A year ago tonight, I called mom to check on her. It was Thanksgiving and I had taken her home just 4 hrs. earlier. She picked up the phone and said words I didn't understand. She did get out, "something's wrong". I ran to our van (which wouldn't start), so I started running to her house, which was just a ways up the street. The door was locked, luckily I had the key. When I went in, she started calling me mom. I called the ambulance. Mom kept looking in the mirror and sticking her tongue out. They bundled her into the ambulance and then took her to the football field at the school to wait for the helicopter to fly her 100 miles away. My daughter and husband came to wait with me. By that time it was almost midnight. My daughter and I went into the helicopter for a minute and mom said, "Is she ok?" meaning am I ok. After the helicopter left my daughter and I threw some things together and headed for the city. It took us over 2 hours to get there. We slept in the er in chairs that night. Mom was in that hospital for a week, my daughter and I stayed in a bed and breakfast nearby. It was like a dream for me.

Mom was transferred to a rehab facility right next to the hospital, my daughter went home and my husband brought my van to me. I stayed in my father-in-law's house for the next 3 weeks. He was wintering in Fla. and the house was all mine. I am not too used to city driving, so it was a little scary at first. I spent morning at the rehab going to therapies with mom, left while she took a nap in the afternoon, and back for supper and bedtime.

Mom did well there and we came home 2 days before Christmas, that's when things went downhill. She was so depressed, she didn't want anyone coming in and didn't want to go anywhere. The rest of the story most of you know as that is when I joined strokenet.

The year has been hard and yet there are things to be thankful for. My mom and I have not always been close. She was very stingy with affection toward me and never would tell me she loved me. We had grown closer in the past 4 yrs with all of the health problems she had and I was the one who took care of her. Now, after the stroke, she is affectionate with me, what I have always craved. She tells me she loves me all the time, calls me her "precious baby". I have had feelings of resentment and hurt toward her in the past. Those are no longer there, I only love her - and very much. I can only attribute this to the realization that God has given me a change of heart . We no longer have many conversations that make alot of sense, but we do love each other and for that I am very thankful. She has come so far. So even though that night a yr. ago, our lives changed for ever, in some ways it changed for the better.I am thankful that not only has God brought us through this year, but that He has brought us through with a spirit of joy and contentment.