I’ve got a lot of writing to do to catch up on my trip to Stoughton. The drive down was uneventful with some rain between Owatonna and Rochester. I had the road to myself for the stretch between La crosse and Tomah with the exception of a few cars that were traveling about 90 mph and passed me. The countryside got greener and greener as I traveled south and I always love that stretch of road through the driftless area.
My first stop was to visit Tracey and she was happy to see me and I felt the same. I am happy that the stroke didn’t have too severe an effect on her speech and memory. She has a long way to go to recover some use of her left side - her arm is useless, although with concentration she can get it her arm and fingers to move. The stroke affects the connection between her brain and her limbs and that is where she needs the most therapy. She is getting speech, occupational, and physical therapy and also visits from a psychiatrist. The goal is to release her from the rehab hospital on May 1, but I’m still not sure if that will be to another longer term rehab facility or back home. She has a long way to go and will need help at home.
I spent time with her every day that I was there and a couple of times, Pat and I went together. On the weekend, I walked to Pat’s to have coffee with him, helped him with some household chores, cooked Mrs Gumtow’s casserole (one of Mike’s favorites) for dinner on Sunday, and squeezed in as many visits as I could.
Jonnie, Dawn, Mary, Erin, and I met up for breakfast at the Cozy Nuk (former Sugar and Spice) and made some plans for our June 8 family reunion. It was nice to see them all again.
On Monday, after visiting with Tracey, I stopped by Tom and Karen’s house for a visit. The weather has been so nice that we got to be outdoors on the porch and it’s always nice to see them. From there, I went to Middleton to meet up with Pat and Roger and their family for dinner at Tanner’s. They just got back from Arizona two weeks ago and hadn’t seen them yet. Because the weather was so nice, we got to sit outdoors on the patio for dinner and had a nice chat. I then followed them to their home in Packwaukee and spent the night.
Patty is working at a day care, so she was up and out of the house early. I walked with Roger and Louie before heading out. Rainy, windy weather was predicted for the afternoon and I wanted to avoid some of it. I had a light and steady rain from Black River Falls all of the way home and the wind was at my back, so the driving wasn’t too bad, but I was happy to get back home.
Joey did just fine with Ben and family and I’m happy that worked out so we can take care of each others dogs when needed.
