Every morning I get up and take Ruth Ann on a walk first thing.  I do not do this because I am particularly fond of mornings (although generally I am) I do it because Ruth Ann reminds me of my responsibilities at precisely 6:50 every morning with a lick to the arm.  As unwelcome as this might sound, at least it adds some regularity to my life which has, as of late, spun a little out of control.

Anyway, we live in a pretty wooded area, with lots of nice trails and streams and as were on our walk this morning and it seemed pretty peaceful.  No that's not the word for it.  Idyllic would perhaps describe the scene better.  There were birds flying about and singing, squirrels and rabbits hopping about, and much to Ruth Ann's delight, a pair of mallard ducks ambling over the lawn.  When she saw the ducks, a look of excitement came over her face and she turned to me as if she were saying "Please let me go get them. This is what I was born for!"  Much to her disappointment we continued on leaving the ducks as they were.

Just as much as Ruth Ann enjoys chasing small woodland creatures, Emily loves to read.  She is, what you might call, a voracious reader.  She reads 10 books to my 1.  For the past month or so her vision has been doubled and blurry, and so she has been unable to read or watch movies.At first I read to her, but lately we've taken to listening to audiobooks, and many thanks to those of you who have lent them to us or who have helped us to figure out how to download them from the public library.  This has been something of a comfort to her, but she has still be dependent on someone else to do the reading for her rather than being able to read on her own, which is what she would really like to be able to do.

There has been a breakthrough on this front, however, and I want to tell you about it.  

Some members of our church got together and bought Emily a Kindle.  It's a phenomenally amazing device that allows one to read books electronically.  It's light and easy to use, and (best of all) adapts to help Emily read.  The text can be enlarged to where she can read it, and if she is tired it can turn text to speech and read to her.  Her hands and arms have gotten stronger over the past week, and she can push the button to turn the pages.  This is a big deal to Emily not just because she loves books, but because it has returned to her some small measure of the independence that had been stripped of her by the GBS.  She is not quite strong enough to hold it up yet, but she has charged me with taking very good care of it and helping to prop it up for her so that she can use it.

I wanted to thank all of you who were a part of this gift and every gift that has helped Emily through this.  Small kindnesses have taught us to receive grace in an new way, and remind us what a wonderful group of people we have surrounding us through all of this.

Finally, as an update to her condition, she was off of the vent for 2 hours and 45 minutes yesterday and 4 hours straight today.  Her arms are stronger, and her therapists are working her hard.  She astounds me with her strength and courage as she slowly works her way back toward wholeness.