"Something my mom started, Darlene finished"

02-21-209

1500 hours

In Feburary 2005 my mom passed away and through my sister Lorrrie, Darlene was passed the project mom had been working on at the time of her passing. Lorrie felt that she did not have the skills to take on such a monumental task.Well Darlene set out to complete mom's project with a fury that is only Darlene. She basically worked on this tapestry non stop. Virtually every waking spare moment she had Dar was working on this elegant creation. The extrordinary part of this story is that Dar only had a picture and the material to complete the project. No guide, no stitch guide to follow, only a picture and a template of what mom had already completed. I am not even really sure how long Dar worked on this but I am sure Lorrie will let me know. I do know this, Dar worked countless hours, days, weeks and if memory serves months to complete mom's creation. When all was said and done it turned out to be a masterpiece.

This is just a small example of how creative Dar is. Even when we were out in the boat, I would be in front fishing and she was in the back on the pedestal chair painting, knitting or doing some kind of stitchery. Totally having fun, enjoying what she was doing and watching me catch bass. Of course Mr. Awesome was always along for the ride.

Quite the creator of beauty and always thinking of others.

Well some good news tonight, Darlene has gained 13 lbs since she arrived at Kentfield. I was totally happy to hear that piece of good news.

Today during her therapy she was sitting on the edge of the bed totally supporting her head and using her neck muscles very well. When I came in the room this morning she was wide awake and when I said good morning to her she put a big smile on. She was glad to see me and it showed. The nurses got her dressed and we went outside with her new quilt for a little while. I think she enjoyed the fresh air. We went back into the lobby for awhile before her second round of therapy.

As Dar regains her muscle tone one of the things that I have noticed is that she has some definate pain in certain plases. Wrists, hands, fingers and legs are the most visible. Dr. Doherty has a plan of attack that she will be sharing with me in the next day or two. In the meantime the nurses give her a little bit of pain medication so that Dar can relax and sleep.

Dr. Waters told me that she noticed something the other day that Dar had not done before. When Dr. Waters tickled the bottoms of Dar's feet, she would pull them away very aggresivley. Doc was excited about that.

I am really glad that Dar is back in Unit 1. All of the nursing staff in that unit are very good to her and look after her very well. Last night Diana said it was about time to rotate out the Kenny G. music and put in some country. I took another Ipod with country music on it for the daytime and then they can switch when it is time to go to sleep.

I have not seen Dar since last Friday and I was very impressed with the progresss she has made. I just wish she did not hurt so much when it comes to her muscles. I know that the doctors will be addressing this soon.

Well I am going to turn in and see about getting some sleep, the rains are supposed to hit pretty hard here tonight and I do not cherish the drive home in the pouring rain at night so I will probably leave about 3:00 pm tomorrow. At least get back to familiar roads while it is still daylight. Hopefully I will be able to write from the hospital tomorrow. Today it just did not work out. Sleep well my friends, please pray that Dar's muscular discomfort will subside and the pain will leave, giving her the ability to not only rest but to regain strength naturally.

God bless you all, good night everyone,

Dar/Danny/Maverick