Day 30

I can hardly believe it has been 30 days since my mom's stroke. I am happy to say that not only has she made it to this important milestone, but that she is also showing amazing progress toward recovery. There have been ups and downs, but the past couple days she has made some great strides. She is recognizing us more, seems to understand lot of what we are saying, and communicating to us through smiles, facial expressions, and small movements. Our hope and patience has been well worth it. She will soon be moving to a rehab centre in Massachusetts and will start working toward what we hope will be full recovery. She still has a long road ahead to recover her physical and mental strength, but there is no sign of permanent damage now. She will be surrounded by family and friends as she goes through the rehab process. I am planning periodic trips to Massachusetts to see her during this time, and to be near my sister and dad.

The thoughts and prayers from family and friends over the past weeks have given us that extra strength we needed to make it through this difficult first month. I am so happy that we can now look forward with even more hope and strength. I have had to be away a lot from my family in Canada and I thank them for their endless support. While in Florida I been able to reconnect with my aunt and her family in Florida, a wonderful blessing that came out of this difficult time. As I left Florida yesterday, I told them that I will not wait for another family illness to return.

And through it all I have kept up my running. Running has helped to keep me mentally and physically strong, and I know mom will be happy to know that I was able to run almost every day while in Florida. And I am still hopeful that she and my dad will be able to come with me to New York as planned in November when I will be running the marathon. Either way, that marathon will be for her.