It is two years this week since the West Nile Express roared through our lives ~ a tumultuous week of sudden illness for Isabel with outcomes that have shocked and amazed us all.
Who could have guessed that one mosquito bite could do so much neurological damage?
Who could have guessed even six months ago that Isabel would be walking and talking again? Mum would be quick to say "walking with a frame and two therapists; and talking with difficulty", but walking and talking she is.
We are thankful for so much amid the losses that we, and especially Mum, continue to keenly feel.
In the midst of these second anniversary reflections, there has been time for celebration and holiday spirit.
Two weeks ago, Isabel's Cousin Drew arrived from Los Angeles to explore some of his favourite haunts and to receive some classic Saskatchewan hospitality from his many households of cousins.
Isabel hosted Drew for four of those days in Regina. The comfortable hostel at Wascana Rehab Centre; a large kitchen for home-made meals, 40 acres of Wascana Park, and SOME hours of sunshine added to Isabel's Saskatchewan hospitality. Isabel and Drew discussed their previous holiday time together in Vancouver in the 40s; Hawaii in the 50s; Saskatchewan in the 60s, 70s and 80s; Bristol, Quebec (their Russell grandparents' home) in the 90s; and Saskatchewan and Mendocino, California during this decade. They pored over old photo albums, and memories that Isabel wrote on her laptop in the last two weeks.
A highlight of the visit was a two hour private van tour through the University of Regina, Wascana Park, College Avenue (and the old normal school building that Drew's Dad attended in the 1920s), and finally, half an hour in the floral gardens of the Legislative Buildings.
We are so thankful that Mum's health is such that this outing including moving in and out of the van with "Rufus" (her wheelchair) was undertaken with relative ease on her part.
We are so appreciative of Cousin Drew's efforts to come to visit us all. Two years ago his medical research provided invaluable knowledge for Mum's medical team and for ourselves. Two years later, his visit provided Isabel with a much enjoyed "holiday" from the regular day-in-day-out activities of life at Wascana.
On this sunshiny day in Saskatchewan ~ Happy Summer, everyone!
Sunday, August 9, 2009
Friday, July 24, 2009
Come to the Fair!
It's Aber Fair today ~ 102 years of never being rained out ~ and once again this small intergenerational community pulls together to create a family day of fun and friendship.
Over 80 light and heavy horses, pet show, children's races and face paints, horseshoes, tractor pull, a pie booth, an exhibit building filled with cooking and baking and preserves and handiwork and sewing; the curling rink filled with tables of vegetables and flowers and seeds and stalks; displays and children's entertainment throughout the fairgrounds; school displays and art & writing work; Old Tyme music and a pork and salad supper; and many a seat to sit or post to lean upon to visit an old friend or a neighbour you haven't seen for weeks or years. Fireworks at dusk.
During the long winter nights, Isabel dreamt up her contribution to this year's Fair ~ sponsoring a class for those aged 17 years and under called "A Good School Lunch".
The new class was a hit and ten aspiring lunch-makers packed their favourite foods in their lunch kits to compete for the honours. Sandwiches and muffins and veggies and fruit and yogourt in every possible combination and container.
Ah! Such satisfaction for Isabel as she hatched her idea at Wascana 70 miles from the Fairgrounds!
Old teachers never give up!
Did you miss this year's Fair? Mark July 24, 2010 on your calendar!
Over 80 light and heavy horses, pet show, children's races and face paints, horseshoes, tractor pull, a pie booth, an exhibit building filled with cooking and baking and preserves and handiwork and sewing; the curling rink filled with tables of vegetables and flowers and seeds and stalks; displays and children's entertainment throughout the fairgrounds; school displays and art & writing work; Old Tyme music and a pork and salad supper; and many a seat to sit or post to lean upon to visit an old friend or a neighbour you haven't seen for weeks or years. Fireworks at dusk.
During the long winter nights, Isabel dreamt up her contribution to this year's Fair ~ sponsoring a class for those aged 17 years and under called "A Good School Lunch".
The new class was a hit and ten aspiring lunch-makers packed their favourite foods in their lunch kits to compete for the honours. Sandwiches and muffins and veggies and fruit and yogourt in every possible combination and container.
Ah! Such satisfaction for Isabel as she hatched her idea at Wascana 70 miles from the Fairgrounds!
Old teachers never give up!
Did you miss this year's Fair? Mark July 24, 2010 on your calendar!
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Introducing Isabel's New Laptop
Isabel has got herself a laptop. This latest acquisition is providing her with increased independence and the opportunity to learn yet again.
In early June, her Speech and Language Pathologist (SLP) suggested that she try a "NEO Alpha-writer" to keep To Do lists for her daughters, and to write letters to friends and family. Isabel has continually rejected the idea of a specialized computer with voice function as not being what she needed for communication. As she said to a friend this spring, "my letterboard is my computer". However, the suggestion of a simple word processor without all the bells and whistles is what captured Isabel's fancy.
Within 15 minutes of the SLP's suggestion, Isabel had a borrowed one on her wheelchair table and was pecking out her first message. She now has a NEO Alpha-writer of her own and can write letters with her laptop on her new slanted laptop table any time she desires.
This simple machine saves every letter (A,B,C etc.) one types so there is little chance of losing your efforts. With wireless printing capability (soon to be hooked up) and a USB cord to download one's work to another computer, Isabel is set to go. The lists to the daughters get longer and longer, and the letters to friends are beginning to emerge.
Mum has never typed and with only one finger that "works" (left index) typing a letter is no small task. We are grateful for the research of friends and family who recommended that we convert her keyboard to Left-handed Dvorak. This placement of the letters means that someone with use of only the left hand (or one finger of the left hand as in Isabel's case) can type more easily than with a standard QWERTY Keyboard. The most-commonly used letters are placed together within easy reach of the left hand. (Yes, we used the equivalent of a kitchen knife to pry off the keys! Don't try this until you convert your keyboard internally first!).
Isabel's Occupational Therapist then added the "sticky key" function which allows Isabel to press the shift key and have it remain active until another key is pressed (for example, the question mark). As Isabel has use of only one finger, she needs "sticky keys" as she can't press Shift and Question Mark at the same time.
Does all this sound like Greek to you?
We'd suggest that you "google" the following to get further explanation:
* NEO Alpha-writer
* QWERTY
* Left hand Dvorak
* Sticky Keys
Oh, what we haven't learned these last 23 months!!!
In early June, her Speech and Language Pathologist (SLP) suggested that she try a "NEO Alpha-writer" to keep To Do lists for her daughters, and to write letters to friends and family. Isabel has continually rejected the idea of a specialized computer with voice function as not being what she needed for communication. As she said to a friend this spring, "my letterboard is my computer". However, the suggestion of a simple word processor without all the bells and whistles is what captured Isabel's fancy.
Within 15 minutes of the SLP's suggestion, Isabel had a borrowed one on her wheelchair table and was pecking out her first message. She now has a NEO Alpha-writer of her own and can write letters with her laptop on her new slanted laptop table any time she desires.
This simple machine saves every letter (A,B,C etc.) one types so there is little chance of losing your efforts. With wireless printing capability (soon to be hooked up) and a USB cord to download one's work to another computer, Isabel is set to go. The lists to the daughters get longer and longer, and the letters to friends are beginning to emerge.
Mum has never typed and with only one finger that "works" (left index) typing a letter is no small task. We are grateful for the research of friends and family who recommended that we convert her keyboard to Left-handed Dvorak. This placement of the letters means that someone with use of only the left hand (or one finger of the left hand as in Isabel's case) can type more easily than with a standard QWERTY Keyboard. The most-commonly used letters are placed together within easy reach of the left hand. (Yes, we used the equivalent of a kitchen knife to pry off the keys! Don't try this until you convert your keyboard internally first!).
Isabel's Occupational Therapist then added the "sticky key" function which allows Isabel to press the shift key and have it remain active until another key is pressed (for example, the question mark). As Isabel has use of only one finger, she needs "sticky keys" as she can't press Shift and Question Mark at the same time.
Does all this sound like Greek to you?
We'd suggest that you "google" the following to get further explanation:
* NEO Alpha-writer
* QWERTY
* Left hand Dvorak
* Sticky Keys
Oh, what we haven't learned these last 23 months!!!
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Happy Canada Day!
Happy Canada Day!
As the calendar turns to July 1, Isabel gratefully remembers communication with so many friends and family in June. Today, we name in particular, her many kith and kin in England and Scotland. June was always the month that Isabel travelled to the UK, and this year, emails and phone calls travelled from there to Room 2-649 in Wascana.
Thank you to all of you who phoned, emailed, and posted letters from The Orkneys, the Western Isles, Glasgow, and the south of England. These significant relationships continue!
The bagpiper at our clan gathering on the weekend, and the gift of a new CD of bagpipe music from a Saskatoon friend add to the delights of June. In fact, that bagpipe CD is so good that Isabel plays it all night. A night nurse asked her at 3:30 AM on Saturday if she could turn it down!
Isabel has a constant refrain as she thinks about travel across the sea.
"Do it while you can, and savour the memories!"
CARPE DIEM!
And now ~ on to July!
Happy Canada Day, Everyone!
As the calendar turns to July 1, Isabel gratefully remembers communication with so many friends and family in June. Today, we name in particular, her many kith and kin in England and Scotland. June was always the month that Isabel travelled to the UK, and this year, emails and phone calls travelled from there to Room 2-649 in Wascana.
Thank you to all of you who phoned, emailed, and posted letters from The Orkneys, the Western Isles, Glasgow, and the south of England. These significant relationships continue!
The bagpiper at our clan gathering on the weekend, and the gift of a new CD of bagpipe music from a Saskatoon friend add to the delights of June. In fact, that bagpipe CD is so good that Isabel plays it all night. A night nurse asked her at 3:30 AM on Saturday if she could turn it down!
Isabel has a constant refrain as she thinks about travel across the sea.
"Do it while you can, and savour the memories!"
CARPE DIEM!
And now ~ on to July!
Happy Canada Day, Everyone!
Monday, June 29, 2009
Party in the Park
Saturday, June 27
26 of the Robertson clan (plus two dogs) between the ages of 7 and 90 gather 5 hours around a picnic table in Wascana Park......
Conversation and laughter....talk of farming, jobs, career plans, and summer holidays....
Piles of cousins and nieces and nephews and grandnieces and grandnephews and Aunt Isabel who talks with everyone with her letterboard (and wrote the party speech) ....
And Uncle Ben who turned 90 this month......
Birthday cake and photos and "the speech".....
A talented 16 year old bagpiper....Road to the Isles....Skye Boat Song.......Scotland the Brave.....Bonnie Dundee.... and The Green Hills of Tyrol.
Opportunity to remember our Robertson clan heritage and family members gone before us....
Wind and sun and clouds.....walks to the lake and games of catch.....
And a promise to gather again next year.....
Gratitude for 26 of the clan who find ways to organize their lives to gather once again on a summer day in a beautiful park....
And Isabel tucked in on Saturday night with a new bagpipe CD playing the songs of the afternoon.
Happy Summer Everyone!
26 of the Robertson clan (plus two dogs) between the ages of 7 and 90 gather 5 hours around a picnic table in Wascana Park......
Conversation and laughter....talk of farming, jobs, career plans, and summer holidays....
Piles of cousins and nieces and nephews and grandnieces and grandnephews and Aunt Isabel who talks with everyone with her letterboard (and wrote the party speech) ....
And Uncle Ben who turned 90 this month......
Birthday cake and photos and "the speech".....
A talented 16 year old bagpiper....Road to the Isles....Skye Boat Song.......Scotland the Brave.....Bonnie Dundee.... and The Green Hills of Tyrol.
Opportunity to remember our Robertson clan heritage and family members gone before us....
Wind and sun and clouds.....walks to the lake and games of catch.....
And a promise to gather again next year.....
Gratitude for 26 of the clan who find ways to organize their lives to gather once again on a summer day in a beautiful park....
And Isabel tucked in on Saturday night with a new bagpipe CD playing the songs of the afternoon.
Happy Summer Everyone!
Friday, June 19, 2009
Bloom Where You are Planted
Isabel says that her "theme" for this summer is: "Bloom where you are planted".
She says this while enjoying the second floor terrace garden filled with red, pink and white geraniums, pansies, violas, wave petunias, salvia, lavatera, polka dots, poppies and portulaca (the flower, not the weed!). Isabel's terrace garden was all planted with only the occasional tiny visible patch of soil. And then along came the Wascana Rec Director with some more bedding plants that needed a home. STUFF THEM IN, Isabel said....
Colour abounds and there is no order.....
Just like life.
Bloom where you are planted.
Isabel has a new neighbour. Isabel is helping her new friend get adjusted to the "ropes at Wascana". Her new friend is a lifelong gardener who like Mum can no longer actively do the gardening, but can supervise and enjoy! She and Isabel have had a long discussion about "gardens we have known and loved".
A lovely lounge with floor to ceiling windows overlooks the terrace garden. Her new neighbour spends many hours in that lounge each day, and we are thankful to be able to share Isabel's flowers. Family members from both rooms now fertilize and water the garden as the long days of summer enjoyment stretch before us.
Happy Summer Solstice!
From the Gang in the Garden
She says this while enjoying the second floor terrace garden filled with red, pink and white geraniums, pansies, violas, wave petunias, salvia, lavatera, polka dots, poppies and portulaca (the flower, not the weed!). Isabel's terrace garden was all planted with only the occasional tiny visible patch of soil. And then along came the Wascana Rec Director with some more bedding plants that needed a home. STUFF THEM IN, Isabel said....
Colour abounds and there is no order.....
Just like life.
Bloom where you are planted.
Isabel has a new neighbour. Isabel is helping her new friend get adjusted to the "ropes at Wascana". Her new friend is a lifelong gardener who like Mum can no longer actively do the gardening, but can supervise and enjoy! She and Isabel have had a long discussion about "gardens we have known and loved".
A lovely lounge with floor to ceiling windows overlooks the terrace garden. Her new neighbour spends many hours in that lounge each day, and we are thankful to be able to share Isabel's flowers. Family members from both rooms now fertilize and water the garden as the long days of summer enjoyment stretch before us.
Happy Summer Solstice!
From the Gang in the Garden
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Summer Days at Last!
Isabel indulged her love of all things flowering this week with a family trip to the Regina Floral Conservatory. Two hours amid flowering hydrangeas, begonias, and many familiar and not familiar annuals with a backdrop of tropical ferns, palms, figs and cacti resulted in an informative and relaxing visit.
With summer temperatures finally with us, Isabel's own terrace garden is flourishing at last. Mum has a new neighbour at Wascana, who like her, loves gardening. Along with welcoming and helping orient her new friend to Wascana's ways, Isabel is glad to be able to share the terrace and overlooking lounge with someone who appreciates bright coloured blooms as much as she does.
Four friends from Abernethy came for a three-hour visit and Isabel's tour of Wascana on Saturday! It was a great day!
Happy summer days, everyone!
With summer temperatures finally with us, Isabel's own terrace garden is flourishing at last. Mum has a new neighbour at Wascana, who like her, loves gardening. Along with welcoming and helping orient her new friend to Wascana's ways, Isabel is glad to be able to share the terrace and overlooking lounge with someone who appreciates bright coloured blooms as much as she does.
Four friends from Abernethy came for a three-hour visit and Isabel's tour of Wascana on Saturday! It was a great day!
Happy summer days, everyone!
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