Strength for Today & Hope for Tomorrow

Isabel's West Nile Survivor friends have a common inspirational motto that has sustained them during these last four years:

"Strength for today and hope for tomorrow".

Today, "four years of Sundays" after the last time Isabel went to Knox United Church in Abernethy, she was delighted to find herself back in the sanctuary amid the beautiful stained glass and familiar faces once again.

Much to the surprise of Isabel and her driver, we discovered that the first hymn, Great is Thy Faithfulness, contains the words "Strength for today, and bright hope for tomorrow" which told us the origin of the familiar West Nile Survivors' motto.

Isabel sat in her portable wheelchair. "Your comfortable pew!" quipped an old friend mimicking a book about church-goers written decades ago.

Isabel responded: "It's great to be here. I never imagined I would be here again except in a 6 foot box!!!"

Gratitude again.

Great is thy faithfulness, God our Creator,

There is no shadow of turning with Thee;

Thou changest not, thy compassions, they fail not,

as thou hast been thou forever wilt be.

Great is thy faithfulness, Great is thy faithfulness!

Morning by morning new mercies I see,

All I have needed thy hand hath provided

Great is thy faithfulness, ever to me.

Summer and winter and springtime and harvest,

Sun, moon, and stars in their courses above

Join with all nature in manifold witness

To thy great faithfulness, mercy, and love.

Pardon for sin and and a peace that endureth

Thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide,

Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow

Wondrous the portion thy blessings provide.

- T Chisholm (lyrics) and W Runyan (music) in Voices United #288

Four Years Later

August 7, 2007 (Four years ago)

The entry in Isabel's diary tells of her waking with an upset stomach and not feeling "quite right". She and her friend, Clayton, rehung the door on Foster School following an act of vandalism.

That was Isabel's last entry. Each day thereafter she became increasingly ill until five days later entered the Intensive Care Unit of the Regina General Hospital.

Four years! Where have they gone? Months and months of dogged determination to fight back to health; weeks then months of being unable to move any part of her body on her own other than her eyes; months and years of letters, phone calls and visits from friends; training well over 100 nurses how to care for her daily needs; gratitude to family and friends and therapists and other medical staff who never gave up.

And now back on "my own home territory" (Isabel's words) to enjoy a summer on the prairie....wild flowers and garden bouquets in her room....walks outside with a nurse before 8 AM each day......drives in the country.....pop-in visits from family and friends.

Deep gratitude, again and again.

The Aber Fair

The 100th anniversary of the Abernethy Fair in 2007 was the last big social event that Isabel attended before her West Nile trip to hospital in Regina four years ago.

This year, the 104th year of The Fair never being rained out, saw Isabel back at the big community event.

Mum said she would come to The Fair for two hours. With her hand stamped and entry fee paid, Mum headed in through the gates. Nearly seven hours later, back at the BICC, she rolled passed the nurses' desk to her room and said: "I hope I am not going to be kicked out for being so late!"

Isabel sat in the car watching the horse show and talking to people non-stop all afternoon.

One small boy remarked: "Isabel is just like a star. There are really long line-ups to see her!"

A Wascana employee who rides at the Aber Fair each year rode up beside Isabel so she and her horse could have a chat.

Gratitude for 104 years of volunteers who make this special day happen, and for old friends and community folks who lined up to express their special version of WELCOME HOME, ISABEL!

Cruising by the Coop

Isabel returned to Abernethy last week for a leisurely drive around town.

Her old stompin' grounds are only 9 miles from her new home at Balcarres so there is much you can see on an evening's drive.

Visiting "the gals" at the Coop......wishing Bill M a "Happy 80th Birthday".....stopping by the homes of 6 sets of old friends...and then driving the rural roads to see all the water.

It's good to be home!

A Move Down the Hall

On Tuesday, June 28, we received the call that Isabel was packing her bags in her "hotel room" (a lovely large acute care room) as her new room in longterm care was available. So Mum has her room at the BICC ~ a small single room with a window that opens. Over three years ago, when Mum learned that she would be moving from hospital to Wascana, she painstakingly asked through nods as we pointed to letters on her letter-board whether she would have a single room and if the window opened. YES!

We are thankful that this is the case at the BICC as well. Isabel is settling in. It's a new environment, a new "culture", and she and we are thankful for the welcome and hospitality that has come from old friends that live at the BICC and in the Balcarres and Abernethy communities.

Mum and Rufus lll are whizzing around the wide halls, and she is thankful to have her old faithful walker from Wascana accompany her on daily walks outside and inside.

Gratitude for long summer days and friends and family so close.

Life at the BICC

A number of you have inquired about Isabel's move.

Isabel is currently occupying a room in the acute care part of the BICC while she waits for a longterm care bed to come open.

Isabel has been thrilled to visit friends who live at the BICC; and to host friends and family from Abernethy and Balcarres in her room. She has a large window that opens, and has a longview looking east over grass and the parking lot and all along the south part of town. She can watch the coming and goings of staff and visitors.

Mum has enjoyed daily walks inside or outside with her specialized walker, and looks forward to resuming her bicycling program soon.

She and her powerchair Rufus lll are free to travel throughout the building (all on one floor) and into the beautiful courtyard lined with well-tended perennial flowerbeds. The hallways are wide and Rufus lll has been behaving himself. To our knowledge, Isabel has the only powerchair in the building. (Thank you Wascana!)

The BICC is a facility that is 11 years old and it is just 9 miles from daughters Nancy & Janet's homes. It has 53 "beds"; 9 are acute care; the rest are longterm.

Although Mum's primary community is Abernethy (also 9 miles away), she is familiar with Balcarres and the BICC having visited here many times.

This move really is "coming home".

Two Quotes Worth Mentioning

As Isabel settles into the BICC at Balcarres:

from a therapist on Friday: "Wascana is just not going to be the same without Isabel."

from Isabel on Saturday: "Could I use your cellphone to phone my friends in Abernethy to tell them I am HOME?"