black doctor (Hubert Kounde) appears to have fled the scene and the evidence points to a crime of passion. He is later found crucified. Members of the British High Commission in Nairobi assume that Tessa's widower, their mild-mannered and unambitious colleague Justin Quayle (Ralph Fiennes), will leave the matter to them. They could not be more wrong. Haunted by his love and remorse over her death and jarred by rumors of his late wife's infidelities, Quayle surprises everyone by embarking on a personal odyssey that will take him across three continents in search of the truth. He risks his own life, stopping at nothing to uncover and expose the truth – murder and conspiracy committed by two drug companies with apparent government sanction that is far-reaching and deadly. At the end, he dies too and joins his Tessa. I mention this detail because the plot was intricate with many flash backs and forwards. You did not like that type of thing in the past. You watched the movie intensely and were not restless. When I asked you if you liked it as we left the theater, you said yes. You seemed to understand it. Since there was more talk then action, I was surprised you liked it. P.S. – we ate popcorn and had a drink. When we got home, you gave me the burgers you marinated and while I grilled them on the barby, you boiled corn. You cooked them perfectly and they were tasty. We ate two each. The marinade was called Southwestern and it was spicy. Nonetheless we enjoyed it. I put in a load of clothes and our towels. Later when you came down, you chastised me for not doing your workout clothes. Oh well, you didn’t tell me and I didn’t think of it. When the clothes were dry, you did the folding. You took them upstairs and put them away too. You don’t yet quite remember which drawer to put my underwear. You just picked a drawer, I think. But, you did put my socks in the right drawer. 388 You went up at what has become the usual 8 PM. After saying our prayers, I returned to our TV location and watched Forrest Gump. Of course, we had seen it when it first came out but I enjoyed it once again. I even shed a tear when his childhood sweetheart who finally became his wife died. Such scenes all too vividly remind me that I almost lost you so, of course, I cried a little. When the movie was over, I finished my book and was in bed at midnight. Day 326 (Saturday, September 03, 2005)—you awakened at 7 AM and nudged me awake too. We called Greece and you had a nice chat with Marianna and then Litsa. While you were talking, Thano hung up the phone. Since we had talked awhile, I wasn’t going to call back but Gregory called us so I told him to hang up and we called again since we pay far less for the call than they do. Everybody there is OK and all were gathered for the mid-day meal. Gregory cooked porgies (tsipoures) on the grill. Thano is saying more words now. When Marianna asked him what’s your name, you heard him say Thano. I really miss gathering around the table for lunch with them. Marianna and Apostalos were going to the beach after lunch. While the beaches are very nice nearby, they have no waves and hence for me, at least, going into the water is boring. I am really looking forward to being there next year, God willing. We’ll see how you feel next year. This year you felt six weeks was too long. We’ll only plan a month next time. You made us breakfast while I worked on this letter-journal and then went and fixed the bed. I asked if I should check because you’ve had some lapses in bed making the past couple of days and you said sure. You did a perfect job and I told you that. You were pleased to hear my praise. Your next stop was exercise and I soon followed you. After exercise, I used the trimmer to trim here and there and then to edge the driveway. You came outside upon my request to pick up twigs with me and then to use the blower to blow the grass away. The lawn looks nice now. 389 I showered and did put some stuff in the washer too—our exercise stuff and my outside work clothes. You made us a salad for lunch and did the clean up too. We read in Maria’s Room and then went out shopping. We went looking for fall fake flowers for our planters that were supposed to be on sale—we did not find any. The Healthy Back Store was our next stop, they were having a tent sale and we bought two pillows to take to Greece with us next year; we will leave them there. Next was Trader Joes and we got a seedless cucumber, Kalamata Olive Oil, and Greek-style yogurt that all have raved to us about. We’ll see how good it is. Day 327 (Sunday, September 04, 2005)—we continued our fast preparatory to going to church for communion. Today, you got up at 6:50 AM much to my displeasure. You drummed me out of bed shortly thereafter. You started cooking your beans and then got dressed for church. I read the paper and then prepared for church. We left at 8:45 and attended most of the Orthos and the entire liturgy. When it became time to receive communion, Chris put as right at the head of the line. You were the first to receive communion and Father Steve called you koukla (doll). Father Steve read a letter from Archbishop Demetrious about Katerina. Tbey added an extra collection tray to help those unfortunate people. We contributed in addition to our other Sunday contributions. When we arrived home, the beans were cooked and ready to eat. We changed clothes and you put yourself a mighty serving of beans with the addition of feta and country bread. I grilled the steak that had been marinating for a couple of days. When it was cooked, I gave you the filet and I ate the other part of the Porterhouse. You ate your steak and so did I. I then had some of your tasty green beans. I looked at the kitchen floor and was appalled at how dirty it was. I tried to get you to vacuum after I brought it into the kitchen to no avail. I tried to get you to sweep under stuff that the vacuum couldn’t get to—to no avail. I did that job too followed by a wet Swifter to mop the floor. Oh well, the homemaker dot is still not completely connected yet. I say not completely because you did the 390 lunch dishes, washed the pot, and put everything away. While the floor cleaning attempt was a disappointment, the dish/pot clean up was a good thing. We went to Michaels and selected some artificial fall flowers to redo our pots in front of the house in a couple of weeks. They were on sale so we got a many. From there we went to White Flint Mall for a walk. We did two turns and then we were bad. You wanted something sweet and we went to the Cheese Cake Factory and bought a chocolate mouse cake. I took two anti-carb pills with the hope that would make my eating not too bad. We devoured the cake. We spoke to Dini and to the grandkids today. They were all fine. Alec lost about 5 inches around his waist and Maia is now in 7th grade. Wow!! You also spoke to Aunt Mary in Florida and she was pleased to hear from you. Day 328 (Monday, September 05, 2005)—this is Labor Day. We both slept very well last night and didn’t get out of bed until 7:15. I guess I needed to catch up with the sleep I lost during the week. You made us the usual breakfast and cleaned up. Next we both exercised. I did a little more today by jogging a total of 12 minutes. Not fast and it was not all at one time rather two minutes after a walk of 3 minutes. At any rate, I was glad that I could do it. We’ll see if I do the same thing tomorrow. After reading a bit, we went out and deposited my BAI check and did a little shopping. Our first stop was Sym’s where they were having their semi-annual “bash” which is what they call their sale. Your shopping dot was activated because you did not complain and we in fact found you a very nice Jill Clayberg suit and a very nice long grey skirt. I even found a nice jacket for myself. Our next stop was Giant’s. We bought some watermelon, corn, and pieces of the fake crab with some cut up cooked chicken pieces. We made a salad with the later, you cooked the corn perfectly again and even sliced the watermelon. We had a very nice lunch. While we were making the salad, we discovered that we used the last of the wine vinegar so 391 we made another shopping trip to the Middle Eastern store. It was closed, so we went back to Giant’s where we bought more fake crab and chicken for tomorrow and the vinegar. Before we left the house for the vinegar, you asked me to check your homework. I did and noted that you did not answer all of the questions on the four exercises Jan gave you to do. I checked those off, and asked you to read each paragraph again and to answer the questions. You are doing much better. You did not want me to tell Jan that I supervised. We’ll see if you tell her. When we arrived home, I watered the lawn for 15 minutes. We have a lot of dry areas. We then both read until it was TV time. While we were watching, we heard a tap at the door. It was Niko. He bought me the rest of the attachments (the cleaning gizmo) to the Braun razor he gave to me. We chatted with him for a few minutes. He likes the resurfacing of the driveway. Nina was home preparing for her teaching duties tomorrow. They both saw the Constant Gardner and liked it very much. Day 329 (Tuesday, September, 9, 2005)—this concludes the 47th week since that terrible incident. We did the usual morning things. You made the breakfast, cleaned up, exercised, showered, dressed, and made the bed. You arranged the floor of your closet per my suggestion, it was messy. I faxed the letter I received from Dr. McCarthy to our lawyer. We both went into Maria’s Room to read. We went to SLP after eating lunch at home. You did very, very well Jan said. It always pleases me to hear of your progress. We went to Michaels from there to buy a bunch of fall artificial flowers that were on sale to replace the spring/summer flowers that we have in our outside pots. While it costs more to use these flowers, they certainly require much less maintenance. We will “plant” them around the end of September. Day 330 (Wednesday, September 07, 2005)—we got out of bed a little later than usual. You disarmed the door, made us breakfast, 392 and cleaned up. I retrieved the paper, scanned it and then joined you downstairs for exercise. We both did about an hour and I managed to jog (slowly) for 14 intermittent minutes. You came upstairs after showering, dressed, and made the bed. I did some desk work and then Pauline called and came over with Jenna. I went to shower since I was still in my exercise outfit and thus did not see them. You told me later that Jenna still looked like a little angel. You gave her the doll that we bought for her in Greece. They didn’t stay long—Jenna wanted her mamma. We went to the commissary, bought some already cooked ribs for lunch (they were OK but not great) and other stuff. After putting things away and eating lunch, we went into Maria’s Room and you engaged in homework. Some of it was really tough e.g., determining which two words out of five were opposites. You did well. You are getting better and I think you are now enjoying the challenge of your “school work.” We read some more, sneaked in a nap, and then went outside and watered the lawn for 15 minutes as we did yesterday. We are trying to get it green again; it has some burned out spots. I wonder if they will regenerate. Joe called us today and told us David’s wedding to Rachael went well. He and Debbie were pleased and Joe is pleased that it is over. Day 331 (Thursday, September 08, 2005)—today is the day that our Theotokos was born and there were church services. We got up at 6 AM to do our exercises after we ate and still depart for church on time. Actually, we ended up leaving early because we could not find the schedule and I thought the liturgy was to start at 9 AM when in reality it was 9:30. The traffic was not good and thus we got to church at 9:15. The usual Sunday trip of 20 minutes took us about double. Since this was a work day, church was sparsely attended and was mostly women. We did see Amelia and her mother Mrs. Katakis. They both use canes now. They both thought that you look great. Father Steve said you looked radiant as we departed. 393 We came home, read some and you did a very good job at two homework lessons. We left the house around 3 PM for Gaithersburg. We went to Phillips for lunch/dinner. At the conclusion of the meal, you said you wanted coffee so we went to Panerra’s and we had a Mocha Coffee and a cinnamon bun (bad me). After we finished that we were off to the Cardiologist, Dr. Soffat. I had an appointment with him as a follow-on to my echocardiogram and for further examination. We were early and on top of it they ran 30 minutes late. Very annoying, but they apologized all over the place. I received a EKG and the Dr. gave me a thorough exam. My test results were well explained to us. I would say they really all fell into the moderate OK. Nothing of an emergency nature but he does want me to keep up my exercise, cut down on food portions (i.e., lose weight), and cut salt to no more than 2000 mg per day. I will take a stress test on 10 November. Day 332 (Friday, September 09, 2005)—I did got up early and exercised. I wanted to jog but there was no way that I could overcome the early hour so I just walked 2 1/3 miles. When I came upstairs, there you were. You had my coffee and my cereal waiting for me. You even made the bed. How nice. You then went downstairs to exercise while I finished eating, showered and dressed. I bid you adieu and went off to BAI to do a days work. At BAI, I helped review a proposal for the Air Force. It needed more work and I made several suggestions. We also had a meeting for developing a BAI Security Training Academy. We will take steps to do so. As one of the principal trainers, I will be heavily engaged. I called before I left to advise you that I was leaving and I arrived home about 4:30. It was like old times. You were waiting for me, opened the door and greeted me with a kiss. This was clearly a BA Maria action. Since I had not eaten all day, I was pretty hungry. You cranked up the hot water and cooked corn. I took the steak that you had marinating and grilled it. While I was doing that, I noticed that you had done some really nice weeding around the apple trees. 394 Later, you told me that you also worked on your homework today in addition to reading your novel in Maria’s Room. Per your request, I did not salt the corn. You remembered that the doctor recommended that I minimize salt in my diet. The next step will be to minimize the amount of red meat we eat. I guess we’ll start to focus more on fish and white meat chicken. You told me that Heidi called and that she, Jim, Ursula, and Otto would join us at Ambrosia tomorrow at six. You reminded her of the time and the place. You suggested I call her too and verify. I did and Heidi was very impressed that you had all the details correct since she did not quite remember them from the last time I spoke to her. I also called Niko and reminded him. He forgot to tell Nina, so we’ll see how that unfolds. Day 333 (Saturday, September 10, 2005)—well, we did the usual getting up and moving things i.e., breakfast, cleanup, bed. We both went downstairs to exercise. I am pleased to report that I did manage to jog some and even at a little faster speed. I warmed up first for five minutes and then commenced to jog for two minutes at each five minute point. I did seven of these two minute segments. You did the recumbent bike for one hour. Ata-way to go girl! You are getting stronger but you are having trouble losing weight. After we showered and dressed, we went hunting for small photo albums for the prints we ordered on-line and received from Snapshot I wasn’t totally pleased with the Snapshot results as they seemed to have cropped edges of the photos because they were digital photos. We got 55 photos and printed an additional set to send to Greece. We found just the right album too. Then off to the bank to get one and five dollar bills to use when we go to church. We did not eat lunch today since we are going out to Ambrosia this evening. Nick called to say he and Nina will join us. We read our books for most of the afternoon. At 5:30 we went to Ambrosia. We went early to wait on-line as necessary because Pete the owner was 395 not firm in making our reservations for eight people at 6 PM. You know, it is our busy time, I can’t guarantee, blah, blah, blah. The bottom line was that he did set up a table for us and we could have arrived closer to six. All our guests arrived on time—the Blakers, Ursula and Otto, and Nick and Nina. We ordered two appetizer platters and then everybody ordered what they wanted as an entrée. Everybody seemed to love the food, the conversation and the company. You did very, very well in engaging with everybody. Day 334 (Sunday, September 11, 2005)—today is the anniversary of a not good time. It is four years ago that terrorists hijacked planes and crashed them into the World Trade Center Towers in New York City and another into the Pentagon. The Trade Center Towers collapsed killing many and Vicki who worked at the Pentagon might have lost her life in that strike as the plane hit very close to where she worked. In fact, had not someone helped her to evacuate promptly she would have died as a portion of the building she was in collapsed about ½ hour later. Some 3000 people died in these terrorist attacks. I was at what they call the Navy Annex at the time and saw the Pentagon strike from a window. There was a fourth plane hijacked but the passengers attacked the terrorists in an attempt to secure control. Unfortunately they could not seize control before the terrorists crashed the plane into the Pennsylvania countryside killing them all. Many believe that this plane was headed to Washington to assault the White House. These incidents kicked off what is being called the war on terrorism. May those terrorists and their sponsors be defeated quickly and especially those that profane God by citing Him as a reason to kill. You woke up at 6 AM today and so did I but I wanted to sleep longer. You wanted to call Greece and I recited the numbers to you and you punched them into the phone. You were successful on the first attempt and spoke with the relatives for at least 25 minutes. We got to the kitchen at 7:10 and we had to wait ½ hour before eating as it was your Fosamax pill time. I’m trying a starch blocker that also requires a half-hour wait before eating starchy food such as cereal. 396 The amazing thing was that we managed to eat, shower, dress and leave for church by 8:35 and arrived before the service began. You wore your new suit, the one we bought at Sym’s on Monday. We stayed for the Orthos and, as usual, very much enjoyed the singing. Once again people there were very kind to us and said how great you look. They made me feel uncomfortable when they each assured you that I was a very good husband because they observed how good I was to you. I’ll say again, I don’t find what I’ve done or am doing as something unusual because (in my opinion) if you love someone, you are good to them. Apparently, many do find it unusual which does not speak well of many relationships. I thanked everybody for being nice and broke free as quickly as I could to light our candles. During the service, Father Steve read from the Evangelio (bible) in both Greek and English as I asked him too last week. We changed clothes upon arriving at home and you set the dining room table for our lunch with Vicki and Connie. You got the spaghetti sauce out, poured it into the pot and added the meatballs. You also got the big pot out, added water, preparatory to making the Harvest a lo-carb spaghetti. When the girls arrived, we were ready to go with the meal and you did all of the work to include grating cheese. Everybody really enjoyed the meal and the conversation. You guys all pitched in for the clean-up. After lunch cleanup we went to Brookside Gardens in Wheaton and literally smelled the roses. They had many, many different types. We also walked in a butterfly garden and saw many beautiful Monarch butterflies. The roses smelled very nice and we sat on a bench in the shade and communed with nature. Connie used my camera to take pix. We then went to Wheaton Plaza Mall to look for some dressy pants for you. Since the three of you were thirsty, we went to Target for drinks. You also spied popcorn being popped and I bought a small bag for you guys to munch. Since it had salt, I abstained. After drinking and eating, you girls went looking for pants both at Target and at Macy’s. You did not find any. We left there and arrived home after a very nice day, the girls went home. You went 397 into Maria’s Room to read and I went to the bedroom to cut my hair. Suzanne called and asked to come and you and she chatted for about ½ hour while I showered. She brought a tsoureki. Upon her departure, you joined me downstairs to watch some TV. Day 335 (Monday, September 12, 2005)—it is 11 months since that horrible day in October. You have come a long way my baby. Your memory is much improved and you are doing more and more around the house. Connie made an interesting observation yesterday —she said it was wonderful to see your stages of development that seemed to be akin to developing from child to adult. I also perceived the same thing that you were going through such stages. You still are not completely back to your old self but you are getting there. We got up at 7 AM today. We ate breakfast, exercised and you put on a load of wash. You then showered, dressed, and made the bed. After exercising, I prepared our estimated taxes and waited for the wash cycle to complete and then put the wash in the dryer. Later, you took them out of the dryer and distributed them to their appropriate places. What team work! We went to the post office and mailed our taxes to the State of Maryland and to the Federal Government. From there, we went to the Navy PX to look around and we did find you a nice suit, a jacket and a pair of brown pants. They looked very nice on you so we bought them all. The sleeves are a little long as are the pants. After we got home, you did shorten the suit jacket that we bought today as well as the one we bought at Sym’s. Tomorrow, you said you will shorten the rest. You did the rest of your homework and some reading too. I read the US News until the mail came. The mail brought a bill from Suburban Hospital for $11,268.73. I called to see what that was all about but they closed their office at 4 PM so I called the USFHP customer service. Tyrice told me that it was likely a “balancing bill” and they had no right to bill me. A balancing bill is the difference of what the insurance pays and the hospital billed. She said for me to 398 call tomorrow and if they give me any trouble for them to call her. I will do that. Day 336 (Tuesday, September 13, 2005)—this concludes week 48 since THE incident and it will soon be 52 and thus one year. It is still hard for me to grasp the pain and torture that has been part of this whole process or as I have called it, “the long journey into wellness.” Given the extent of your injuries, you have come a long way indeed and I pray on a daily basis that you will continue your journey without interruption. I tell you every day how much a love you and I hope that my words and actions together with God’s blessings do contribute to your getting better and better day-by-day. Wow, did you get up early today. It was before five when you planted a kiss on my cheek and woke me up. You already had your housecoat on and went into the kitchen to eat. I lingered until 6 AM but earlier you informed me that my breakfast was ready and you were going downstairs to exercise. You forgot to tell me that we had very little milk yesterday so there wasn’t enough to make me coffee and us cereal. You used what was available for my coffee. You are a sweetheart. I used the coffee for my cereal and made some more using a dry milk. My breakfast was pretty horrible and I’m sure yours was bad too since you used water to wet down your cereal. After you exercised, showered dressed, made the bed etc. you went into Maria’s Room. You shortened the brown pants we bought yesterday at the PX and the jacket sleeves too. You said you did a good job but I didn’t see them so I have to take your word for it. I read a sad story this morning in the Washington Post that I will not tell you about now but will write about here for you to read at some future time. “Susan Anne Catherine Torres, whose mother was declared brain-dead and kept on life support for three months so she could be born died early yesterday. She was 5 weeks and five days old.” The mother, Susanne, who died the day after she was born had a cancerous brain tumor. Jason, the husband, slept at his comatose wife’s side for three months. I won’t elaborate further 399 except to pray that both mother and daughter are together with God and that He is helping Jason survive to take care of Peter their two year old son. I cried. I remember your coma period and the desperation I felt. Notwithstanding my personal experience, I can only imagine what Jason has been through. I made a bunch of phone calls in the morning. I called Suburban Hospital billing, they called USFHP and then called me back. Chris Hagen of Suburban told me that Tyrice had not done her homework. Suburban had filed an appeal for the $11,268.73 (so why send me a bill, I thought?) but he said if the appeal failed, I was responsible to pay. Supposedly, this amount was for the last ten days you were at Suburban prior to our alleged refusal to be transferred to NRH. I told him we made no such refusal and you were in fact transferred to NRH on 24 Nov 04. After speaking with him, I called USFHP and tried to get Tyrice. Instead, I spoke to Joe as Tyrice was in some meeting. This required me to tell the story for the fourth time. He had me hang on and I think he spoke to Tyrice. They will dig into the matter and I said I hoped things move quickly and are resolved favorably as I did not like an $11,000 plus bill hanging over my head. Joe said I would be called back. This type of thing is very frustrating. Later it was determined that Suburban could not charge us because the program we are in is a Federal program and they must abide by the decisions made. We went shopping at the commissary. This time we bought three half gallons of milk which should hold us until next Tuesday or beyond. We also bought fruit, cereal, and soft drinks. When we arrived home, we unpacked and there was a call on the answering from Harry Doukas asking us to go to lunch or early dinner. I called back and told him today was out but tomorrow was OK. We will meet at Ambrosia at 4 PM. We left for speech/language therapy at 12:30. After a good session with Jan, we returned home for a minute to get our Greek pictures as we promised to show them to Marta. We arrived at Valentino’s right on time. You had your hair done—it took 2½ hours while a 400 read my book. Your hair looks very nice but you hate the idea that we are spending money to get it done since you had been doing it yourself for so many years. Nonetheless, you don’t feel ready to assume the job yourself. When you finished, we walked across the street to Chicken-on-the-Run and got our two rotisserie chicken breasts and two sides. We put everything in the car because you thought it better to eat at home. Before we left the area, however, we decided to get a lottery ticket since a gentleman who came to get a haircut told us the Megamillions drawing was no up to $200 million. Wow, wouldn’t that be nice to win (we did not win, and got very few of the numbers drawn —so what’s new?). We walked a couple of blocks to where they were selling the tickets, bought five dollars worth and started back to the car. Before we went to the car, we stopped at the cigar shop that Niko frequents and I stuck my head in and told the gang there to say hi from me to Niko when all of a sudden from a hidden vantage point, up jumped Niko. Everybody there had a good laugh. Niko came outside, said hi to you and walked us back to the car. Day 337 (Wednesday, September 14, 2005)—we rolled out of bed late today (8 AM) after you had a long conversation with Litsa. All is OK in Greece and they miss us as we miss them. The card and check we sent to Marianna arrived. The only problem is that I addressed the check with her married name while her ID still has her maiden name. She has not tried to cash it yet. Voula is at odds with her sister-in-law again. Neighbor Maria is replacing her roof and adding insulation. Gregory and Litsa are thinking of doing the same thing. The house is very lacking in insulation and the doors and windows are really bad. Thano is saying more words now. You did the breakfast bit, I read the paper, you went to exercise and I got a call from Joe at USFHP. They are working the problem. They had denied 10 days of your stay at Suburban. Joe did not know the reason. Ms Knox the manager has now undertaken the responsibility for resolving the issue. Chris from Suburban called in response to my message on his voice mail. He confirmed the denial 401 of the 10 days and went on to say we had refused transfer to NRH which is ridiculous since you were transferred there on 24 November 2004. I suggested he do a better check of the records. Through all of these calls, I managed to exercise too. I did 3.5 miles on the tread mill while you did more than an hour on the recumbent bike. You then showered, dressed, made the bed and then read while in Maria’s Room. After I exercised, I balanced the check book and discovered I had not made some entries. We had $500 less than we thought we did. We left the house at 3 PM. Our first stop was the post office and we mailed the pictures. From there, we went to Ambrosia to meet Mary Anna and Harry for an early dinner. We arrived early so we sat on a nearby bench and waited for them. I got a menu and we made our selections. H and M came early too so we did not have a long wait. We chatted and hey looked at our Greece pictures. Harry insisted on treating. I couldn’t finish my chicken and thus took a piece home to eat tomorrow. Day 338 (Thursday, September 15, 2005)—you woke up at 6 AM but managed to stay in bed with me until 7 AM. We stripped the bed and put the sheets and pillow cases down the laundry shoot. You made our breakfast. I asked you to add some cinnamon to mine and by accident you grabbed the oregano. Well, you threw my oregano-cereal away as I did not think I would like it very much. The big thing is that you realized you goofed without me telling you so. However, when you did add the cinnamon, you went overboard. You added a lot. At any rate, I could eat it and I did. I read the paper and you went downstairs. You started the wash and then exercised. After exercising, you put the wash into the dryer, showered and dressed. Meanwhile I did an hour of walking on the treadmill. When I finished, I got the dry sheets and we both took them upstairs and reassembled the bed together. You are getting better and better, there is no doubt. You put the pillow cases on the pillows all on your own while I showered and dressed. 402 We went to Wood Optical as you had something on your reading glasses that a simple washing would not clean. Apparently you had gotten hair spray on them. Within minutes, they had them clean. When we arrived home, you used my leftover chicken and tuna fish to make a really great salad. You cut up everything, added onion, boiled eggs, and capers. It was excellent. We read in Maria’s Room and then adjourned to the kitchen for your homework session. You did OK but you still needed a lot of cuing. Your reading is fine but you really don’t yet grasp the requirement (what you are supposed to do) too well. Hopefully, that will come with time and work. Artie called and asked us to go to Lori’s on Saturday. We said OK. Day 339 (Friday, September 16, 2005)—we got up early because I planned to go to BAI and I wanted to exercise before I left. You made us breakfast and we both went downstairs and used our respective machines. I managed to jog my 14 minutes. Somehow the exercise seems to go faster when I include jogging. With cool down, I did one hour and traveled 3.6 miles and the treadmill said I burned in excess of 400 calories. You even said I looked as if I lost weight. You did over an hour on the recumbent bike. We both showered, dressed and I left for BAI. At BAI, Bill Torpey updated me on what is going on, I assembled some missing pieces of the request for proposal that we were working on and I assembled reference material that I can use when I make my review of the proposal on Sunday. I called you when I left. When I arrived home, you greeted me at the door the way you used to and gave me a sweet kiss. You also had our lunch ready. You made a wonderful salad, no salt, and just the right amount of oil and vinegar. You heated the spare ribs in the microwave perfectly. It was a great meal and you did a great job. 403 Following the meal, you put our dishes etc. in the dishwasher and with very little instruction from me got it going. You told me that you watered all the plants today too. All of these things you did are very, very positive. Following our meal, you did some homework. You did very well at that too. The homework consisted of reading a sentence and selecting the best course of action for solving the problem the sentence posed. For example, If you see a fallen power line, the best thing to do is: kick it; move it out of the way; call a neighbor; call the fire department and the power company. You chose the last one. So, kudos to you for a good homework job: you needed very few cues. I thought our stockbroker was going to come this afternoon. I had it wrong, it was to be next week. When I figured that out, we went to Trader Joe’s. Before we left, you had a nice talk with Ann, our neighbor, who said how terrific you look and talk. You are back, she said. When we arrived at TJ we bought a few things—Kalamata olive oil, Greek yogurt, and dark chocolate. When home, we had two little pieces of chocolate (its good for the brain). Later, we had some yogurt with some almonds and a little lo-cal orange marmalade. We read in Maria’s Room and then you got up and emptied the dish washer and put everything away. No prompting from me. So, this is another indicator of progress. You also have been preparing the bed for sleep for some time now, again all on your own. Day 340 (Saturday, September 17, 2005)—we had a nice day today. We got up early, ate, exercised, bathed and were out of the door by 9:30. We drove to the Post Office to send a new check to Marianna for her birthday, this time in her maiden name. They wouldn’t cash the first check because it had her married name and her ID was in her maiden name. Next stop: the commissary. We bought a plant to take to Lori’s house and, of course, a few other items for us. We left for the Perryville area around 10 AM and took about 1:45 minutes to get there. We stayed within the speed limits as everybody 404 else sped past us. Since we were early, we grabbed a chicken breast each at KFC. We weren’t sure when we were to eat at Lori’s and you wanted some KFC. After munching, we went to the Prime Outlet Mall which is right there. Your shopping cognitive dots kicked in, much to my pleasure, and you found some really nice clothes. Our shopping expedition lasted for about an hour and we arrived at Lori’s and Greg’s at the designated 1 PM. We are famous for arriving on-time and we got the usual kudos. They had an appetizer of boiled shrimp ready but you weren’t interested. The chicken had cut your appetite. Next, Greg grilled hot dogs and burgers on the barbie and they had many sides. You ate a little slaw and a tiny bit of baked beans and pasta salad. I ate more, of course. Oh well, one of these days I will hopefully control myself. In addition to Lori and Greg, Nicole their daughter was there. Nicole was home from James Madison where she has a double major of math and statistics. That is worth a Wow!!! Arti and Chuck were there and so was their daughter Pauline. All were thrilled at how well you were doing. Lori who is a nurse, as you know, really felt that your progress is miraculous. We do hear that term often. No wonder we thank God. We left about 4 PM and had a mostly uneventful trip. I write mostly because to I-95 ramp onto the beltway was jammed and the beltway itself became bumper to bumper. We got off at University Boulevard and took this local road home. It took us over two hours. Day 341 (Sunday, September 18, 2005)—well, it’s time to say Wow again. I got up at 3 AM and finished my BAI work. I read and critiqued a proposal until 7 AM. You then got up, took your Fosamax and made us breakfast. I retrieved the Sunday paper and read some of it until it was time to get ready for church. We got there a little before 9 for the Orthos and did the usual reverent things we do. As usual, people were very kind to you. All inquire how you are and Chris gives us Holy Bread. 405 We arrived back home around 10:20. Changed clothes and I called Joe and Bob to see how they were. They usually call during the week but didn’t and I was worried that there was something wrong. Not to worry, they were both OK. Debbie was arriving back from Florida today after visiting with her grandkids and Bob and Kathy were at Ocean Pines. Kathy had hurt her back a little yesterday when a wave tumbled her. Connie and Vicki came at 12:30 and we promptly went to lunch at Phillips. We had a pleasant time with them. After eating our fish sandwiches, we took a short walk and bought some whole grain bread at Panera’s. I’m sorry I did that because you had a good nibble on the way home and a sizable bunch of bites with cinnamon/brown sugar whipped cream cheese. You once had better eating discipline. I tried to verbally restrain you but to no avail. The ladies stayed with us for about three hours. It was very nice. I’m pleased when you have outside stimuli. I believe that is really good rehab stuff. I caught up with my journal entries and we both went to Maria’s Room for R & R. You spoke to Aunt Mary in FL and she is fine. We returned Dini’s phone call but she was out so we left a message on her machine. Day 342 (Monday, September 19, 2005)—we got up at the usual time and did the usual things. You exercised but I did not as I read the paper. I had to remind you after 45 minutes that you needed to shower and dress so we could leave for the Dr. Hammer our regular ophthalmologist. We arrived at his office in Olney 15 minutes before our appointments and were summoned pretty much on time. A technician checked our prescriptions and they were accurate when matched to our glasses. Dr. Hammer took over and did our glaucoma tests and we are OK. He verified your nerve damage by saying the nerve in your good (left eye) was pale. He did not think your vision would get any better but he also said it was stabilized. He added that the prescription you already have is the best that could be done. So, my 406 sweet, you have to work at scanning left and doing the best that you can. You congenital cataract is about the same. While he doesn’t think a neuro-ophthamologist will be able to give us any better news, he none-the-less said he would encourage us to go. He does not believe that “vision therapy” is helpful—he didn’t come out and say that it was phony but I got that impression. He was really surprised how well I was doing vision-wise for over 70 years old. My eyes showed little change from the last time he saw me and off-the-shelf glasses are still good for me. The unusual thing was that the papaloma seems to have diminished to the point it is difficult to see where it was. When we arrived home, I changed for yard work and mowed our burnt up lawn. It has not rained for weeks now and the lawn looks sad but it still needed attention. My exercise for today, therefore, was walking back and forth, forth and back, with the lawn mower. I did a bunch of trimming in the back. Later I noted that I seemed to hurt more mowing than walking on the treadmill. After my shower, I made us lunch. We had a shrimp-cheese-omelet. It was good you said. I used shrimp scampi that I micro-waved and then cut up into the egg. I did not use the garlic sauce that is part of the scampi. I enjoyed it too. You did the clean-up. The mail came and you got a magazine with one of those perfume ads that has perfume from Este Lauder. You really liked the smell and wanted to get some of the body lotion so off we went to the Navy Exchange. We found it and you liked the real thing so we bought it. I really, really like the fact that you are taking interest in wanting stuff for yourself. For me these are good signs of getting well and cognitive dots connecting. Yea, baby!!! From there we went to Penny’s in Wheaton Plaza Mall and after a big search found the advertised flannel shirt I wanted. The only color they had was blue but since that was the color I wanted, we were in business. We went to Target for a drink and for the first time, you hated the concoction 407 I put together. You found it too sweet. When we arrived home you went to Maria’s Room to resume reading your magazine. Day 343 (Tuesday, September 20, 2005)—so this day closes 49 weeks since you know what and we were up and at ‘em at 6:30. You made breakfast thing. I got and read the paper, you went down to exercise and I followed later. I took my blood pressure using the wrist machine and it was not too good. When I went downstairs, I used the arm cuff and it was better. I guess I’ll use that one as it appears more accurate given what my pressure was at the cardiologist. You did over one hour on the recumbent bike while I did one hour on the treadmill. I did not jog today. Since you started earlier, you preceded me upstairs, showered, dressed and made the bed. I did some desk and internet work when I finished working out. When I came upstairs, you were in Maria’s Room reading your magazines. We went for your lesson with Jan and she said you did very well. Since she will not be there next Tuesday, we will go on Thursday. From there, we went to La Madeline’s and you had a half Reuben chicken sandwich with a cup tomato soup while I had the full sandwich without soup. You stripped your sandwich of bread but still complained that you ate too much. We both did not have any dinner later this day. I was full too. You are still complaining that your right side bothers you and I guess it will for some time to come. You literally were thrashed on that side and will probably take years for you to be at least comfortable. Your memory continues to improve but you are not your perfectionist self. You don’t mind letting things slide such as my leaving “little papers” as you used to call them (i.e., my little reminder notes) here and there. Also, you hated when leaves would accumulate in front of our front door—now not so much. In fact, when I offered you the broom, you declined. It’s OK, I did the job. Day 344 (Wednesday, September 21, 2005)—we stayed in bed until 7:30 and made a call to Greece while relaxing. You spoke to both 408 Litsa and Gregory and alerted them we would not be calling this Saturday. You told them we sent pictures and Marianna’s birthday check. She and Thano were at the Children’s Depot which is an indoor type park with games and things as well as other kids to interact with. He needs to do that since he is around adults too much. Everybody there is fine. We ate, exercised, bathed, and dressed. We each worked out for one hour on our respective torture machines. No jogging for me but I did go up to a 7 % grade. I went to get the car serviced and washed. While I waited for almost two hours, I started to input phone numbers into my new phone. A neat thing is that if I press and hold the talk button, the phone asks me to give a command such as voice dial. At this point, I can recite a number or mention a name in my directory, it finds it and dials. That is a much better feature from the old phone and no voice training is required. While you were home waiting, you shortened a new pair of pants. You also did some reading. After I arrived home, we went to the commissary and we bought stuff to include the cereal we like to take with us to Lewes tomorrow. On the way home, we went to Mike’s and picked up a steak sub with fries for our lunch at home. We have not had one for a long time and it was delicious. Our next adventure was to look for a cable for my phone so that I can directly load the pictures I take with the phone onto my computers. We went to COMPUSA, they had none, and then to Radio Shack, they too did not have the cable. The associate said the phone was too new. They only received it a month ago. By this time, the only place you wanted to go was home and there we went. Day 345 (Thursday, September 22, 2005)-- we got up at 7 AM and did the usual AM things i.e., eat, exercise, bathe and dress. We made the bed together and then packed for our trip. We left for Lewes a little before 10:00. As usual, we stopped at the Annapolis 409 Wawa but you didn't want to get out so I went in myself and filled a 44 ounce cup with caffeine free coke and a couple of other things. Crossing the Bay Bridge was a little of a pain as they were doing some construction which caused some back up and then after the toll caused us some jockeying to get into the open lanes. From that point the traffic was OK until we made the turn onto route 404 where we encountered some one lane controls as they were patching the road. The patches they've already made are not fun to drive on as they make the road rough. Fortunately the one-way traffic didn't hold us back too much. We arrived at Dino and Myrna's at 12:45 and carted in our pillows, pills, carry-on, and some other stuff. We sat and chatted for a bit and then all went with Dino to drop off his car for new tires. From there we went to our favorite Rehoboth Mexican restaurant and had fajitas. They were delicious and very filling for luncheon portions. You didn't finish yours and Myrna brought her left over food home and she ate them at night. Speaking of the evening meal, you just had some fruit and I had nothing. You gals also didn't mind our plan to go to the movies without you. We went to see The Raid that was based on the true story of how US Army Rangers saved 511 POWs from being murdered by the Japanese in a Philippine POW camp. It was quite an adventure but not something you guys would have liked. It was a guy flick. The movie was almost two hours in length. We watched some TV on his new TV. It has a nice 46 inch screen and the picture very clear when you sit right in front of the screen. We waited for CSI to come on. We'll see if you stay up for that. Connie called and said she was waiting for Michael at the airport but found he had not left yet from Chicago at 9:30 PM EST due to weather. They sat on the tarmac so long returned to the terminal to disembark while they refueled the plane. We had no further news on what happened after that. 410 Of course, Hurricane Rita is the unlikely source of Chicago's bad weather but all are apprehensive as what will happen when it strikes Texas in the Galveston and Houston areas by Saturday AM. Galveston has been evacuated and given what happened in New Orleans, Galveston residents responded appropriately. Traffic moved slowly out of the cities given the traffic density. It was bumper to bumper. Day 346 (Friday, September 23, 2005) --we both woke up a little after midnight to go to "the place" as the Greeks call it. When I woke up I initially was disoriented. I looked at the ceiling to look for the time from our clock that projects the time and temperature there. When I did not see it, I was concerned that we had a power failure until I realized we were at Dino and Myrna's and hence no projected time or temperature on the ceiling. I went to the bathroom and when I returned and got into bed, you said you had to go. You got up and headed in the wrong direction--towards the window. Had you been home, the direction you were heading in would have led you to our bathroom, but not at Dino's and Myrna's. I told you that you were heading in the wrong direction and where we were but you would not heed my directions. Instead, you got angry with me and got back into bed. I then got up to lead you to the bathroom but you gave me a hard time and I literally had to pull you out of bed, Finally, you got up but I asked you to be quite as you were not being too cooperative. You went and we both got back into bed and we slept through until 7 AM. You said you did not sleep too well as the window was open and you heard too many of nature's sounds. We went on the porch to read while waiting for others to get up and at 'em. It was a delightful morning and reading on the porch was great. Soon Myrna showed up and you guys put breakfast together. We waited for Dino but eventually ate before he showed up. He is a late sleeper since he goes to bed late. We are still waiting for news from Connie and Mike. Vicki, Connie and Michael arrived at 3 PM. Their trip here was uneventful but Michael's trip from Chicago was tough. He sat in the 411 plane that sat on the tarmac for four hours. Connie and Vicki waited at National airport until they found out how late he would be. Mike was asked to call when he landed and she would come. He arrived at 12:15 AM. Connie lives in the Crystal City area, it was not much of a drive for her to pick him up. The reason for Michael's delay was very poor Chicago weather--lots of thunder storms. We had fun chatting with the young people and you were very engaging. You enjoyed their company and they yours. Dino made reservations at a restaurant in Milford, about 20 miles from Lewes. Supposedly it was a Greek restaurant since it was owned by Greeks. One of the owners was from Iannina. You and Myrna had the socalled Aegean Platter. You hated it. I had the seafood combo and I should have asked if it was broiled or fried. It was fried, I hated it. Dino and Connie shared a pastitso. They liked it. Mike ate the same but could only eat half because the portion was so gigantic. Salad and dessert were part of the meal as was spaghetti. The dessert was rice pudding and that was pretty good. You did not want any of that either as you couldn't believe it could be any good. All-in-all while the food was abundant, the twenty mile trip was not worth it. Everybody decided that a walk on the boardwalk would be a good thing to do. So, we drove to Rehoboth. It once again seemed like a forever drive. We arrived, parked and walked. There were many people out and walking--mostly families. A lot of the stores were open and people were shopping for food or souvenirs. The noisy game centers were functioning too. We walked for about a half hour, went to the house, watched some TV, and we went to bed at 10 PM. The others stayed up later. Day 347 (Saturday, September 24, 2005)--we were awakened to lawn mower noises from next door. It was 8 AM. We exited the bedroom and found Myrna already up and doing pre-breakfast preparation things. By the time everybody got up, Myrna had buzzed around putting all sorts of stuff on the breakfast table and making pancakes, soy bacon, sausage, fruit salad, and other stuff. The soy bacon is pretty good. The apple cake she made yesterday was 412 delicious. We all enjoyed the meal and the conversation. We then went to shower and dress. You wore jeans because it is much, much cooler today, more like a late September day. It is not a beach day. It is supposed to warm up tomorrow. After breakfast we all went to the Rehoboth Mall to get some stuff that Connie left for repair. The person who did the repair was Soula who was a seamstress that once worked out of a store next to Dino’s wine and cheese in Bethesda. She is originally from Cyprus. While you and Connie had a chat with her, Dino, Mike and I went to Radio Shack. They didn't have the cable I was looking for the phone camera and said they usually don't come in until at least three months after the new phone is received. So, on that basis, we have a couple of months to go. Both Dino and I got new batteries for our car door openers. From this mall, we went to Outlet Mall # 1. The gals wanted to do some shopping and Connie did find a nice jacket at Anne Taylor. Since the weather was very cool, you gracefully declined their idea of walking on the beach after shopping. You wanted to go to the movies, so we did. We saw the Jodie Foster movie Flight Plan that arrived today. It didn't get the best write up from the critics, but we enjoyed it very much and you were surprised that two hours had passed so quickly. Since we had no lunch, we ate popcorn while we watched the movie. When we arrived at the house, the Vidos clan was still out. In an about an hour, they returned and Myrna whipped into action. She made chicken breasts for you and herself while Dino grilled steaks. As usual, she had a bunch of sides too. The meal was enjoyed by all. We stayed up until ten chatting and watching a movie. Day 348 (Sunday, September 25, 2005)--we were the first ones up at 8 AM. It is cool out again today but it is supposed to warm up. You took your bone pill. I sat on the couch next to you and wrote for the letter. I've been trying to keep up by writing e-mail messages to myself with what we’ve been doing and so far have written 413 everyday. You are getting better but still complain about your right side. I guess that will continue for some time. People got out of bed in increments. We had our cereal and ate it on the porch. It was very pleasant. Myrna made coffee and laid out bagels for the rest. I also had some of Myrna’s delicious apple cake. We went into the bedroom and stripped the bed. You took the sheets and pillow cases to the laundry room and then came back and dressed. We packed our stuff to include our pillows and we loaded the items in the car. We forgot the cereal and zucchini bread that Myrna packed for us and had on the kitchen counter. After chatting with everyone, we left at 11 AM and arrived home at 1:30. The trip was uneventful except there was a bunch of traffic. After we arrived home, we unpacked and put a load of wash in the washer. After that chore, we went to Chicken-on-the-Run. We then went to the commissary as we needed cereal among some other things. By now, we were hungry and ready to be home at our kitchen table to eat our nice chicken and sides. We were not disappointed. The food was delicious. You went downstairs to take the clothes out of the dryer. A few minutes later, Tonya showed up and went to find you. You and she brought the clothes upstairs. She followed you into the bedroom and said how beautiful it is. She also said we had a very homey home. You enjoyed hearing such nice things. With her departure, we changed and watched TV until 9 PM. The program I wanted to see at 8 PM was delayed by 50 minutes by the football game so I opted out and went to bed with you. Of course, after two hours of sleep (a nap) I was wide-awake but managed to stay in bed. Day 349 (Monday, September 26, 2005)—we got up at our usual time and then at 7:30 AM a Davis and Davis tech called to remind us that they were coming between 9 and 11 for our furnace inspection. I had completely forgotten. I was going to take the car for maintenance but I guess that will be tomorrow now. We both managed to squeeze in our exercise. The tech came at 9:30 and 414 checked our furnace. Apparently, the new furnace doesn’t need all that much checking as it is sealed (thus no oiling required) and computerized and shows any problems on a readout on the front. The humidifier does not require much maintenance except for a change in pads but he also reduced the amount of water that it sprays thus we shouldn’t overdue it in that department. The furnace filter needed changing badly (we had not changed it in two years and it was DIRTY). He changed it. We called Greece twice today. Litsa was not in for the early morning 7 AM call (our time) and you spoke to Gregory. Litsa went with Marianna to cash her birthday check. Later at 10 AM our time, you called again and spoke with Litsa. She confirmed that everybody is OK and our little Thano is saying more words now. You are making rice pudding. Hopefully it will come out better than your attempt a week before Greek Easter. It was very, very loose then and we had to engage in repair work by adding some starch. The taste was good but not the consistency. After it cools we gave it a taste test. Your effort was GREAT. It was a perfect consistency too—nice and creamy. We waited all afternoon for the Verizon tech to show up and he/she didn’t. I called and there was some glitch associated with the order that they failed to resolve and thus failed to let me know. I let them know that I was displeased and prepared to cancel the order. I was asked to wait until the order department calls me. I asked the Verizon person to note on his summary of our discussion that I would not wait four hours again and that I should be first on whatever next date we select. Here’s another, “we’ll see.” You did your homework. I read a short (one paragraph) story to you, asked you to summarize what I read and then to offer a solution to the story’s problem. You did very well in coming up with multiple solutions. You also solved a series of mazes by drawing a line from the start to the finish point. You did well at scanning and finding the proper route. 415 You went downstairs early to watch TV. Later I came and we watched a movie. Niko called to see how we were doing and I told him about your rice pudding. He was in FL for work and hoped to take a flight out of Ft. Lauderdale and get home this evening. Pauline came and brought you some figs from her tree and you chatted with her. Day 350 (Tuesday, September 27, 2005)—well, my sweet, this day closes the 50th week since that day. As you can see by your initiative in making rice pudding and making it well that you are progressing toward wellness from the terrible brain injury you sustained. You look forward to doing the homework Jan gives you and you do better at it each time. The downside is that you continue to complain of pain on your right side. But, God willing, that too will pass. I woke up early (5 AM) and you got up at about 7 AM. I made my own breakfast and then went and exercised for an hour. When I came upstairs, you had finished your breakfast and cleaned up. You headed down to exercise while I went to shower, etc. I left the house at 8 AM to get car work done. I informed you before I left and you were still on the recumbent bike. When I arrived home (I walked), you had showered and dressed. Everyday now you make the bed— when I am there we make it together—but mostly you do it on your own and in the evening prepare it for our sleep too. We waited together while waiting for the car to be finished. When the time came, we walked to pick up the car. You were a little apprehensive about walking where there is traffic but I convinced you that you had to get over that fear plus I would be with you and thus you would be safe. It took us about ten minutes of walking and you were fine. We crossed streets as required—no problem. We got the car. By going to Meinke, we saved over $150 from what the Buick dealership wanted for the same work. The other interesting thing was that the dealership said that we needed new rear shock absorbers. Meinke said we did not need new shocks. 416 Given that they could have made extra bucks by agreeing with the dealership, I will go with their judgment. By the way, the dealership wanted $502 to replace the rear shocks. Shame on them! From there we went to Rite Aide to pick up a prescription. Our next stop was Monty Mall for our periodic Chinese meal fix. Panda Express filled the need and we both enjoyed the meal very much. We walked a little after eating and then went home to rest and watch TV. You like to watch Oprah these days and later Entertainment Tonight. Day 351 (Wednesday, September 28, 2005)—we both got up early and after eating were off to our respective exercise machines. After one hour, we quit and showered. I wrote a check for our real estate taxes. Boy have they gone up! When I left for BAI, I asked you to relay the cover we have on our stairs. When I returned from BAI, you had done the job in great fashion. Joe called to tell me that this evening’s meeting is cancelled. Later he called back to say that Debbie was going out with her girlfriends and he would like to take us to Ambrosia. Given that we ate the usually great chicken from Chicken-on-the-Run, I don’t know how hungry we will be. We’ll see. I told him about your rice pudding and he is looking forward to eating some. We went to the Navy PX and looked around and bought some small items. This includes a cordless beard trimmer that I hope will work on keeping my bald head bald—well, with just a little hair showing. The good thing about going to the PX was that you did not object and were very cooperative looking around. You are tolerating going shopping much, much better these days and this is another good sign of your getting better. Joe arrived a little after five. He got stuck in traffic near the Mormon Temple on the beltway. He said it was bumper-to-bumper. Since we know he is very prompt, he made sure we knew he would be late by calling us from his car. Ambrosia was not crowded when 417 we arrived but was full by the time we left. Both of us were not hungry. I had taramoslata which I did not finish and even shared some with you and Joe. Both you and Joe had a cup of soup (more like a bowl) of Avgolemano and he supplemented that with their gyro and chicken souvlaki plate. When we came home, you gave him some of your terrific rice pudding. He enjoyed it very much. Day 352 (Thursday, September 29, 2005)—we got up later than usual today. After breakfast, we did our one hour on the treadmill. Showered, dressed and ready to go, we left for the dentist. We both had are teeth cleaned and got a clear bill of dental health from the doctor. As much as I like Dr. Barnett and his staff, I really hate going to the dentist and you are not thrilled either. The bright side, was that everybody found you looking terrific and much improved since our last visit in I think May. If I wasn’t lazy, I could search this letter-journal and provide the exact date. We went to our local Chinese restaurant and brought spicy green beans home. You ate the beans with left over pasta while I ate the rice. The beans were truly spicy but we both liked our lunch very much. After lunch, you read and I did some BAI work for about two hours. We did a little homework together too and then left for your therapy. Jan was pleased to see you and you were pleased to see her. You had a good session. Your homework for Tuesday is to watch Oprah and to tell Jan what you saw. Another requirement is for you read an article or a book and be prepared to discuss them with Jan. We went to the library upon our return home but found it to be closed. We’ll try again tomorrow. We ate some rice pudding after our failed library venture and went into Maria’s Room to relax. A neat Maria analytical thing happened a little later. I suggested that we give Connie a “tea candle light fountain” that we had, never used, and in fact never taken out of the box. Her birthday was coming up and I thought she might enjoy that. You pointed out that it was not such a great idea. The reason was that she had a cat—you even pantomimed the little paws knocking the fountain off of a table. 418 Day 353 (Friday, September 30, 2005)—okay, so I didn’t write anything on this precise day so I must reconstruct. One of the reasons I did not write was that we did a lot. After getting up, eating etc., you went down stairs to exercise. I continued to read the paper. When I got up to change into exercise clothes, I noted the sad state of the kitchen floor. It had little of this and of that on the floor and was even dirty in spots. I bit the vacuuming bullet and went to work. First I did the kitchen and then the rest of the upstairs. I even used a wet Swifter and cleaned the dirty spots. I took the vacuum cleaner downstairs with me and did that area too. I did not sense any desire on your part to help. I don’t think you thought it was a big deal. I guess since I am writing this, I think it is because the BA Maria would have helped or more probably taken over the whole job. After vacuuming, I exercised. We went to the commissary. After returning home, you did the unpacking while I cut the chicken gizzards and chicken hearts we bought into tiny pieces (we wanted livers but alas there were none). Cutting them that way makes them easier to cook and tenderizes them somewhat. I sautéed them in olive oil while you cut up some onion. Then we added the onion some Irish cheese and at the appropriate time five eggs. Thus, we had our omelet for lunch. I used catsup for a little flavor and you used hot sauce. You convinced me to try the hot sauce and I enjoyed it too. We called Jan but she was not in. I left a message to tell her the book you were going to read and discuss with her on Tuesday. The book is Rose by AC Andrews. You read about an hour. At about 1:45 we were off again to White Flint Mall and our usual Friday movie. We saw A History of Violence. It got good marks by both critics and moviegoers—4 ½ Stars out of five. I would have given it 3 ½ stars. You seemed to like it. It was about a mobster who has straightened out his life and evaded the mob He is married to a good woman and has two children. He is forced into displaying his violent past when two crazy thugs attempt to rob his restaurant and 419 are about to rape one of the employees. He becomes a hero and is acclaimed. Thus, the mob finds out where he is and his life goes downhill from there. His chief antagonist is his brother. Does it have a happy ending? Maybe, they left that up to us. Following the movie, we sat in the Mall and shared a designer coffee. Because there was a brother involved in the movie, you ended up thinking about your brother. You told me how sad you were that he died but were angry about the way he treated your mother. You really were quite upset. After we arrived home and I did some BAI work and you read your book assignment some more. We watched TV together. I had hoped to keep you up until ten watching Faith and Hope since you like Kelley Rippa one of the leads. Day 354 (Saturday, October 01, 2005)—we got up after you had a lengthy talk with Litsa in Greece. You mentioned your thoughts about your brother but she did not allow you to dwell on that for very long. As you know, she did not think highly of your (and her) brother for a number of reasons that I need not state here. The weather in Greece is very stormy with much rain. Last night, they thought that a close lightening bolt and the related thunder would knock down the house. Thano and Marianna were there for lunch. They attempted to get Thano to talk on the phone but he would not. Ellie still has a cold but everyone else is fine. Breakfast was next, I read the paper, you finished and went to exercise. After I ate, I went to the bedroom to change into my exercise clothing. I was pleased to note that you continue to do things on your own initiative, the bed. As observed from yesterday’s note, you are not doing any vacuuming yet. When you finished exercising and headed upstairs, I reminded you to cook the cauliflower. You came downstairs to bring your towel back and said the front of the house was messy. I suggested you use the blower and reminded you where the battery was and how to put 420 it in the blower. You went and did the job. You didn’t like how our little garden looked and started to clean it out. I came up and assisted. We worked well as a team and trimmed back the ugly Hostas and picked up twigs. We filled two cans. Maybe you have a fear of vacuuming. Only kidding! The trimming was a lot of work. You went into the kitchen and finished turning the cauliflower into a salad. I ordered Chinese food and went and got it from the Hong Kong. We enjoyed the spicy green beans with lo-mien and rice. No meat for us today since we will receive communion tomorrow. I checked our email and there was one from Nick Vourlos telling us that they were going to the festival at St. Sophia and asking us to join them there. We did. It was nice seeing them after the passage of over 20 years. They looked great. We also met one of their lovely daughters who works for Booz-Allen. The other daughter lives and works in NY. Nick and Aristi live near Annapolis but in November will be traveling to FL. The have a house in Naples and spend six months or more there now. After getting home, you read and I finished my BAI work. We then both went and watched TV. The interesting thing while watching a movie was when you asked me who the actor was. I said his name was Hugh something (his last name escaped me) and you then immediately piped in with the last name—“Grant,” you said and you were correct. I love it when you display memory recovery. Day 355 (Sunday, October 02, 2005)—we did not eat breakfast this AM as we were fasting so that we could receive communion later today. You dressed in your nice brown pants, a brown t-type shirt, and your paisley jacket. You really looked super. I wore the new jacket we bought for me at Sym’s with brown cords, etc. Later we got compliments from the kids on how we looked. Father John also said you looked great. 421 We arrived at church during the Orthos and, as usual, enjoyed the chanting. The liturgy began promptly at 10:00 AM. The Sunday School children were in attendance. When Father John spoke to them, he expressed the importance of hearing what is said by their parents, priests and teachers if they were to gain meaning from their religious studies. He told the story of the grandfather who owned a hardware store. He worked hard in the store and was always very, very busy—running here and there. One day he could not find a clock that he loved very much. He told his grandson how sorry he was he lost his beloved clock although he was sure it was in his store somewhere. The grandson told him not to worry. He would find the clock. He went into the store and closed the entrance door firmly. In a short time, he emerged with the clock in his hand. His grandfather was overjoyed but also perplexed. How did you find it, he asked. Grandfather, the grandson replied I patiently waited in the quiet of the store until I heard the ‘tick-tock. Father John asked the children to listen for the ‘tick-tock’ so that they could find true meaning. We received communion and stayed for the entire liturgy. They had a memorial service for a colonel who was a member of the Church. He died some 40 days ago. When church ended, we emerged and found a table outside in preparation for eating at the fall festival. We waited for a few minutes for the kids but you were hungry so I left you at the table and went to stand on line for food. Meanwhile the kids arrived and called me on my cell and reported that they were taking you to a new table in a shady spot. I bought chicken livers (one portion each) for us, some taramosalata and three rolls. I then went searching for you guys. Nick and Nina were there as were Vicki and Connie. The kids ate a bunch of food. Niko bought drinks for us to include retsina for me. Later he treated us all to dessert. We enjoyed their company for about 2 ½ hours. When we left, we noted that there were many people there. The lines for food were long. This is a good thing for the church. I hope the income is beyond their expectations. The weather has been great (except for the farmers). 422 Tonya came to visit while I was working on the journal. She sat with you in Maria’s room and you guys chatted. I went out to mow the back and our hill. The front needs no mowing since the drought got it. When I finished, Tonya was gone, I showered and you went to watch TV. I prepared an email that I sent to the close-by relatives concerning Thanksgiving. Niko and Nina reserved the party room in their building so we will hold our party there with everybody bringing stuff. I made a list of what I thought was needed, solicited volunteers to bring what was listed or to identify gaps in my suggestions. We’ll see what responses we get. I joined you and we watched a movie. You went to bed at 8:20. You tried to double-lock the front door but could not you yelled down to me. You did arm the system. The reason you could not lock the door was that it was not completely closed. Apparently when Tonya left she left it slightly ajar. When I came up at nine the problem was solved and I mentioned to you what happened before we said the “Lord’s Prayer.” You are still having a problem remembering the prayer especially the line hollowed be thy Name. I have to prompt you for the lead us not into temptation line too. Not much of a prompt for either line but a prompt nonetheless. Day 356 (Monday, October 03, 2005)—you are great! After the usual breakfast things, you exercised. No, that’s not the great thing yet. You then showered, dressed, and threw laundry down the chute for washing. No, that’s not the great thing yet. The really wonderful thing is that on your own initiative took the new pants I bought and shortened them 3 inches. You would not stop until you completed all three and you did an excellent job too. I am wearing one of the pants now and they look great. Well done my sweet. While you were doing that, I was fussing trying to balance the checkbook. I took the laundry out of the dryer, folded, and brought clothing upstairs. I put mine away and placed yours so you could do so. Yes, I exercised too for 70 minutes on the tread mill for 3.7 miles and according to the treadmill burned over 500 calories. Even though I do the mill every day, I am not losing much weight. Bah, 423 humbug!! Even resisting eating evening meals does not seem to do much. Maybe I need to just drink water. We went to Wheaton Mall. We passed a Starbucks as well and you wanted a latte and a scone. Upon return home, we went to Maria’s Room and read/napped a bit. I was not thrilled when you left and returned with your “evening-wear” as we call your nighty and robe. After all, it was only 4:30 in the afternoon. You went downstairs to watch TV at 5:30. Booo!!! Day 357 (Tuesday, October 04, 2005)—51 weeks ago, a Ford Pick-up hit you. Next Thursday will be October 12 the one year point since that fateful day. Interesting how the weeks and year dates differ. Anyway, this AM, I was awakened by the sounds of you disarming our alarm system a little before 7 AM. I managed to drag myself out of bed and stagger outside for the newspaper. Upon my return, you had our breakfast cereal ready for consumption. We ate, I read the paper and we did our respective exercise routines. After the usual shower and dressing, we went to the NRH/Suburban rehab center on Montrose for your hour session with Jan. You were a little hesitant to go to therapy (your teacher) because you did not feel adequately prepared for your homework assignment. It was to be ready to discuss a book you were reading. We chatted about that for awhile and you actually did pretty well voicing an opinion about what you had read. We didn’t get the book until Friday afternoon and we were busy over the weekend plus you did a lot of pants shortening for me (four pairs) on Monday. Thus, you really didn’t have much time to read. And, by the way, Jan didn’t have time to go to the library and find the book. So sweetie, you really should not have felt bad about not being totally prepared. Jan said you did really well during your session with her. When we left, our plan was to go to Giants for some salad fixing and then home to eat followed by a visit to the commissary. We didn’t do that. The traffic was backed up on Rockville Pike and it would have taken us forever to reach Giant’s even though it was not far away. 424 Later, we found out that an individual in a wheelchair was struck by a cement truck and was badly injured. If this was the same person we saw last week driving his motorized wheelchair I can see where he might be in trouble. He really was not careful from what I observed. I almost stopped to tell him so—maybe I should have and he would have been alright today. I doubt it though. Given the traffic tie-up, we went to the commissary and bought our salad fixings and other items. You plan to make pastitso for Sunday as a trial run for Thanksgiving. So, we bought milk, hamburger meat, tomato sauce, and ziti as the basic ingredients. We’ll work on the pastitsio toward the end of the week. When we got home, I recovered our recycling and refuse cans. You unpacked and stored what we purchased. We made our salad with the fake crab meat, some chicken slices and romaine. With a touch of olive oil and wine vinegar the salad was very tasty. You read a bit and then came to the kitchen and prepared the hamburger meat for the pastitsio. It smelled delicious. You cooked it up without reference to a recipe and without any assistance for me. I was doing my computer stuff. We got an email from Becky Bull at Suburban Hospital. She sent me a copy of the final letter they will use to solicit money in support of the hospital charity. You are the key for the solicitation. What they wrote is posted in your Maria file. I tried to extract it but it ended up being more than I could do since it was in a special format. Day 358 (Wednesday, October 05, 2005)—we both woke up a little before 5 AM. You stayed in bed a little longer but I went downstairs to exercise. While I was doing that, you showed up at six and told me my breakfast was ready and then you exercised. I finished shortly thereafter and went to bathe, shave, and dress. I then ate breakfast and after kissing you goodbye, left for BAI. I worked for five hours today. When I arrived home, I found that you did Name on Card________________________ Signature______________________________ E-mail Please use my donation toward: Phone______________________________ 425 r Care to the community through outreach r Expanding the Eby Emergency/Trauma Center r • 301- 896-3971 Funding the area of Exp. Date_____________________ Account #_____________________________________greatest need Mastercard in Amex considerable cooking. You made the pastitsio and rice pudding too. You had a little pastitsio left over from the main preparation (without the meat). You had some for lunch and saved me some too. You made a tiny error with the pastitsio, instead of topping the béchamel with grated cheese, you used a round box that looked like a grated cheese box but was in reality a fine “Wondra” flour. Well, at least it was not sugar. We fixed the problem. The funny thing is that I thought of telling you where we put the grated cheese but forgot. Notwithstanding that tiny error, what I ate tasted very, very good so I think you were successful overall. After lunch, we went to Wheaton Mall for a little walk and you had some Starbuck’s Mocha Coffee and a cinnamon scone. You enjoyed it very much. I also learned something new—a frapacino is a cold drink. I apologized to the guy and he said “no problem” and made the hot coffee. I ordered a new topper or the bed this evening. It too is memory foam but is 4 inches thick not the 2 ½ inches we now have. We’ll put the 2 ½ incher on the guest bed. Day 359 (Thursday, October 06, 2005)—it looks like rain today. In fact, when I went out for the paper there was a light drizzle that soon fizzled (a fizzle of a drizzle—how poetic). As of 1 PM there is no rain to speak about but it still looks threatening. I read the paper and ate the breakfast cereal you prepared for me prior to exercise using the recumbent bike. You are showing good endurance. Since the rain is threatening and after I ate and read, I went outside and scrubbed the dirty areas on our front porch and the sidewalk leading to our new and beautiful driveway. The areas were very dirty and look much better now. They are better but could be better still. I figured if it did rain, this would help rinse the bad spots in addition to the hosing down I gave the areas I worked on. By the time I finished, you finished exercising and then bathed, dressed, and made the bed. Congratulate me—I did not use my outside work as an excuse to not exercise. In fact, I walked four miles today on the 426 treadmill, my best for quite awhile. While I was treading, you came downstairs to see how I was doing and even did a little hootchiekootchie dance for me in keeping with music from the TV program I was watching. You were very cute. I finished my workout and by the time I looked at email, shaved, showered, etc., it was time for lunch. You made us Healthy Choice pasta (I took a carb blocker too—hope they work but I don’t think so) and we had some ready made meatballs that we micro-waved. It was a nice lunch and you did a terrific clean-up job while I did more computer fiddling around. It is now time for some Maria’s Room relaxation. We not only read but you did some of your homework— some more of the “what would you do” situations. We hung out home most of the day but then we decided to do our afternoon mall walk. You were interested in drinking a Mocha Starbuck’s Coffee with a cinnamon scone. So, off we went there to Wheaton Mall for a walk and a coffee for you. We did both and took the coffee to one of the couches to drink and people watch. When we finished, home we went. I had to turn on the air-conditioning because it was very humid. Day 360 (Friday, October 07, 2005)—well, they said it was going to rain and it did rain. In some areas near DC it rained 6 inches by 5 PM. We got up at 7:30 AM. Did the usual newspaper, breakfast bit and then you went to exercise. I tried to make some appointments after I changed your therapy day for one of them from Tuesday to Thursday. Guess what? The appointments fell through as one of the people who thought they would be available had another sudden meeting called in the morning. Bah! I did the treadmill and even jogged today. Yea, I hope I can keep it up. Actually, the exercise seems to go faster when I jog. More proof that the passage of time is relative. You did the recumbent bike for an one hour. After you finished, you bathed, dressed, and made the bed. When I came upstairs after exercising and paying bills, I found you in Maria’s Room reading your book. You are almost finished. 427 We decided to eat our lunch meal after we returned from the movies. We went to White Flint Mall and saw In Her Shoes with Carmen Diaz, Tonnie Collet, and Shirley McClain. The Washington critics were not too complimentary as usual but common folks rated it high. Given that we are common folks, we enjoyed the movie. Later when we got home, you were a little confused on who was living and who died. You seemed to confuse the grandmother (Shirley Mc) with the mother that committed suicide by crashing her car. We discussed this a bit and hopefully you understood who was who. Here is how the movie is described on the internet: An irresponsible and sometimes-employed party girl (Carmen) and her older sister (Tonnie), an ambitious attorney, clash when they move in together. In fact the pairing doesn't last long, what with the party girl, Maggie, waltzing around her dumpy sister's apartment in her skivvies and upsetting the general order of things. Maggie also doesn't feel like looking for work or doing much else but turn men's heads. Eventually Maggie gets booted and seeks out a grandmother (Shirley) she never knew she had. Maggie settles in to her grandmother's retirement home, but neither Maggie nor her sister can escape the legacy of their mysterious mother. When we exited the movie, I called the Cheesecake Factory for takeout. You wanted the grilled eggplant sandwich and I the Factory Meat Loaf. We circled the mall twice and then got our takeout and took it home. Note if we ever do this again: substitute the fries with something else. They were limp and you did not eat them but you did like the sandwich. My meal was great. But, you announced that we might never do this takeout bit again. After dinner, you cleaned up the kitchen area. I took out the garbage/recycle (it is raining). Day 361 (Saturday, October 08, 2005)—it is still raining buckets! You got up early and I stayed in bed until 7:30 AM. You told me you were going to exercise and you did. I was still at the breakfast table when you finished. Finally, I exercised too (I did not jog but I did walked at a steep incline). I had a good and sweaty workout. I did some desk work after I finished my treadmill walk. When I 428 came upstairs, I found you making yourself some large slices of toast for lunch with some cheese. After I bathed and dressed, I joined you in Maria’s Room to read. You are re-reading the book Rose. You decided you wanted to understand it better. I encouraged you. You offered to make me lunch at 11:30 but I wasn’t hungry yet. Later, I heated up left over pasta and left over meat loaf. My meal was very tasty—the microwave really is great for heating leftovers. In the morning, we called Litsa in Greece. Thano was at the house running here and there. You very much enjoyed hearing about his escapades. Later you called Pauline and Aunt Mary in Florida. You had a long chat with Dini. They are off to a wedding today. Their niece Sarah is getting married in Milwaukee. Niko called to say that this Wednesday would be a good day for celebrating their (Nick and Nina) birthdays. This is the day before his birthday and the one year anniversary of “the incident.” In the early evening, your cousin Canadian Evangelia called. Harry called too and said they would come Thanksgiving and they would bring an appetizer tray. We did more reading and it continued to rain with gusto. We sneaked in a nap, you on the couch and me in my chair. You woke up and wanted to go to bed and nap. I said no way—bed is for sleeping at nighttime, not for napping. At about 3 PM we went and watched TV. It was unusual but we did not go out today. I really was a very rainy day. Day 362 (Sunday, October 09, 2005)—this is a nice day, not weather-wise but content-wise for you. The only down side of the day for me was the drive to church. On the way there, I turned on the program I listen to on Sunday morning called The Wise Investor hosted by Rick Malone. He wasn’t speaking. Another person from his office was and told us that it was a memorial program for Rick who died last week from a fall at home. Now, I did not know Rick except as a radio personality but he seemed to be a very nice and savvy guy. This was confirmed by calls to the program from clients who truly lauded him and the positive affect he had on them, not 429 only money but his integrity and other positive character traits. I really felt sad because it once again spelled out how transient life was which led me to thoughts on how close I was to losing you. I am very sensitive to these issues. Of course, Malone’s passing is only one of many deaths this week. We heard this morning about the huge earthquake that killed thousands in India and Pakistan. We arrived at church for the Orthos. As usual, we enjoyed the singing. Better still, Father John came down from the altar and said to me “move over.” I didn’t know what was going on but I obeyed. He sat down next me and asked how you were, you responded fine and I endorsed the fact that you are doing great. He repeated what he has said before that you are a miracle. He wanted to visit with us for a minute and it was very thoughtful and nice of him to do that. After the Orthos, we went to the commissary and had to track down the gate to get in. Apparently, the gate we usually go in during the week is not open on Sunday. We had to go around to the other side of the installation to find the entrance. When we arrived home, we unpacked, stored what we bought and then changed into more casual clothing. We decided to eat in the dining room but did not want to eat on the beautiful table cloth we have there that is hand-made by your mother. You went to the linen closet and found the perfect table-cover to use right on top of your mother’s. It was plastic but looked and even felt like cloth. You then set the table but there was a problem—you only put four set-ups when there were to be five of us. When I mentioned that to you, you said you were not going to eat. I’m not sure if you were kidding but I said you had to eat or at least keep us company. You put another setting in place. You did a very good job. Connie and Vicki came at 12:40 PM carrying flowers for you. Vicki put them in a vase. We sat down to eat right away as all were very hungry. Your pastitsio was terrific. The taste was just right and everybody over-ate and complimented you extensively. We really enjoyed the meal and the conversation. The meal was topped off with your very tasty rice pudding. Again, you did a great job. All 430 were very impressed that you stayed home on your own while I went to work and that you cooked too. I mentioned that I was not home when you made the rice pudding and the pastitsio all by yourself and from memory. The gals helped clear the table, rinsed the dishes and loaded the dishwasher. The girls (I should really say women) stayed for about five hours and we had a good time together. The conversation was very nice and covered many, many subjects. You made a few appropriate comments that really got people laughing. Tonya dropped by and we fed her the last of the rice pudding. She enjoyed it too. Day 363 (Monday, October 10, 2005)—we got up, we dressed and were out of the door by 8:45 to have blood drawn at Quest Diagnostics at Shady Grove as part of our physicals. There were few people waiting and we were done within 15 minutes. We decided to see if we could get a flu shot at our health center but they said not until Friday. We have an appointment the following Friday, we’ll wait until then. I had planned to take you out to breakfast but you declined. You neither wanted to go to the Ambrosia Café nor to I-Hop. You wanted to go home. When we arrived, you wanted some left-over chicken we had plus the left over pastitsio. This is very unusual for you (not me, but for you it is). I complied and we both ate lunch for breakfast. You did the clean up and then emptied the dish washer from yesterdays dishes and put them away except for those too high for you to reach. I did those. We both did our exercise routines followed by showers and dressing We read some, did your homework, and then read some more. We went for a walk at Wheaton Mall and bought a few things to include hairspray for you, work out socks for me, cake mix and icing for Nick and Nina’s birthday cake . Earlier I went on line and ordered gift certificates for each. It bugged me that hotsy-totsy Saks Fifth Avenue charged $5 for shipping and handling while the good ol’ people’s store, The Gap, charged none. No more purchases at Saks! 431 After we arrived home, we changed and watched some TV. It really bothers me that you can’t stay up until 9 PM. In fact, when I said OK stay until 8:30 and then we will both go upstairs, you couldn’t even wait until then. Perhaps it’s childish for this to bother me but I did spend many lonely nights when you were in the hospital and when you do that and leave me alone, it reminds me of that period. Day 364 (Tuesday, October 11, 2005)—so, this concludes 52 weeks since the accident or as I now like to call it, “the incident.” Tomorrow will be the one year anniversary date. The milestone that I want to note today as far as your progress is concerned relates to reading. When I came downstairs to exercise, I opened the door to say my usual hello to you while you were exercising and before I started and there you were reading while pedaling away. This is a first since the incident. In BA days, you always read while exercising using the music stand that we had to hold your book. You had placed the book on the stand and when I came in, I helped you adjust its position a little better plus I helped to better position the floor lamp so the light would shine with more intensity on the book. It was really wonderful seeing you do a BA thing once again. After exercising, you placed clothes into the washer and informed me to put clothes there too. You added our towels and I started the wash. Before we left for your therapy, we put the clothes into the dryer. We are a good team working together. In fact, after we returned from therapy we made our lunch together too. We made an omelet with cheese, onion, and cut up meatballs. You added hot sauce to your portion and I mayo made with canola oil. It was very tasty meal. I left for my BAI meeting while you were setting up to make Nick and Nina’s chocolate cake. My drive and meeting were uneventful as was my return trip. When I returned home, you had baked the cake and frosted it too. It looked good but as you said, we’ll have to see if it tastes as good as it looks. 432 Our new mattress topper was delivered. It is four inches thick and king-size. It is really something how they “machine compress” it and how, as advertised, it assumes its shape when unrolled. Day 365 (Wednesday, October 12, 2005)—on this day one year ago a difficult odyssey began for us. At about 10:15 in the morning where Beach Drive intersects with Cedar Lane you were struck by a big Ford pick-up truck. The driver turned into you and Jenna. He claimed he did not see you in the pedestrian crossing because the sun blinded him, he said. You saved little Jenna’s life, neighbor Pauline’s granddaughter, by thrusting the stroller you were pushing out of the way. She only got a scrape when the stroller tipped over but you almost didn’t survive the impact. We were blessed that you were near Suburban Hospital, a trauma center, where the trauma team and the trained intensive care doctors saved your life. As I have written and said many times, this incident and the uncertainties of your survival had to be the most painful experience of my life. When we knew you would survive, the uncertainties of how you would survive were, to put it simply—scary. You had traumatic brain injury, multiple broken bones, and damage to your optic nerve. Fortunately, you don’t remember any of it and can only accept what happened from what we have told you. As the old and now clichéd saying goes, you’ve come a long way baby. Your progress toward wellness has really been something beautiful to behold. Father John frequently says it has been miraculous and that you are a miracle. Jan, the NRH Speech Language Pathologist, your cognitive therapist, said the same thing yesterday. Thank you dear God for making it so!!! We still say an evening prayer to Him and will continue to do so for the rest of our lives. You are getting close to remembering the entire Lord’s Prayer in English with just a little bit of cuing from me every once in awhile. In June, we traveled to Greece and stayed for six weeks. You interacted with your family and significant strides were made in your rehabilitation. You tolerated the long trip there and back again 433 and the plane changes very well. When we work as a team inside or outside of the house, you are very helpful and do your share. You’ve started to cook again. We’ve even entertained at home. You set the dining room table with an appropriate table cloth and then plates, forks, spoons, knives, glasses, etc. in the right place. You clean-up after we cook and eat. You baked a chocolate cake for our son’s and daughter-in-law’s birthday and made terrific rice pudding (twice so far) as well as a successful pastitsio—without reference to recipes. You are remembering things very well indeed—no more confusion about who is who and where they are located. When I ask you to remind me to do something, you do so at the appropriate time. In terms of physical well-being, you still complain that your right side hurts—that’s where the truck hit you and the ribs and tissues will take time to heal completely. While you’re still walking with a bit of a stiff gait, your balance is great and I have no fear that you will fall. You complain about your eyesight but you still navigate well and your reading and scanning skills are improving. Exercising is again part of your daily routine and once again you’ve started to read a novel as you pedal away on your recumbent bike. You express yourself well verbally and display problem solving skills. You make the bed each morning and prepare it for sleep at night. You know what buttons to push on the washer and on the dryer. You fold our clothes when they are dry and put them away. So, OK, you still haven’t manifested much interest in vacuuming or dusting as yet but I guess that will come too—I don’t mind vacuuming as part of my exercise program. I do not fear leaving you alone at home while I put in a few hours of work. I have confidence that you can care for yourself while I am gone for those hours and that you can reach me on my cell phone if you need me. I would not have said that in June. There are many, many more things you do now that you had done before the accident but the items mentioned above hopefully give the flavor of your accomplishments. Yes, they are accomplishments because when you went into the National Rehabilitation Hospital 434 (NRH) in late November for three months after six weeks at Suburban Hospital, you could barely sit in a chair or stand, you could not walk or talk. You were fed through a tube and breathed through one as well. So once again permit me to say—you’ve come a long way baby. Your story of being a hero and your journey to wellness continues to resonate. Both Suburban Hospital and NRH asked permission to use your saga in their respective fund raising letters. We have granted them that permission and we hope that they raise money for those with few resources in need of their help. I would be remiss in not saying how loving and affectionate you are. We hold hands wherever we go and sneak in a hug and a kiss or two. Once again, I thank you Lord for having my Maria by my side. So what did we do today? We got up at the usual time, we exercised, bathed, dressed, and then replaced our bed topper with the new one. We’ll see how comfortable we are. We put two inch topper, on the bed of the guest bedroom. These actions were good exercise too. Next we were off to the commissary and when we returned home, we made some spring rolls purchased there. When we concluded this light repast, you put the chicken and associated vegetables on skewers awaiting grilling. You alternated the chicken with the two colors of peppers (red and orange) and with sweet onion. We marinated the chicken plus the veggies for about two days. You also made tzaziki from yogurt, fresh garlic, grated cucumber, dill, and a little olive oil. Both Nick and Nina love that sauce. We went to the Middle Eastern store looking for wine vinegar from Greece. No luck! We went to Trader Joe’s and found a small bottle of wine vinegar but not really what we wanted. N+N came early by about ten minutes and just caught the NBC Channel Four update on your condition. NBC extracted a couple of quotes from the email I sent to them and used some of the old footage they had. Niko brought a bottle of Retsina and he even tried a glass. He found it so-so but Nina liked it. You started to eat some of the Rice-a-Roni with tzaziki while I made the souvlakia on the 435 Barbie. We all enjoyed the meal very much and Niko really dived into the Rice-a-Roni—he loves the stuff. All agreed that everything was excellent. When we finished the main course, I brought in the cake with a single big candle on it in recognition of both their birthdays. Nick enjoyed his favorite chocolate cake you made for him. He called it a “classic.” I told N+N my story about Saks. Interestingly, after my complaint to them not only did they say they would credit my account for the $5 handling charge but they sent the gift card to Niko by FedEx in a little gift bag. Nina had not received her Gap gift card yet but I told her that I received an email that they shipped it. I forwarded the email to her. They stayed for 2 ½ hours which for restless Niko is something to record. Nina did all of the clean-up, by the way. This day was in celebration of their October birthdays. It also was a celebration of your survival. This is my last daily entry into this, my letter/journal to you. I wonder when you will read it. I guess I should consider printing at some point. Another project I have is to work on a scrap book. Since today is so very significant and we have so many well wishers, I sent an email to advise everybody of your one-year status. The email consisted of extracts from what I wrote above as of 11:30 AM this day. Here are responses we received: “Thank you Pat for sharing this (as I wipe the tears from my eyes). What a miraculous story and recovery. I cannot express to you how happy I am for you and for Maria and for both of your families. It is absolutely amazing how the body can heal and recover. And miraculous to me also that in that painful process we discover things we never realized about ourselves and others and our whole perspective of the world and ourselves change. It is amazing to me that out of something so tragic we can grow and our walk and relationship with God can deepen. May God continue to surround you and Maria in peace and love, Suzanne” She was a colleague at BAI who is now Security Director of the Holocaust Museum. She is 436 the wife of Mike Chalmers who served with me while I was on active duty. He is now the Director for Counterintelligence at the Missile Defense Agency. “Our prayers are with your both -- Christina asks often, so this is wondrous news. Love, David” Doukas “Pat, Thank you for this missive. You have done a wonderful job in documenting the trials you and Maria have gone through the past year. I have kept you in my mind and have prayed for her regularly. As I have followed this saga, it has been truly miraculous and there is no doubt that your constant and persistent presence was vital to Maria’s healing process. You should be happy with Maria’s progress and very proud of your contribution. Best Wishes Bill Feidl” “Dear Arion: Thank you very much for sending this last, momentous journal entry. I am honored. What a year, and what majestic chapters in two lives you have shared with the rest of us. I'm glad you guys are doing so well, and please keep me posted on further progress. All the best, Mike Ruane” The Washington Post. “Dad: Thank you for sharing this today. This is a very significant day in all of our lives. It certainly is a reminder of what is important. Imagine that a year has gone by! It seems like a long time, yet a short time for all that has transpired. Remember where we were last year at this time! It is wonderful that your journal can now end on such a positive note. Your love for Mary and her will and determination to make it out of the dark are inspirational for all of us. This is what love is about. Love to you both, Dini.” “Arion, Thank you for the e-mail update. We will do an update today. Give Maria our best! Charlie” from NBC 4 News. At 5:45 or so they did do an update. LYN S TURKSTRA <
[email protected]> 10/12/05 1:35 PM 437 Hello, SLP grad students, The second year students might recall when Nadine Connor's stepmother sustained a severe TBI last year. The story received a great deal of press, as Maria Pattakos is a hero: in the accident, she saved the life of an infant. Nadine's dad sent out the email below today, as this is the one-year anniversary of the accident. Those of you who were introduced to Mrs. Pattakos last year might appreciate the follow-up information. For the first year students, this might be a good reminder (while you're working on your TBI case assignments) that people really do get better! The original story, published on Valentine's Day last year, is at the link listed below, and Mr. Pattakos email is after that. Lyn http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A218512005Feb13.html “ “Thank you for the update Arion. I am so happy to hear that Maria's health has improved to the point where she is today. Thank you for sharing this personal section of your diary with us as well. I will continue to pray for you both. Take care, Tina” Dallas, who is the daughter of my first cousin Paul Pattakos and his wife Tula. “Arion, I am so touched by your last entry. What a tribute to love and strength. May the next year be happy and marked by only beautiful strides and continued enjoyment in the quality of life…. Thanks for sharing and keeping in touch. Give my love to Mary. She is an incredible woman! Celia” “I am in tears reading your final entry into your journal of Mary’s long year of recovery. You and Mary are a remarkable team. You have always been a remarkable team and an inspiration to Conrad and me and, I am sure, to others. I am so happy for you both that your journey, though so hard, has had so much success. I want you to know that Conrad and I have kept you and Mary in our prayers all these months and we will keep you in our prayers. Thank you so much for sharing your journey and letting us know how far you both have come. Our love to both of you. Monica” Grant. 438 “Pat and Maria, We continue to offer thanks for the progress made and pray for your future. We look forward to seeing you once again in Florida. Sam and Helen” Fisher, a colleague from my NSA days. “Dear Arion & Maria: It's hard to believe that it's been a year since the accident. We are cheered by the news that Maria continues to improve every day, and we keep you both in our hearts, minds, and prayers. I know that Maria will very much appreciate your journal, Arion, when she eventually reads it. It's a very moving story and a great testament to the love you share. By the way, my Dad is the one who does the vacuuming in my parents' house. The vacuum cleaner is just too heavy for my Mom to handle. And, as for dust, who cares? I've learned to make dust my friend. It's always hanging around, anyway, so I thought I should get to know it better. I have! Big hugs to you both, Kathy & her Honey Bob” “Pat, My thoughts and prayers are certainly with you and Maria. I am thankful to hear things are moving forward for you all. I ask Bob for updates when I see him. Dan” See, a colleague from BoozAllen “Dear Maria and Pat: Thank you for sharing your thoughts with us who have prayed and hoped for these many months. Our prayers have been fulfilled by the grace of our heavenly Father and I am thankful that the physical and emotional scars are healing. The faith, constancy, strength, and love that you both share have sustained you through the past year, and I hope will continue for years to come. Maria, welcome back! Pat, I am proud to have known you over the past 30 years – you are a good man. Paul” McLean “Arion -Thank you for the wonderful update on Mary. Unfortunately, I lost your e-mail address when I switched from AOL to Comcast. I think about you & Mary often & pray that Mary continues to progress in her recovery. I have a small article that I saved from the paper over the summer, which I've been 439 meaning to send to you. I wasn't sure if you were in Greece at the time that it was printed. I also read part of this beautiful journal entry on Channel 4 news last night. Thanks again for keeping me posted. Happy Birthday to Niko. Love, Dana” “Pat: You and Maria are very special people. You both were in our prayers all through the year, and will continue to be. Thanks for letting us in on your journal. Best to Maria. Ron.” Duchin “Dear Arion, Your Maria's miracle is very touching. She is blessed indeed. Glory to God that you have your Maria again by your side only one year after such a wild impact. We continue praying for her completely rehabilitation. We also believe that wonders can be created through prayer. God bless you too, Arion. Rosa & Andre Meintassis, writing from Patmos, Greece” “Mary and Arion, Congratulations on one incredible year of recovery. Your story is an inspiration and it’s great to hear you are both doing so well. All the best-Kristi Herrity (Nadine’s friend)” She sent a beautiful card she made. We changed and watched TV together until 9:30. We went to bed around that time to try out our new topper. May we sleep comfortably and near one another for the rest of our lives—may our lives be long, together, and healthy. Our Journey Continues!!!! Saturday, November 12, 2005—It is thirteen months since the day that changed our lives. You continue to take cognitive therapy once per week for an hour each time. Jan, your therapist, is pleased with your progress and so am I. She suggested that you keep a daily journal (a diary) of your activities, just a few sentences per day. You have been doing that pretty much on your own with encouragement from me. You decide what to write after we discuss the day’s activities and I help as needed with the spelling. You are doing pretty well with the spelling on your own given that you were not great in that arena before the accident. Your handwriting has changed a lot. It is not as smooth as it once was. What is great is that 440 you want to keep the journal and you feel a sense of satisfaction for a job well done. And, you are doing a great job. Your cooking skills are returning. You made spinach pie (spanakopita) last week that was delicious. A couple of weeks ago, you made pastitsio and rice pudding. They came out perfect too. Importantly, you did all of this cooking without reference to a recipe, it was strictly from memory. You are taking a more active role in washing dishes and doing the laundry. You still do not initiate dusting or vacuuming but you do make the bed in the AM and prepare it for sleeping in the PM. The house is still not in BA condition because I am not up to what were your standards and I don’t push you to do things. I try to subtly prod you because I want you to initiate. We are not quite to that point yet. You love to read and we get large print books at the library to facilitate your vision. You read novels prior to the accident written in big print so this is not a change. You are not complaining about your vision as much now but your right side still gives you problems—it either aches or you describe a tight feeling on that side. You enjoy going on our Friday dates that consist of eating out and a movie. You follow the plot of the movies very well, seem to concentrate on what is happening and express enjoyment or disapproval as appropriate. Yesterday, Dini arrived to attend a neuroscience conference being held at the Washington Convention Center. Today, the Dalai Lama speaks and Dini said he was as depicted—a wise, spiritual person. On Monday, Dini makes a poster presentation at conference. It is nice having her in town and you graciously gave her much gold jewelry that once belonged to my mother. There really were a lot of gold bracelets, pins, and some other old style pieces that Dini liked very much. We took her to the convention center after eating at Ambrosia. She decided that taking the Metro back would be less stressful than coping with Washington traffic. This evening, we went to the Blaker’s “for drinks” in celebration of Ursala’s marriage to Otto. Dini came too as did Niko and Nina. 441 Month 14 (December 12, 2005)—the passage of time is amazing. They say time is relative and it is. Just think, on December 10th, you’ve been here in the US for 33 years. With your improvement, the metaphysical days are brighter – today the physical day is overcast and only 40 degrees. Snow remains on our lawn from its fall last week. Across the street where they get more sun, it is gone. I prepared Christmas cards and here is what I wrote about you in our enclosed Christmas letter written on December 2, 2005: Christmas is a time for joy and this year we can express that joy. My Maria is getting better every day. The severe trauma she received some 14 months ago when she was struck by a pick-up-truck is healing. The many bones she broke are back in place and the traumatic brain injury she suffered is dissipating. She still has some pain on her right side where seven ribs were “thrashed” but when measured against the universe of problems that could have been, she is coping well. She exercises on her recumbent bike daily, her balance and walking are terrific and she even cooks once again. For the Thanksgiving party we had at Niko’s party room, she made pastisio and rice pudding recalling the recipes from memory. She is reading novels once again and based on the recommendation of her cognitive therapist she is keeping a journal of her activities. She’s not completely her old self yet. I say this because I’m still not getting yelled at for leaving little slips of paper with notes and such, here and there. Before the accident this was one of her pet peeves and one of my principal defects, according to her. Kidding aside, we thank God every day for the blessings we are receiving and ask the Lord to continue healing her. If you have been praying for her, please keep her in your prayers for a complete recovery. Maria was released from the National Rehabilitation Hospital on 24 February 2005. As I like to point out, the Suburban Hospital staff in 1½ months saved her life while the NRH therapists in three months saved her future. They taught her how to talk and walk once again. She continued her therapy as an outpatient until we went to Greece in 442 June. We stayed at her village house near Thessaloniki for six weeks. I figured being with her sister and others would be great therapy and it was. Her cognition improved exponentially. We had a very good and relaxing time to include a few day trips to see such things as Philip II’s tomb and his palace (you will recall that Phil, as I like to call him, was Alex the Great’s pappy) and we also toured Mount Athos (the Holy Mountain) from a cruise ship inasmuch as women cannot enter the area. Over the year, people have been very kind in recognizing my gal’s heroism. The Maryland House of Delegates presented her with a resolution, the Washington Post ran a beautiful article on Valentine’s Day, People Magazine ran an article in March, and our local NBC TV station highlighted her situation and progress several times. Many wrote or called to tell us they were praying for her and had formed prayer chains. Our Priest, Farther John, still calls her our miracle. Since I am confident leaving her home alone now, I’ve recently started to go to work once or twice per week. I still do some teaching and consulting at Beta Analytics International Inc.” Today we left the house at 7 AM for an appointment with Neil Miller, MD, a neuro-ophthalmologist. He is at Johns Hopkins Wilmer Institute and rated by our regular ophthalmologist (Dr. Hammer) as one of the best in the country. His resident did a quite lengthy work-up. The bottom line when we saw him was that you not only had damage to your good eye but that the right eye suffered some damage too and contributed to left side neglect. I told him that as far as reading goes, you now do remember to read left. He was pleased to hear that you are compensating when reading. We spoke about visual rehabilitation therapy (VRT). He said it was still controversial and I sensed he was neutral about doing what he labeled as expensive and not covered by insurance. Dr. Hammer did not believe in it. Wilmer is a participating clinic for Nova that specializes in VRT but with the departure from Johns Hopkins of Dr. Park, the lo-vision chief that saw you in March, the clinic is on hold. The only other participating clinic is in Hagerstown. He 443 advised that he had no treatment to help you at this time but he did say there was a lot of research on-going and is confident certainly within 10 years there will be a treatment for your condition. He said you were now in their data base and would be told of any progress that might help. We were at Wilmer for four hours. On our way home, we stopped at the restaurant, Timbuktu. We met Joe there and treated him and ourselves to a broiled crab cakes. We also had cream of crab soup. As usual, the food was very good and you enjoyed it very much. After we left, we went to the library turned in some books, got new ones and then home to finally relax – well, we both wrote in our respective journals. You’ve been making entries since October 28th and doing very well with a little help. Tomorrow, we go to your next to last cognitive therapy session on Montrose Avenue with Jan Carl. Last week she gave you some tests to see how well you’ve been doing by comparing your results to the same tests you took when she started with you in April. She showed me the results. You did very, very well. Some other milestones to mention: you coordinate your clothes very well; you are once again the champ at making rice pudding (pastitsio too); you are doing a very good job of applying your makeup and remembering to take it off before bed; and, two days ago you led us in saying The Lord’s Prayer without a mistake. Baby, you are the greatest. Christmas Day – 2005 to New Year’s 2006 Christmas is a day to rejoice and I do so with all my heart. It is a day for me to celebrate the Lord’s greatest Christmas gift to me and that is you. We went to church today and received communion. As we departed the service, Father Steve blessed you as he gave us the Holy Bread and said “strength.” You have and continue to display great strength. We called Greece again today and wished our family there a blessed holiday. Yesterday, we called lots of folks in Greece: Litsa and 444 Gregory (twice), Marianna and Apostalos, John and Roula. We also called your Aunt Eleni in Cyprus. Litsa, Gregory, and Eli went to our Maianna’s in-laws for Christmas lunch. Alkesti made a turkey. I went back in the journal to my 2004 Christmas entry and read it to you. I shed a couple of tears and you told me to “cut it out.” I did but with difficulty. The distance you’ve traveled since that last Christmas is amazing. It is raining today. We are waiting for our Wisconsin kids to come in the early evening. Nick and Nina called from Roanoke and you said that made your day. You made two pans of spanakopita and they are in the oven cooking. They looked delicious and I am sure they will taste that way too. Baby, I love you and thank the Lord that He has kept you with me. Our WI family came on Christmas day as scheduled. Since they rented a car, we did not have to pick them up at the airport. Madison to Reagan National is now serviced by a once per day direct flight by Northwestern. They enjoyed the trip. Upon their arrival, we had a very simple dinner ready that all wanted to eat some part of (since we have some dietary inconsistencies among the group). We had spaghetti, meat balls, shrimp scampi and salad. For desert we had chocolate cake and ice cream to celebrate Alec’s birthday of the day before Christmas. We also had New Year’s bread that Suzanne and Nouni were kind enough to bring to us. You cut the bread and our home received the imbedded coin for luck. We opened presents to end the festivities of the day. We had a second Christmas when Nick and Nina came on Tuesday after their stay in Roanoke. Prior to the present opening bit we took all to Ambrosia for an early dinner. Dini, Will and the kids drove to NY for two days to see the sites there. All were very excited and had a good time. They even went to see the old apartment house where I was raised. From the pictures they took, the building on 71st street just off of Broadway looked very good. So what did we do New Year’s Eve? We went to bed 445 early. You and I did not need to usher in the new year just pray that 2006 continues the upward climb of your improvement. May the Lord continue to bless us. You were a very good hostess over the holiday period. We made the beds together, cleaned the house before and after, set the table, made breakfast, and so forth. You were great. Of course, you still don’t yell at me for cluttering the kitchen and the fact that I have my laptop on the kitchen table. Perhaps you don’t mind the laptop because it keeps me upstairs near you rather than hide out, as you put it, with the other woman, working downstairs on the desktop. You have been keeping up with your journal. You started in a new notebook that has darker lines that you can see and thus line-keep better. While you don’t make entries completely on your own (I dictate some), your line keeping, spacing between words, handwriting, and spelling is improving. You made spanakopita from memory which was very, very tasty and are doing a little more housework. You make the bed in the AM and my breakfast and prepare the bed for sleep in the evening. You exercise every day and you do love to read the library books you select. I just finished reading your January 12, 2005 entry. You have come a long, long way since coming home. Wow! Then you needed a lot of memory help, but you began taking your pills whole (before they had to be crushed and put in apple sauce), your speech was Ok, and you started to wash yourself in the shower. You needed guidance and help to eat. You have no problems in those areas today. We went out looking for a rack for a bake pan but were unsuccessful. But we did successfully eat Chinese Food at Montgomery Mall. Another memory plus for you today was that you reminded me to call the church to enroll in the annual course Father John gives on Orthodoxy. It is four hours per week for five weeks. This will be his 44th year presenting the course. If you didn’t remind me, I probably would have forgotten again to enroll. 446 You are now leading me in the The Lord’s Prayer and doing so perfectly. May the Lord continue to bless and keep us both well and together! Month 16 (Sunday, February 12, 2006)—It’s really the day before Feb. 12th but I decided to start writing a few words today since we are both sitting home waiting for a big snow storm. So far this winter we have had little snow to speak of and in January none. The weather people tell us that in a few hours (it is 10 AM now) the snow will begin to fall and we might accumulate 8 to 12 inches. I’ve parked the car along the edge of the driveway in anticipation and to make the shoveling easier. You said you will help the shoveling efforts. We’ll see! We started the morning as we do many mornings by writing in your journal after breakfast. You have not undertaken this activity on your own but together you do write a short page or so on the previous day’s activities. For Friday, you advised that we had our “date day” and that we went to see The Pink Panther with Steve Martin playing the role Peter Sellers made famous, Inspector Cleuseu. You recorded your impression of the film as “so-so.” I agree but maybe even that is too high a rating. It is hard writing this journal on a monthly basis because of recollection problems. I guess I should make notes as things noteworthy occur during the month. They do occur but we both forget what they were. We have started taking Father John’s classes on Orthodoxy. We’ve had three evening classes so far of two hours each. They are held at the church Monday and Wednesday for five weeks and a pretty well attended. Vicki and Connie have been attending too. Speaking of them, they continue to be the sweetest gals and they hardly miss a Sunday to be with us. Last Sunday, they bought chicken from “Chicken-on-the-Run” for us. It tasted especially good since we were hungry from fasting as we received communion that morning. Tomorrow, Nick and Nina are supposed to treat for your birthday at an Irish restaurant if we are not snowed in, that is. 447 Right now, you are shortening a pair of jeans on your own initiative that I bought you for your birthday. You already shortened another pair of more elegant tweed pants. This is indicative of your continued progress. On your own initiative you have commenced to straighten things here and there. We both do a full-house cleaning every two weeks. I use the vacuum cleaner and you do the dusting and polishing work. You make my breakfast every morning and you do some cooking too. You usually do the kitchen clean-up. You still do not complain about my little notes or my laptop on the kitchen table but hopefully that will come too. I looked at my entries for a year ago, you showed significant recovery at NRH in your speaking and ability to walk. Those that had not worked with you for sometime were amazed at your progress. In 12 days, you were to be discharged. Of course, you continue to mention that you don’t remember your NRH stay. Our life continues in its slow pace. We do our movie thing, read, exercise, watch TV and enjoy Maria’s Room. Joe and Debbie invited us to their new home for dinner. The home located in Columbia, MD, is very big (five bedrooms) and Debbie is doing a great job decorating. Bob and Kathy came too and they both look great after the kidney exchange. The meal—grilled salmon and a standing rib, plus veggies, desert, etc.—was delicious and the company delightful. You were quite and not as talkative as you are with Connie and Vicki but I guess that is to be expected at this phase of your recovery. We went to Marta for your hair a couple of weeks ago. You are still not ready to try the job on your own as you did BA. I am putting about 40 hours per month with BAI mostly from home. I did teach at JCITA last Tuesday. I insisted that you get up from bed as I wasn’t going to leave after kissing you while you were still in bed. Call me superstitious but 16 months ago that is what I did before I left for JCITA to teach and I didn’t want some type of repeat of that day’s horror for you or for me. You did get up, I did kiss you, and the day went well. I still can teach for eight hours even 448 though I’m fast closing in on 73 years of age. The students seem to enjoy and learn from my approach. The 31st of January was the State of the Union speech and also the State of Maria presentation on Fox News (Channel 5). The day before the Channel 5 people were at NRH to get some background to use on the Bob Woodruff story. He was an anchor man who was injured in Iraq when a bomb went off near a vehicle he was riding in. He survived the explosion but suffered significant injuries to include brain injury. The Channel 5 people asked about similar TBI cases treated by NRH and what could be expected. You were mentioned to them as being an outstanding example of favorable progress. Will Thomas a Channel 5 “anchor/reporter” loved your story and contacted us to do a follow-up. They came the afternoon of the 31st and the program aired immediately following the State of the Union. They did a very nice job and we gave NRH a plug. Thomas promised us a copy of the tape but so far has failed to deliver. Channel 5 did your story on the day of the accident (among others channels) and they wanted to charge me $75 for a copy of the tape. I guess they still have the same policy as contrasted to NBC who has been completely cooperative and sensitive to your heroism. I’ve tried to email Thomas but the emails have bounced and I left a message on his voice mail to no avail. The Winter Olympics kicked off today in Turino, Italy. We awakened early (6 AM) and caught the opening ceremonies. They did a very good job and the lighting of the Olympic Flame Cauldron was pretty impressive. The US has already won a gold medal in speed skating. 2/13/06—We awakened bright and early to a winter wonderland. It snowed with gusto starting at about 8 PM last night and dumped about 10 inches on us while we were cozy in bed. At 8:30 AM it stopped and I was outside shoveling away. I decided to do the work on my own but had you standing by to make sure that I was OK. I figure as I age that this is a good idea. I tried using the electric snow shovel I had but it was only marginally effective given the depth of 449 the snow. But, not a problem, I did the job with little effort using my bent shaft shovel—it alleviates having to bend to lift the snow filled shovel. The new driveway surface is a big help as the shovel glides over it easily and doesn’t get hung up on the cracks that were in the old concrete driveway. Niko called—your birthday lunch is put off until next week. The restaurant called him and said they would not open today. Olympic News—Nancy Kwan announced that she has withdrawn from the figure skating competition as she sustained a groin injury during practice. Too bad! With all of the successes she has had Olympic gold has eluded her. Since no one was coming here today and we were not to meet others, we went to White Flint Mall to go to the movies and to have a late lunch at the Cheesecake Factory. Our plans were only partially successful. The movie was not going to open until 4 PM, a delay of four hours. We did go to the Cheesecake Factory and we were seated immediately not a usual occurrence at lunchtime. You had your favorite eggplant sandwich without the bread (so I guess you can’t really call it a sandwich) and I had a turkey burger. Instead of fries, we were both good and ate veggies as side dishes. The meal was very filling for us both. Our next destination was home. I shoveled the sidewalk to finish the job and we both spent the afternoon reading our respective novels. Later we did the usual TV bit and thus ended month 16 since your (I should say our) fateful day a year ago October. Month 17 (March 12, 2006)—It is amazing to say that seventeen months have passed since “that day.” Well, they have and we are still coping with your recovery. You scared me a little during this period because I thought your short term memory was going. I told you something in the morning and you seemed to forget by the afternoon, for example, going out to dinner with the Blakers. We went with them to a restaurant called the Mandalay located in Silver Spring and you did not like it very much. At any rate, I think the 450 memory bit was just be lack of attention at the time I told you something because it does not happen very often. We have been going to class at church. Father John, for the 44th year presented his Inquiry into Orthodoxy. It is very interesting and I admired the way you stuck to it with me given the chairs are those old student arm chairs with the hard seats. There are about 40 in the class. Father John complimented you many times and mentioned your heroism to the class. We still go to church at least once per week, usually on Sunday for the Orthos and for Communion at least once per month. By the way, you’re super-perfect with saying the Lord’s Prayer at bed time and you lead me now. You celebrated your birthday on the day you believe is your actual birthday that is February 15. Actually we celebrated, on the 19th of February, Nick and Nina treated us and the girls at the Irish Inn in Gel Echo for lunch. You enjoyed the food but more so the company. You have been expressing some disappointment with Niko because he hasn’t been calling very much now and we don’t see him and Nina very often. This contrasts mightily with what they did in the past and with Vicki and Connie who very rarely miss a Sunday afternoon. Today, we all did assemble at Phillips at Shady Grove for fish sandwiches. You continue to read large print novels and in fact, I like to read them too. They are easier on the eyes. You have been doing some cooking but you are still not hi on house work and especially cleaning. You still make the bed in the AM and ready the bed for sleep in the PM. You discontinued doing your daily journal which is more my fault than yours since I’ve been working on a proposal for BAI. You have shown some concern with you’re your weight gain. From the time of the accident you have gone from a size 2 or 4 to a size 10. Of course, I gained lots of weight too. We try to eat only one big meal at day but that hasn’t helped us with losing weight even with daily exercise. You are doing a much better job with applying your makeup but your eyesight problems impair complete success. You come to me for inspection and I try to help. Your principal 451 difficulty is applying blush. You have no problem with dressing and color coordinating your clothes. You converse very well on the phone with the folks in Greece as well as here. You’re more interested in shopping for clothes and looking around a store on your own. We have bought you a bunch of clothes. You have shown some anxiety and concern about my health because of a “shadow” the cardiologist saw on my heart following a nuclear stress test. Well, next month I will get results from a CT angiogram I took. We had to travel to almost Baltimore, Owen Mills to be exact. By the way, Channel 5’s weekend Anchor Will Thomas did come through. He sent us the tape of their interview with us that was aired following the State of the Union. Good for him! He apologized for the delay in a short note to us. Month 18 (April 12, 2006)—Whew, a proposal is done and submitted to the Defense Advanced Research Agency now lets see if BAI wins. Marta did your hair on the 16th. She really did a good job in both cutting and coloring. We did the usual following our three hour stay at the beauty parlor—we went to Chicken-on-the-Run and got two rotisserie chicken breasts. As usual, they were delicious. We even got you a new Military ID card since yours expires in April. We went to the Navy Hospital, the processing was rapid and they took a very good picture of you for the card. On the 4th of April, I went to the Joint Counterintelligence Training Academy (JCITA) for the day to teach. That’s where I was 18 months ago when you were hit. I do get anxious when I go as those thoughts flit through my head and I am very cautious to alert the desk that I gave you their number should you need me. You did some work around the house, read, and you missed me (you said). The teaching went well. Thanks to our Lord that all was uneventful. You’ve been coming along well. Your major recent complaint has been some dizziness in bed or when you bend over rapidly. You went for a CAT scan and the doctor said all looked ok there. Yes, 452 there is still evidence of your TBI but nothing that would contribute to dizziness. Yesterday, we went to an ear doctor. You had some virus that knocked crystals loose in your inner ear which causes the dizziness. There is even a name for it—“benign paroxysmal position vertigo (BPPV).” Given that he had a pre-printed sheet of exercises to return the crystals to their place, it must be a common happening. He went through a set of the exercises and you were not happy with the fact that you got nauseous. He said you should do them twice per day for about three days. I tried to get you to do the second set before bed and you refused. You also were given a hearing test and all is fine in that department. The dizziness cleared up. On several occasions earlier this month, you experienced some depression. I did some praying and each time the depression cleared up. I was ready to get you some medication but that was not necessary. The depression apparently has something to do with anxiety. You have not been happy with the tests I’ve been undergoing for my heart. You did accompany me when I took a CT Angio-gram and we finally got the results last week. Johns Hopkins’ Elliot Fishman, MD said all was fine and concluded his report with “…the patient has minimal atherosclerotic disease normal for age. No other findings of note.” During the month, you continued your preoccupation with the passing of your parents and your brother. You still can’t get over the fact that they died years ago. Apparently, you have no original memory of their passing only what others (Gregory, Litsa, me) have told you. This, of course, probably contributed to your periodic depression too. These loved ones died might Arion be close behind? In addition to our habitual movie going diversions, this month, on April Fools’ Day no less, we went to West Virginia. First we drove to Joe and Debbie’s home in Columbia and from there Joe did the driving to Bill and Helen Feidel’s home located a little beyond Berkley Springs, WV. It is a very beautiful home set in the middle of a forest at the edge of a state park. Literally, a herd of deer crosses his lawn frequently. There are wild turkeys too but we didn’t see 453 any. Pat and Una Geary with their six month old baby came too. The baby is a delight and has the big, beautiful, alert eyes. The occasion was a meeting of the OPSEC Society’s Standards Committee which gave us a pretext for socializing too. Bill and Helen were marvelous hosts and you were proclaimed the life of the party. They all much appreciated your sense of humor. Next week is our Easter. This Sunday, Roman Catholics and Protestants celebrate. Too bad they can’t calculate the same way and celebrate together. Nick and Nina have reserved their party room and we expect 20 adults to attend. Everybody has their assignment of what to bring. We assemble at noon. You continue to show more initiative. Today for example you did three loads of wash, folded, and put them away. You also cleared our garden square of weeds thus preparing it for planting. For both, you did a very good job. This was all unsupervised since I went to half a day work. I taught for a full day this month, and you coped well with my absence doing stuff around the house and reading. You are really reading up a storm. We go to the Library together and we identify books that you might like. The latest batch seem to be hits. I am enjoying them too. We continue to call Greece two or three times per week. Given that we use a 10-10 access number it is very cheap for very long conversation. You really like speaking to your sister. One of your big complaints is that you don’t have a girl friend handy to gossip with. While you acknowledge that I am your friend as well as husband, it is not the same as having a girlfriend. Pauline has seemingly abandoned you for some reason and Jackie has not brought Jenna for a visit for sometime. Clearly this makes you unhappy. I wrote an email to the Saubers whishing them a Happy Easter. They replied with the same wish and they advised that all are well. We’ll see if that leads to a visit. Month 19 (May 12, 2006)—On the 15th/16th of April you showed some wonderful initiative. We received our sofa and love seat covers 454 and put them on. We both like them very much but you felt the extra pillows that were part of the original arrangement were no longer appropriate. Since you had some material left over from the curtains you made some time ago for our TV room downstairs you thought that pillows covered with that would make a nice match. You undertook to make the pillow covers. You tried to use the surger to sew them but both of us couldn’t figure how to thread it. It is a little complex with its four spools of thread. You used the regular sewing machine and things were going well until you decided to change thread. You had trouble passing the thread through the needle because of your eyesight and I barely had better luck. The eye of the needle is rather small but I did succeed after several attempts. But, there was a bigger problem. When you tried to sew, the machine would not stitch the material together. I was invited to make another rescue but failed miserably. I wasn’t sure what route to follow with the thread originating from the spool and terminating at the needle. You weren’t quite sure either. We couldn’t locate the book for help. Finally, after much frustration I called our neighbor Noonie and she fixed things up. Apparently the main problem was the bobbin needed rewinding. Oh well, after that you did use the machine and you made the pillow covers. They weren’t quite up to your BA standards but that’s not the point at this time in your journey. The point is you wanted to make the covers and did your best. Thank you sweetheart, it made me feel good and hopefully you too. Well, there is more progress to report for this month. First, at our family Easter get-together on 23 April at Niko’s party room, you were more animated in a group than you’ve been in quite some time. There were twenty people there (including us) and you were great. Artie and Chuck came from Bridgewater, NJ, and Dino and Myrna from Lewes, DE. All the rest were local. You made rice pudding for the group and used lactaid milk so that Connie could enjoy some. You got an “A” for the effort. Together, we prepared roast potatoes with boned roast leg of lamb. You did the prep work of peeling garlic and potatoes. I stuffed the lamb with plenty of the garlic and you made the marinade. We marinated the lamb for two days and 455 everybody raved on how delicious and tender the meat was. Every brought something and we had a cornucopia full of food and goodies. Apparently the party was enjoyed by all and you interacted with all really well. Here is an example of your wit: You really don’t remember much (actually hardly anything) from your stay at NRH but there is one story you like to tell when a therapist asked you “Mrs. Pattakos, how old are you?” You said you responded, “I’m 50.” The therapist replied, “No Mrs. Pattakos, you are 60.” Now here is what you subsequently added to the story to get some laughs, “Why, how long have I been here?” We passed this month in a rather relaxed way. We read novels and magazines, I go to work about once a week for a few hours and otherwise work from home, we go to the movies at least once per week, and of course, we go food and other shopping. Pauline visited you a couple of times this month while I was at work. We enrolled in the Bethesda Regal Theater’s club and discovered that we get free popcorn on Tuesday. This changed our usual movie date day from Friday to Tuesday. When we go to the movies, there are very few others that go for the first show and it’s like having a private showing. The seats are very comfortable and we can park in Public Parking a couple of blocks away. One movie that we saw this month was Akeelah and the Bee. It was about an 11 year old black girl from the “hood” not in great elementary school who goes on to win the national spelling bee. The writer/director/performers did a great job. The movie was exciting, inspiring, loving and one of the nicest we have seen in a long time. This movie was certainly different from the one we saw last week— Mission Impossible III. That movie was ALL violent action from start to finish. It too was well done but what a contrast with the Bee. The first week in May, we also went out for lunch with Mary Anna and Harry and spent a nice three hours with them. First we went for chicken at a Hispanic place—Primo Pollo—the food was not as good as Chicken-on-the-Run. Next, we went to Ambrosia for desert. You and I shared a baklava and galatobouriko and so did Harry and Mary Anna. Again, it was great interaction on your part. 456 Another milestone this month occurred yesterday. After going to Arlington Cemetery to visit Thalia’s grave (it was her birthday and we left flowers from our garden), we went to Henderson Hall and the Marine Exchange. You shopped on your own, bought a blouse and khaki pants and paid by credit card. You emphasized that what you purchased was on sale—you really wanted to make the point of being a good shopper. Interestingly, for about four, five or more months following your release from NRH at the end of February 2005 you had no desire to shop even though I would take you to various malls for walks and to expand your environment. You really didn’t even want to go into a store. This has changed over time and I think you are ready to shop until you drop. I have turned you loose in stores with a scheduled place and time to meet and you have done well. I’m not quite to the point of feeling ready to let you wander an entire mall on your own. Today we had a nice surprise. Dini, Will, Alec and Maia sent you a Martha Stewart gardenia plant for Mother’s Day. It is nice and now located in Maria’s Room. We called her to say thanks but she did not respond to her cell phone. You left a message and will call later. Niko called to tell me something about the new job he started on Monday with Identix, a biometric device company. He is the VP for Technical Solutions. We see him and Nina on Sunday for Mother’s Day lunch at your chosen restaurant, the Cheesecake Factory. In conclusion for this month is the fact that the doctor finally found the right combination of medicines to bring my blood pressure to 120 Systolic and 70 Diastolic (plus or minus 7 points). Whatever I had been taking was not doing the job and even causing me to have shortness of breath. I feel much better now. We both are eating food provided by Nutrisystems to hopefully lose a few pounds before we go to Greece next month and we both exercise every day but Sunday. By the way, you have started doing the treadmill—two miles at the rate of 3.3 miles per hour and follow this with your exercise bike. Great!!!!! We walked outside when it was over 60 457 degrees, our minimum walking temperature. The pollen was not fun. Month 20 (June 12, 2006)—yesterday was Pentecost (the 50th day since our Easter) and we went to church and received communion. It was a long service and we did a lot of additional kneeling while the Fathers kneeled facing us and recited prayers. The kneeling would have been fine if my left hip and leg didn’t hurt as much as they did (reason?). You held up very well. There was a young man there in a wheel chair who was mightily afflicted and in some level of a vegetative state escorted by his father. Apparently, he makes the rounds of churches in hope of divine healing and to raise some money. We gave him some to help. Father John observed that a miracle occurred with you and perhaps the Holy Spirit would intervene with this individual. Before the service Father John blessed you for a safe trip to Greece. Today is Holy Spirit Day and today I will add the young man to my prayers. Every night we still say our prayers. We say the Lord’s Prayer together and you now do it perfectly. You added one word, “please deliver us from evil.” I continue to do an additional prayer and that is when I pray especially for you and for other individuals. Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal have mercy upon us. Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal have mercy upon us. Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal have mercy upon us. Glory to the Father, and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit now and ever and unto ages of ages Amen + Holy Trinity have mercy upon us, Lord wash away our sins, Master forgive our iniquities, O Holy One visit and heal our infirmities for thy name’s sake. Lord have mercy, Lord have mercy, Lord have mercy. Glory to the Father, and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit now and ever and unto ages of ages Amen + Given the seriousness of your injuries, you have come a long way my sweetheart. You still display some childlike characteristics asking 458 permission to do some things you would have normally initiated on your own. Your interest in maintaining the house is not what it was but I try to work with you to keep things clean. One disturbing statement you made was “I don’t care.” Every once in awhile you question if you have a home because you feel if you did the accident wouldn’t have happened. But, you do prepare the bed for sleeping and do make it up in the morning and you make me breakfast. You do a great job of applying your make-up but ask that I check it to make sure it is OK and so you don’t look like a clown. You select clothes and dress as of old-a good sense of style. Your shopping bug is back and in full swing. You really enjoy searching for more clothes. I try to restrain you now given the fact your closets are once again full. You started doing the treadmill for 30 minutes but you only do it when I am present to supervise. It concerns me that you might fall but so far so good and you are doing very well. By the way, our old treadmill bit the dust after eight years of almost daily use. We had to buy another. The new one seems of better quality, functionality, and has a better warranty. Following the treadmill you still exercise on the recumbent bike for another half-hour or so. There was one down side to the beginning of the month and that was your continued preoccupation with the passing of your brother and your parents. I finally got to the point that I wrote down the specific dates thus assuring you that it has been sometime in the past i.e., your father on Nov 26, 1994, Mother on Jan 25, 1997 and your brother on May 29, 2000. My father passed on his birthday Nov 28, 1992 (at age 99) and my mother on July 15, 2000. I keep mentioning that they had a long life and will live on in our memories. With their long life, of course, came a series of ailments but my mother deteriorated the most after the passing of my father with her senile dementia and her refusal to move from Florida. You observed we are now orphans. The better news is that during the second half of the period, you dwelled less on their passing. The fact that our friend Roula called from Greece to tell us of the death of her husband John might have been the distracting influence. John was really a very nice person, both witty and very generous. He was very ill for some time. In my opinion, his chain-smoking finally got the 459 better of him. Roula stopped smoking about a year ago, I hope it is soon enough so she doesn’t walk in John’s footsteps. Roula called several more times and asked we bring her something —souvenirs of her travels to DC and MD. She’s been here so many times but did not get them as she has at other locations. On the surface, it was a very simple request for refrigerator magnets that took a considerable effort to fill. We went from place to place where we thought souvenirs would be sold but to no avail—even K-Mart failed us. Eventually one person suggested we visit a Hallmark store. The first one we went to drew a blank but the second one at White Flint Mall came through, they had what was wanted. We had a couple of lunches with Harry and Mary Anna, and Pauline came with Jenna a couple of times too. Jenna is still the cutest thing—a little blond angel look. She is still shy. I wonder what she will think when her parents describe your role in saving her life. They saved video and news articles that describe what you did. We also went to Marta for a haircut and coloring. I say “we” because I sit and read there while you get three hours of the action. This time I brought a footstool to prop my legs. Following the hair-bit we went to Chicken-on-the-Run across the street from the shop and bought their delicious rotisserie chicken breasts and fired yucca. We traveled to Lewes, Delaware, to visit with Dino and Myrna and had a pleasant time with them. You once again shopped and got a very lovely suit and an every-day type dress. We even found outdoor thermometers that read in Fahrenheit and Celsius. They broke the one they had in Greece and requested a new one—we had difficulty finding one until Lewes and good old K-Mart. We went to the movies too and saw a comedy. It was dumb but we did chuckle. Myrna and Dino went all out in the preparation of dinner. Dino cooked a marinated London broil on the grill to perfection and Myrna prepared many, many sides. We ate on their delightful porch. On another day, we went to the Mexican restaurant we like so well and enjoyed their fajitas. It still amazes me that Dino eats Mexican food. We drove home by way of Ocean City to see any 460 changes made to our old stomping grounds. There is lots of building going on, as usual. Ocean Pines looks pretty much the same. We stopped at our former home and visited with Bob and Kathy. Neighbors Charley and Barbara came. Bob did a wonderful job of preparing crepes and presented them artistically. It was a lovely and nostalgic couple of hours there. The house furnishings are as we had them some changes in paintings and of course personalized items. Bob did a great job in creating a work space for himself in the garage. You really loved that house and the wonderful time we had furnishing and decorating it. After awhile managing two full sized houses and grounds and the three hour trip got to us both—hence the sale. Bob and Kathy live in a condo in DC and they can better appreciate the house and Bob always liked the drive. We both were stuck with feelings of nostalgia being there—it was our house after all where we lavished our creative and decorative instincts. Luckily, we decided to sell it to good friends because it is in good hands. I don’t know how we would have managed if we still had it after the incident. You were never a barrel of fun before a trip before your accident and you continue in that tradition 20 months later. On the 16th we leave for Greece and to me falls the majority packing chore to include your stuff. Between 12 and 16 June things were quite hectic getting ready for our trip to Greece. As usual, you were not the greatest help in packing our suitcase. Nothing new here, you hated packing before the accident and you still do. Your hands-off approach almost led us to forget taking underwear for you. I have lots of underwear there and thus it didn’t sneak into my mind that you needed to take some too—and this is the 15th of June. You did help me put cellophane wrap around the two boxes we were taking—an Alitalia requirement for cardboard boxes. So they wouldn’t get wet? I didn’t ask why, we just did as we were told and hence had no check-in problem. Why two boxes? Well, in one we had the topper we bought for the bed we sleep on with its too firm mattress and in the other box we had pillows similar to the ones we 461 use at home with a bunch of other stuff such as ceramic briquettes for the grill to replace the lava-stone, grill tools and a cover for the grill, books for me to read, and so forth. We took one large suitcase for clothes for us both based on the usual two-thirds, one third principle. That is one-third of the space for me and two-thirds of the space for you. We also took a carry-on full of our vitamins and meds, your cosmetics, etc. Nina picked us up promptly and we arrived at Dulles the required two hours early. There was a sky cap available who helped us to the ticket counter. Included among the many nice things associated with flying business class is little to no waiting for check-in followed by relaxing in a VIP lounge prior to boarding. They give nice snacks. This year, the flight left Dulles right on time (5 PM, EDT) which meant no race for our connection when we arrived in MilanoMalpensa, Italy. Upon arrival, there was the requested wheel chair for you. While we did not need it to rush from one plane to the other, the wheel chair was a smart thing to do as the escort knows where to take us and enables us to get ahead at passport control and security. She took us to a VIP lounge where we relaxed again prior to boarding for the final leg of our journey. This time the plane left a little late, but arrived right on time at 2 PM (7 AM, our time) on 17 June. We cleared customs without incident, really just a wave of the hand after I briefly stated what was in the boxes. Marianna, her husband Apostalos, her in-laws Thanasi and Alkisti and your sister Litsa were all there to greet us. I had a momentary concern where we and all of our luggage/boxes were to go for the trip to Hortiatis. Not to worry! Thanasi brought his pick-up truck and Apostolos his Ford Focus. We were very grateful for the help. When we arrived at the home in Hortiatis, brother-in-law Gregory and your sister Ellie, gave us a big greeting. In fact, Gregory had a special whip-cream/chocolate cake with “Welcome Home Mary and Arion” written in English on the top. Um, good and fattening too! We were very tired and went early to bed and late to rise. In fact, 462 Gregory came and woke us up at 1130 AM to tell us our friend Roula came to visit. Roula, of course, was all dressed in black. She lost her husband John in May. He was a great guy and he certainly will be missed by us and all who knew him. He was gracious, generous, and had a wonderful sense of humor. As the Greeks say, “may his memory live on through the ages.” Smoking is a bad thing and it continues to amaze me when intelligent people persist in doing it. Roula started smoking again, a little she says. Litsa counted five during her visit. She stayed a couple of hours and we reminisced. She has been very busy settling John’s affairs. 21 Months (July 12, 2006)—this is the month of bombs bursting in air, the rockets great glare that gave proof in the night that our flag was still there. We acknowledged the 4th of July in Greece (I can’t write celebrated) but we did say “Happy Birthday America” and saw the traditional Athens embassy party on TV here in Thessaloniki—well, actually we viewed the party in the rapidly growing village of Hortiatis, the place of your birth. The village really is growing with townhouse construction everywhere with a bank planned for next year. The weather in Greece has been good. It started out pretty warm but settled down to a nice comfortable 75 to 80 degrees with lots of sun. Of course Thessaloniki temperature-wise is much different, at least 5 plus degrees warmer. We don’t go there too often. The weather in the Washington area has been severe. In fact, on the 5th of July our neighbor Suzanne called us to advise that a large (very large) tree branch fell across the driveway. Luckily, it missed the car and the house. I asked her to call Niko and I also sent him an email. He went to the house and checked and called us with his cell phone and gave me an on-the-spot report. Pauline had called him too. I suggested he check with the Randlette’s and sure enough they had called Pepco and their grand-son-in-law Brian. Brian said he would 463 cut it up. By July 8th all was cleaned up perfectly per an email from Niko. I’ll check with Brian and see how much he wants for the job. Here is what Dino said about the weather in an email to us: “Let me tell you about bad weather! We have had rain and more rain for the last two weeks. Parts of Delaware in the Laurel and Seaford area have flooded badly and Cambridge, MD, was hit with floods. We here in Lewes have been spared any flooding and that is because I just got flood insurance (I also had sewer back up insurance added to my homeowners' policy, remembering the problem you had) Connie said that when she went to get to her car parked in the garage, she had to go back to her apartment and get her boots as the garage was flooded with mud and water up to the tires on the car. Fairfax county was hit hard and had wide spread flooding there. Your house is on high ground so hopefully, it is alright. The flooding went through Maryland and parts of Pennsylvania and up into New York State. After all that, we have had three days of ninety plus degrees of hot and sunny weather, which was good for evaporating the standing water and drying things out, but it was so hot that we were stuck in the house and Myrna is now going stir crazy.” We added some improvements to the village house that made our stay more enjoyable. We bought a washing machine on the 19th of June from Carrefour and it was installed the day after purchase. It is great to not do things by hand anymore and your sister doesn’t have to haul clothes to her apartment in Thessaloniki either. The pump to increase water pressure to the second floor made the purchase possible. The other thing we did was to have custom-made and installed a 3 meter by 2 ½ meter curtain to screen us from the sun when we sit in the courtyard. In the early afternoon until 8 PM, the sun is quite intense and screening is needed to add some shade. This year the grape arbor is filling in well adding to the shade. I truly love sitting in the courtyard and reading. I have gotten quite tan. People find it strange that we don’t go to the beach but their water here is so calm as to make it very boring. Of course, Marianna and 2½ year old son Thano love the beach and the water. 464 We had a credit card problem. It worked when purchasing the washing machine but when tendered an hour later, it was rejected— at the same store. We were in a hurry so I ended up paying in cash. A week later when we went shopping again and it was rejected, we waited to find out what was going on. The National Bank of Greece was called and they in turn called the US and we spoke to a Master Card rep. Apparently security put a hold on transactions. This really peeved me given I had called before leaving for Greece and advised them we would be in Greece. The problem was resolved and there was no further incident. By the way, later after our return to the US, I noted that MC now charges a surcharge of 3% for charges made in a foreign currency. Next year, we will use cash only. Speaking of shopping, there is a huge mall with a couple of hundred stores on Thessaloniki’s outskirts. We are familiar with some of the names such as Body Shop, Sephora, Simon-Marks. They have a movie theater with multiple screens and stadium seating as well as a huge food court with a variety of foods to include Chinese. The Mall is called the Mediterranean Cosmos. It is on two levels and airconditioned. Such is progress. Dini called on Father’s Day and we had a nice chat and so did you. All is well with them and the kids are enjoying camp. Apostalos lent me his lap top so I could access my email through his provider. I started checking on the 21st of June. The problem I had was that I did not have email addresses with me to initiate emails and had to wait for somebody to write to us so that I could reply. The Verizon email program is really very poor. A sad email that we received was from Niko advising us that Nina’s father Jack passed away after a long illness. Dini sent flowers on our behalf and I wrote a letter to her mother Faye expressing our sorrow. Niko sent us a more pleasant email with a picture attached of Dini, Nina and himself in a DC restaurant. Dini was attending a meeting. We go to church on Sunday as we do in the US. The church is pretty full but it is mostly women who attend. There are more people in 465 attendance when there is a memorial service. They do pass one collection tray but Litsa says they do not pass a tray in Thessaloniki. No reason was given for the difference. Parents really need to control there little kids better. Our priest would never tolerate their running around the way they do here. The priest remembers us and offers us God’s blessings when we receive our bread at the conclusion of the service. We did make a couple of day trips while we were here. First, Apostalos and Marianna took us to Edessa, a little over an hour from Hortiatis. He did some work at the local hospital while we wandered around and later we all had lunch together. Edessa is famous for its waterfall. It is not nearly Niagara Falls but it is certainly pleasant. We ate in a restaurant that sits just above the falls. The food was very good. Our next trip was around the first “foot” of Halkidiki. The peninsula is called Cassandra. Many years BC, the Persian Xerxes is his invasion of Greece cut a canal through the narrowest point to enable the passage of ships in his invasion of Greece. Apostalos’ parents, Thanasi and Alkisti, were our guides as we made a full circuit of the peninsula. We exited the main road often and drove through many of the old towns along the way and stopped for coffee at a very nice refreshment shop and later to eat at a restaurant overlooking the water. Good food and a good view with good company make for a very enjoyable occasion. You cousins and friends are all very strange when it comes to seeing us (really you). They all wait until its almost time for us to leave. The only cousin that goes out of her way to invite us is Georgia who invited us to eat spinach and cheese pie. Friend Roula invited us out for a drive and lunch. First we visited the cemetery where John is buried and then took a drive to see various seaside resorts. We ate at a restaurant in Epanomi overlooking the water. It was very pleasant although you got tired from the drive. Friends Aphrodite and Nikolaos took us out to dinner. On another occasion she visited us at the house and brought you a blouse and a dish she made by fusing different colors of glass. She is very artistic and this is her current endeavor. Other cousins who visited were sisters Voula and 466 Evangelia. Sister-in-law Marika came a couple of times. Her daughter Chrisoula came and you went to a birthday party she gave for her daughter Maria. Marika, Chrisoula, and kids came the night before we left and brought gifts. You also visited your cousin Evangelia, Uncle George’s daughter, the one they call the teacher. She invited you, Ely, and Litsa for coffee. You met her children during the visit too. Of course, we saw Marianna and Thano every day and Marianna was a most gracious chauffer, taking us wherever we wanted to go—mostly shopping. I do not like driving in Greece any more given the traffic, the roads and the drivers. So, let’s talk a little bit about you. The interaction with all helped you. However, you are still very much preoccupied with the loss of your parents. Towards the end of our stay this abated somewhat. The church bell solemn ring to announce the passing of someone doesn’t help much in this regard. You say that you are having “mental problems.” When I asked what mental problems, you think awhile and say, a spark of vitality. This is an impressive answer. When we get home, we’ll go to Dr. Lee and see if you should visit a mental health professional. After about the first two weeks here, you seemed a little depressed on and off and wanted to go home. Litsa has been very good in trying to lift your spirits and interacting with you. She really has been very sweet to you as well as helpful. Your memory has been good, you continue to improve cognitively, and while your right side still bothers you, there has been some improvement there too. We were advised by Dr. McCarthy that it could take a good two years to get over the majority of the damage you sustained and it appears that this is a valid estimate. We only have four more (really three) days in Greece. I expect it will be hectic with last minute visitors, packing and the like. May we have a safe and easy trip home. Month 22 (August 12, 2006)—well, the first four days of this period was spent preparing for our trip home from Greece mostly mentally since we packed the day before our departure on the 15th. That day we also took everybody to Kioskia for lunch. We feted eleven adults 467 and of course little Thano. Our friend Roula came too and brought us many presents. It was a very enjoyable time with good company and very, very, all-we-could-eat food. We arose at 3 AM on the 16th for our 3:30 AM departure from the house to the airport. The flight left at 6 AM and we had to be here two hours before the departure. Marianna was right on time and the trip to the airport was easy as one would expect at that time in the morning. Upon arrival, we checked in and spent some time in the Olympic Lounge prior to boarding our Alitalia flight. The trip home via Milan, Italy, was uneventful and you tolerated both legs of the trip very well. It is nice flying business class given the wider seats and foot rests. We arrived at Dulles at the prescribed time about 2 PM but were delayed there as the carousel went round and round again. Our one bag was almost the last one delivered and that was a really a pain as well as a worry in terms it being lost. It took some 45 minutes for it to come plopping out of the little access portal onto the carousel. While others were getting their multiple bags we waited for our one bag. It was easy to spot given the yellow band encircling it plus the fact that there were so few people remaining. We cleared customs without a problem. We took a cab home and it was very nice to see 4216 once again. The car was still safely parked in the driveway and the house was undamaged. I say this because last month they really had foul weather with high winds that sheared big branches off of one of the trees near the driveway. It was also nice to note that the large tree branch that reportedly fell across the driveway had be been removed as had been other sundry branches. Unfortunately there is still a tree branch hanging broken from the tree. We’ll have to do something about that. Since you were still showing feelings of depression and continued concern about your parents’ passing—more-so than before the accident and more than I thought was healthy—I took you to see Dr. Lee shortly after our return. He increased your meds and I’ve noted much improvement. You do not talk as much about the death of 468 your parents anymore and you don’t say that there is “something missing” in your mind. You still don’t initiate doing much around the house, for example, the distribution of your shoes in your closet continues to be very, very, helter-skelter, something you would not have tolerated in the past. I tease you about it but to no avail. You continue to make the bed and prepare it for sleep on a daily basis. You also make me breakfast. You complain that your eyesight impedes doing such things as cutting your toenails and I either do them for you or periodically take you for a professional job. I think the eyesight impedes the housework as you just don’t see what needs to be done. We both gained more weight in Greece and must fight that battle. You are doing well on the treadmill and on the recumbent bike. We do the treadmill at least five days per week for 30 minutes and cover 1½ miles. You went for a bone scan and they found some slight improvement in bone density. The doctor suggested taking at least 1000 units of vitamin D in addition to the Fosamax. Overall things are progressing well. We started our movie on Tuesday with free popcorn. The first movie we saw was Superman Returns – good review but only so-so in my opinion. Other movies we saw during the period were: Pirates of the Caribbean II on my birthday and after we lunched on some nice Chinese food. The movie was ugh, weird, stupid, way too long— the critics and many others loved it. Next was My Ex-SuperGirlfriend = fun; The Devil Wears Prada = fun. We also saw Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Boby and we should have know better just by the title but critics and fans alike fooled us. Here is what I thought about this film: if you like NASCAR it has the swirling race and the associated noise. If you don’t it’s another ugh of stupidity. Nick and Nina took us and Connie and Vicki for a nice brunch for my birthday at a cutesy restaurant in Garrett Park. The food was OK but the company was grand. We had cake following the meal at our home. You made carrot cake. 469 On the 26th we celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary. It seems remarkable that so many years have past. Its one of those it seems like yesterday and it seems like we’ve been together forever things. We drove to Annapolis and had a very nice walk around the town, we bought two nice scrumptious cookies to fuel our walk and then had a nice seafood meal overlooking the harbor. After lunch we boarded the Harbor Queen for a 40 minute tour of the harbor. It was informative and the breeze from the water made the trip very pleasant. We also bought you a nice pants outfit and a sports jacket for me. You even had a pedicure. We decided that it would be nice to see our Wisconsin kids. We made reservations for WI with Northwest airlines. They have a nonstop flight there and back which eases the trip. Before we had to change planes and thus we opted to drive most of the time. I was younger and a 15 hour trip even with the occasional overnight stay didn’t bother us. We leave on the 24th of August and return the 28th. We call Greece frequently to speak to Litsa and Gregory. Poor Gregory twisted his ankle and that deprived him from going to the senior citizens center, the KAPI. He loves to go there so this truly was depriving him of that pleasure on top of the pain he was feeling. He even went to the hospital. Marianna took him at 10 PM and they did not return home until 2 AM. Wow!!! By the 10th he was OK enough to go to the center. On August 24th we went to Wisconsin to see daughter Nadine, sonin-law Will and our good looking grandchildren Alec and Maia. We are not alone in this “good looking” observation, others say it too. The trip to Wisconsin was easy. We left from Regan National Airport and our flight on Northwest Airlines was non-stop. It takes two hours of flight time but we arrived at National more than two hours before our flight time to ensure we would find parking and to comply with the new “orange alert” concerns while flying. Some 15 people were arrested in Great Britain in the week before our travel for planning to blow up US aircraft. Their method was to mix 470 chemicals that they were going place in their carry-on luggage. Hence, for the present, no liquids or gels are permitted in carry-on. It is hard to believe given our Dulles Airport experience but our bag was the first one off of the plane. I do believe that is a first for us. Nadine and Will were waiting and soon after we were at their home. The grandkids were a delight and Will and Dini were great hosts. One evening we ate at the Olive Garden, another Bill and Sarah had us to their home for the traditional pasties, and another evening we took a dinner cruise on Lake Mendota. We even took in a movie titled Invincible. It is based on actual events surrounding the selection of Vince Papale for the Philadelphia Eagles. Given that he had only played one year of high school ball, no college ball, and had no previous professional experience, it was quite the Cinderella story. We four adults (the kids declined to go) enjoyed the movie. During our stay, we also went to two different farmer’s markets, one located in a shopping center and the other around the State Capital. The one at the capital was slated to close earlier than usual because American Nazis were to be present in the afternoon to explain their philosophy. Our constitution recognizes their right to speak but it’s too bad that their ideas are so perverted. While at the market we bought a beautiful Hibiscus for Sarah and Bill and Nadine bought a delicious rhubarb pie. You did a lot of gabbing with everybody. At Sarah’s and Bill’s you did have some confabulation when discussing your stay at NRH. You usually say you don’t remember much about that period but this time you kept insisting that you were living with a family in your room. I tried to explain that you had a roommate and that her family would visit but you weren’t buying into that explanation. Sigh (from me)! We returned from Wisconsin on the 28th and the trip was uneventful. The trauma was when getting our car, I could not open the drivers side window. I did fix it the next day by running a spatula around the gasket. I guess the sun baked it to the window. 471 While it was nice visiting our Wisconsin family, it is nice to be home in our nest. Church and prayer is still very much part of our lives. We go to church every Sunday and pray everyday. God truly has blessed us with your continued recovery from the traumatic injuries you received. Thank you God and please continue to bless us—may we be healthy and celebrate another 25 years together. Love ya!! Month 23 (September 12, 2006)-- On the 20th, we took Niko and Nina to lunch. We went to the Lebanese Taverna Café in Silver Spring. They have a very neat street there with lot’s of restaurants that is open only to pedestrians. While at the Taverna, we had a big appetizer platter that was very tasty and enjoyed by all of us. It was good seeing the kids. Too bad we don’t see them more often. Dino and Myrna came from Delaware to visit. They arrived in the early evening and we had pizza for dinner followed by TV. Myrna was her usual helpful self and you worked with her nicely. On Friday, we all went to the movies to see Trust the Man—all but the last 15 minutes was pretty mediocre. This has NOT been a very good month for movies. Saturday, Dino and Myrna went to see Kathy and took her to lunch at That’s Amore. On Sunday, we all went to the Orthos at church and then the girls came to our home at 12:15. Connie has a brand new car that she appears to be thrilled with. We had lunch—rotisserie chicken from “Crisp and Juicy” with sides, plus we made a loin-of-pork that we bought at the commissary. Everybody enjoyed the food. Later Mary Anna and Harry came to join us for dessert. The little-bit of rice pudding (Dino had been consuming it) disappeared quickly and did you get many compliments. You really did a great job and prepared it from memory. The tiramisu we bought at Costco was enjoyed by all too. It was a lovely afternoon but I once again noted that you were very quite in a group. The next day when I questioned you about it, you said that too many people were talking and that they wouldn’t hear or listen to you if you contributed. I disagreed saying that all loved you and would listen. You mentioned that you knew everybody 472 loved you but that there was already too much chatter. The fact that you don’t seem to do well while in groups is one of the reasons I declined BAI’s invitation to attend the Military Intelligence Ball. Given the number of people that go and the activity it certainly would approach sensory overload. Myrna and Dino left at about 1030 AM on Labor Day. Upon departure, they decided to go look for a vitamin dispenser at the Container Store located on Rockville Pike—they were successful. Good thing that they decided to do that because Connecticut Ave was jammed with the Kensington Labor Day parade. Parade people parked in the Knowles Ave shopping center parking lot and that gave me problems at Hardware City where I went to buy sand to fill the edges of our driveway apron. When the county installed the new apron, they dug a deep trench along the outside edges which they later filled with dirt. Apparently they did not tamp the dirt and when I attempted to back in my wheel went out of sight into a quagmire of mud. After wheel spinning futile attempts to get out, I called AAA and they towed me out. It was not a fun experience and mud got all over the place. When I stepped into the mud by accident it sucked my sandal right off of my foot. I had to use a shovel to get it out. Hopefully with the sand and other stuff I put in the hole, things will be OK. It is the morning of 9/11 and a day of remembrance. Five years ago today terrorists flew aircraft into the World Trade Center Towers killing two-thousand-seven-hundred-forty-nine people and another aircraft was flown into the Pentagon killing an additional 184. In New York, the 16-acre site went quiet at 8:46 AM and 9:03 AM, the moments American Airlines Flight 11 and United Flight 175 hit, and again at 9:59 AM and 10:29 AM, when the south and north towers fell. Another aircraft was hijacked with the purpose of again attacking the Washington DC area—perhaps the Capital or the White House. The brave passengers attempted to retake the aircraft but a hijacker crashed United Flight 93 into the Pennsylvania countryside near Shanksville. There were no survivors among the 40 passengers and crew. Fight 93 had been slated for San Francisco 473 from Newark, NJ. One of the leaders of the passengers was an Oracle employee. Niko did not know him. Vicki was working in the Pentagon when American Flight 77 plowed into the building at 9:37 AM. She worked in the general area where the plane hit—between corridors four and five. Lucky for her the plane struck low on the building and she was on the fifth floor on C Ring. She was helped out of the building by a quick thinking good Samaritan who recognized that she had a vision handicap. Some thirty minutes after they got out, the section she was in collapsed. Meanwhile, I was ½ mile from the Pentagon in what is called the Navy Annex when the attack came. I was there for a meeting. A bunch of us had just heard what happened in New York and were absently-mindedly looking out of the window toward the Pentagon when one of the guys shouted that a plane was flying into the Pentagon. We could see things quite clearly. We were shocked and numbed by the sight and the billowing black smoke. Soon thereafter loudspeakers in our building ordered us to evacuate as there was concern that there might be subsequent attacks and we might be a target. Our friend Joe Saul was in the parking lot on his way to meet with us and the plane flew right over his head. He later said it felt as if he could reach up and touch it. There were many ceremonies associated with this grim anniversary. We viewed several TV presentations and you got very angry, as did I, with the atrocity that we witnessed. In the evening we saw two interesting shows on the History Channel. The first dealt with Rick Rescola who was the Director of Security for Morgan Stanley. He felt certain that terrorists would once again attack the World Trade Center and this time using aircraft. He convinced management that evacuation plans were needed and importantly they had to be rehearsed. Management agreed. His efforts resulted in saving 2700 people of his firm—only six were killed. He died as he reentered the building to save more just prior to the South Tower collapse. While I had heard about Rescola, I did not hear about the miracle that happened in the North Tower when it collapsed. Thirteen fireman and one civilian woman survived. The were in stairwell B and 474 somehow a hollow occurred during the collapse and while trapping them, kept them alive. They were rescued and did survive. Thank God for saving Vicki and may God take care of the souls who passed on to Him that day. God certainly would not transport the terrorists to paradise given the twisting of their own faith. A hero saves lives (such as you did) and does not take them claiming it is God’s will. Let me write about you. On the very improved side of the ledger, you select appropriate attire for occasions such as exercising, daily living and going to church. Things are well coordinated to include shoes and purse. When you dress up you seek my opinion but you often did that before. You apply your make up well but you still like me to check for flaws. I don’t find any lately. You are really doing great on the tread mill. You exercise there for 30 minutes covering 1.65 miles at an average speed of 3.3 miles per hour. You’re even getting close to mastering the start-up procedure to access the program we use. After the tread mill, you do an additional ½ to ¾ of an hour on the recumbent bicycle. You watch television while doing both appliances. You are in the exercise groove. When you cook (not often) you do a good job. You marinate meat, cut up the salad, make the occasional meal and dessert such as delicious rice pudding. While you have retained your skills, I seem to be doing more cooking than I have in the past, especially snacks in the evening. You laud my accomplishments—maybe to encourage me to keep doing it and relieving you of that responsibility. Only kidding or am I? Engaging when part of a group appears to be a problem. I wish you would enter a conversation more when with a group of people but hopefully that will come in a few months. Given your body language, I am not sure you are really listening when others are speaking. You are much better and appear more comfortable when there are only two or three other people with us. You are great on the phone and have very sensible discussions with friends and relatives here and in Greece. We call Greece frequently, about three times per week, so that is very good for you. 475 You still do remember very, very little about your stay at either hospital. While you don’t remember much about your hospital stay you occasionally make up stories. The most recent was the one you told in Wisconsin about another family residing in your room. Subconsciously, you probably remember visitors and especially the kids running in the hall. You deny ever having a roommate which is true in Suburban and the first two weeks in NRH. For 2½ months in NRH you did have roommates—four or five, actually. You do a bit more cleaning and are especially attentive in making the bed in the morning and getting it ready for us in the evening. You do initiate disarming and arming our alarm system on a daily basis and making me breakfast. Coffee included! You do initiate clothes washing and drying but earlier this month you pushed the wrong buttons and locked the washing machine. That panicked me because I couldn’t unlock it until I found the manual. Now, you operate both washer and dryer without a problem. You are far from interested in ironing. When I asked, you dust and vacuum. I generally ask you to do that when I go into work to keep you busy. You do not initiate any gardening activities the way you did. Again, if I ask, you’ll join me. Unless we have visitors, you insist on going to bed at 9 PM and have me trained to go with you. We are up around 6 or 7 AM. We do a lot of hand holding by the way, to include during the night while in bed. Well, we both like that. Your memory is generally OK. In fact you remind me of things we need to do the next day or so after we discuss them. Sometimes you don’t think actions completely through, however. To mention but one very minor example: I had a few sections of the paper spread out in front of my chair to read after we returned from church and other sections folded and on the side since I had already read them. We usually give the paper to our neighbor when I finish the whole newspaper. You scooped up everything and bagged it for the neighbor (a little premature) while I was dressing. You follow instructions pretty well but as noted don’t initiate actions well. In many cases, this might be an eyesight 476 problem. You don’t really perceive that the kitchen floor needs sweeping, for example. Big deal, I say. On the evening of the 12th I was discussing what you might make for lunch the next day while I was at BAI. You became uncomfortable with the discussion and didn’t want to talk about the next day’s requirement. I said something like cooking shouldn’t bother you as you were known as the expert. You shook your head and said No. You then made the statement, that Maria is dead. I asked why you believed that and you pointed to both sides of your head. When I asked what you meant by that you said my brain. Well, that exchange was certainly sad for me. I tried to convince you that the old Maria was not dead and that she was just coming back as a new, better, and stronger Maria. Oh, well! Considering the hell you went through and all of the terrible possibilities that could have been, you are doing great my sweetheart. Two-years and eight days (October 21, 2006)—Well, I was not precise on making this entry exactly at the two year mark. Quite frankly, I wasn’t sure what I wanted to write inasmuch as this was to be my last entry in this my special letter to you describing what happened and your recovery from that dreaded day. As noted by the last entry at month 23, immediately above, there still seems to be some concerns about your feelings and self assessment of your being. During this month you haven’t repeated the that Maria is dead statement and in fact, yesterday you made rice pudding for the joint birthday party we are planning for tomorrow and it was as good as the old days. This month here in our area, Nick, Nina, and Connie all celebrate October birthdays. Connie made the chocolate cake and we took all out to lunch in downtown Silver Spring to the Red Rock Cafe. The food there was tasty, plentiful and enjoyed by all. Once a week when I go to work for a bit, I suggest you carry out some household project such as vacuuming, dusting, etc., and you do so well. On your own, you do the wash and water plants. Today you did a great job blowing leaves from our entrance and deck with the battery blower. The really neat thing was that you changed the 477 battery on your own and put the used one in the charger to be recharged. This suggested to me a return of your problem solving skills. When speaking on the phone with friends or family, you do recall past events that I don’t even recall until you mention them. So, the memory function seems quite good. You do a lot of reading (as I do) and that very good for your cognition. I must comment about your smile. It is beautiful to behold and perhaps I am cliché ridden when I say that when you smile at me my heart literally sings. No kidding, your smile really does fill me with much joy. You are of good spirits and I’ve mentioned before your sense of humor is still with you. Still somewhat of a downer is your periodic sadness and dwelling on the fact that your mother is gone. You often comment that she didn’t even say goodbye to you. —The Holiday Season---2006 Thanksgiving was lot’s of fun. We had eighteen people in our house and all sat at the dining room table which we turned lengthwise in the room to accommodate the expanded table. If we had anymore people, we would have had to establish a senior’s table in the kitchen for us and Dino and Myrna. In the old days, we had a children’s table. I guess now the table has turned (an accurate pun). Attending the festivities were the Vidos family to include Michael from Chicago plus Kathy and her two boys as well as Nick and Nina, plus us. Dino and Myrna came two days before armed with the turkey and fixings which we dutifully roasted on Thanksgiving day. On that day, the others arrived and brought their offerings. You made rice pudding which tasted great. A good time appeared to be had by all. I sent emails to NRH, Suburban Hospital and other friends who were kind to us during troubled times. Below are some of their replies. 478 From Ed Eckenhoff, President/CEO, National Rehabilitation Hospital: My dear Arion and Maria, How very nice to receive your Christmas note. We, at NRH, think of you often and hope that all not only continues to go well, but that small incremental steps forward are taking place in Maria's recovery. Our NRH continues to grow, having this past year provided services to over 2000 inpatients and 300,000 outpatient visits. With 40 ambulatory out-patient sites, and a growing hospital......and with a staff of over 1000 people, complexities, needless to say, arrange and rearrange our days. However, we all have but one thing in common and that is to serve, as best we can, those who enter our doors for care. While I very much enjoyed seeing you, and frequently Maria, in the dining room (and I miss this), my hope is that you both have a wonderful and loving Christmas. I also wish you the very best as we enter 2007, and hope for a healthy, successful New Year. God Bless. Ed P.S. --A holiday message from Arion and Maria Pattakos. I have sent this to those whom Arion has named...and copied service leaders to pass on to staff who may remember Maria. A wonderful holiday perk for us who remember that devastating injury! Remember to the front page story of this wonderful couple on Valentine's Day!!! Arion...You were THE general in this battle over disability...you took no prisoners, you kept your eye on the prize, you prayed to God and you pushed the team and Maria to do it one more time! This wonderful outcome is what makes rehab so rewarding ...thank you so much for remembering us and sharing your personal and life affirming letter. Kalemera???My best to you and your family...Have a happy and healthy big fat Greek Christmas!! Peace! Paul R. Rao Ph.D. CCC CPHQ CHE Vice President, Clinical Services, Quality Improvement, and Corporate Compliance Privacy Liaison National Rehabilitation Hospital =================================================== 479 Dear Col. Pattakos. How wonderful to hear from you and to get a little update on Maria’s progress. You are both amazing! I will gladly pass on your note to the ICU and others who keep you in their thoughts. Best wishes for a happy and healthy New Year. Cindy (Cynthia Merz, Director l Communications & Publications, Suburban Hospital We also received emails from Mike Ruane the Washington Post writer who wrote the beautiful piece about us for the Post that appeared on Valentine’s Day, 2005. Charley Bragale from NBC news who followed your story also replied with kind Christmas sentiments. Christmas—Nick and Nina went to Roanoke so we opted to go to Lewes, Delaware, to spend Christmas with the Vidos family. We were a bunch and thus Connie and Michael used the RV as their slumber locations, Vickie the so-called “Greek Room” while we had the “Civil-War Room.” Dino and Myrna went all out decorating which was really something given they were to leave for Florida on the 27th and thus had to take everything down by then. The number of presents under the tree was awesome. They have a tradition of buying a bunch of small items (to include silly stuff) to make present opening fun and at least one really good present for each other. Present opening was fun and we really enjoyed the four days we spent with them. Myrna prepared most meals for home consumption but we did go out a couple of times. We took Dino and Myrna to the local Mexican restaurant that we like (later, as a Christmas present D&M gave us a gift certificate that we’ll use when they get back in March) and the day after the rest of the gang arrived we took the group to “Five Guys” reportedly the best hamburger joint around. They have good hamburgers as we all were willing to testify after the first bite. Their French fires were delicious too. Nothing like eating healthy meals over the holidays. 480 New Years Eve—We went to Nick and Nina’s after church for brunch and to celebrate a late Christmas. We had a nice breakfast and then proceeded to open very nice gifts they had for us and we for them. We, of course, displayed senior laziness and gave them gift cards while they, with youth and exuberance, were inventive and generous. We did not do anything special that evening and followed our usual routine after asking the Lord to keep blessing us with good health and our wish to be together, in health, for many, many years to come. The journey goes on--So, how do I close this letter to you after two plus years of writing? Of course, by now it should go without saying that the incident deeply and emotionally affected all of our lives. When they say love hurts, I can testify to that—my love for you brought me and continues to bring me joy but when you were struck followed by the iffy aftermath of your condition, I was in profound pain. Things have improved miraculously and I thank the Lord. As both Fathers John and Steve said, you are their miracle and you certainly are mine. You still need some healing and I pray each day that the Lord will continue His healing and mend you cognitively, mentally, spiritually, and physically. So far, He has and you are progressing well on your journey to wellness. I found something on the internet that makes sense as a concluding observation: Find something to be happy about every day and every hour, even if only for a few minutes and if possible, moment to moment. Unknown — Don’t stop reading yet – an epilogue follows. Epilogue October 12, 2009 ( Monday): It is five years to the day from the incident. I have reread this entire journal for the first time and did it need fixing from typos and incoherent thoughts. As I write and 481 fix, you are in Maria’s room reading and listening to satellite radio. We did not go out today but you did take out our recycling and refuse cans to the curb for pick. So, where are we after five years? We call Greece on a daily basis which continues to be very therapeutic for you. We travelled to Greece in 2005, 2006 and in 2007. In 2008, our Gregory and Litsa came here and in 2009 we went there. With each visit, I saw great improvement in you. However, you don’t remember our 2005 trip and confuse some of the other trips too. This year (2009), we went to Greece for six weeks beginning in early May. You had an anxiety attack prior to our departure—you did not want to go to Greece. Needless to say I was surprised and thought some intervention was required. We went to see our Dr. Lee who explained this happened to him too before a trip and thus he had just the right pill to get you over the problem— it did help. We flew business class with Olympic Airlines from JFK. The trip was uneventful except for the fact that you wanted to come home right away. You were not happy in Greece notwithstanding the hospitality of Gregory, Litsa, Marianna and Apostalos. His parents even took us on a day trip. We squeezed out the six weeks but you weren’t pleased. Greece has changed much over the years and I sensed your disappointment with those changes. Oh, yes, additionally your relatives and friends behaved as they have in the past. That is, inconsiderate. However, simply put by you, you are an American now and you want to be in your nest, our home. Given the five years from the time of the incident are you the Maria of old? Not completely. You still need some cuing to do some things. You are not the proactive person you were for a variety of activities. The doctors advised that there probably would be personality changes. You are not the outgoing person you were in large groups and prefer to be quite and “buy into what is going on and what people are talking about,” you say. In smaller intimate settings you do interact well with those present. You still have a keen sense of humor and make people laugh. Before the incident you were the 482 epitome of the homemaker, the so called “white tornado” of neatness and the commercial could have used you as a model. Not so much now. Your gardening skills and interests have declined. I never had any such skills so our garden areas no longer look great. You have not undertaken doing your hair as you did BA and, in fact, this month we went to Marta for hair-styling and coloring. You are not motivated to cook as you have in the past. You are recognized as a marvelous cook and when pushed a little still do a good job with rice pudding and a variety of Greek dishes. You do make us breakfast every morning and clean up too. The damage to your eyesight from the incident seems to be the principal culprit in any negative or lack of performance. One solution to the motivation problem and other associated issues is my more active participation in the activities you once considered your exclusive province. We work together now. You dust, I vacuum. I loosen the garden soil, you pluck the weeds. I trim, you pick up. You recite the Lord’s Prayer flawlessly and follow with individual prayers for our family. Dressing is no problem—you select and coordinate well. Sometimes you can’t find things you want and I am called to rescue you—again, a vision problem. You put on make-up but still come to me for final approval over your concern with putting on too much blush—you emphasize that you don’t want to look like a clown. You do initiate some things such as watering our house plants, disarming and arming our alarm system, fetching the daily newspaper, making our bed and breakfast, doing the dishes, taking the trash and recycling out for pickup and later retrieving the cans. You read large print books and periodicals. You enjoy shopping and eating out. Meeting others in small groups is a positive experience for you. You exercise on your own and program the treadmill for 45 minutes at three miles per hour at a 2% incline followed by a half hour on the recumbent bike. Since your balance is perfect, I don’t find it necessary to supervise. My sweet you still display some periods of agitation. This is not necessarily a bad thing as it asserts your individuality and 483 personality. One area of particular concern is when you reflect on the death of your parents, especially your mother. You feel you were “bad” to leave Greece (in 1972) for the US and thus you believe you disappointed your Mom. I try to convince you that while your Mother clearly missed you the help you were able to offer the family from here, let them enjoy their senior years better then they would have if you had not come here. Of course, in our many annual trips to Greece while your parents were still with us I never detected any resentment related to your departure. They seemed very pleased that you were with me. Nonetheless, you still express how much you miss them and do so more frequently than you did prior to the accident. Missing them, of course, is a very normal feeling. Note to you and anybody else that reads this: The most important aspects of your personality have not changed and you remain warm and loving. You even kiss my bald head a lot!! One trip that you really enjoyed in September of this year was to Santa Fe where we visited with our cousins Elaine and Alex. You wanted to go. They just finished and moved into a marvelous home and welcomed us with open arms. They arranged their work schedules so they could be with us. We walked around town and they took us to a variety of places to include attending a performance of Mariachi bands, visiting a museum, and a visit to the small town of Madrid (with the accent on the Ma) where the movie Wild Hogs was filmed. We even had our pictures taken in front of Maggie’s a key location in the movie. Coincidently, upon our return home the film played on one of our cable channels and we enjoyed it given we could relate to the Madrid site. Alex had an urge for rice pudding like his Yiayia used to make. You complied in a training session with Elaine. Alex pronounced it just like his Yiayia’s. Santa Fe is an interesting and fascinating amalgam of cultures. Our cousins are super-hospitable and we both enjoyed our stay with them. They each gave me a copy of their books. By way of concluding this journal, you should know that the traumatic brain injury (TBI) you suffered occurs more frequently 484 than many realize. In Maryland, for example, I read it is estimated that 12 percent of all hospitalizations is due to some form of TBI. Of course, there is the well known and publicized case of television reporter Bob Woodruff. His TBI was sustained in Iraq (2008) while on a reporting assignment. His subsequent road to recovery took him through NRH, by the way. Many of our military returning from combat suffer brain injuries when too close to explosions from improvised explosive devices (IEDs)—something we as a nation must address. Recovery from such traumatic events is long and it is arduous for the victim and for the family. As stated elsewhere but worth repeating, our journey to wellness thus far has had its very, very low points but we overcame them as they occurred. The journey has had many, many high points too and for these we rejoice. You are my sweetheart and I celebrate that we can live our simple life together and hold hands when we watch TV and as we stroll here and there continuing our journey. Many Xs and Os to you my Maria, I LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!! 485