HostAsha

George : I am so happy for you, I guess positive & hardworking person deserves to find great love in Leslie. you are sweet son in law. I a, glad you all are creating lovely memories togethe. Asha

I don't know somehow I feel I get same AHA moments by noticing behavior of people, I guess when you are pregnant you notice all pregnant woman around you, so maybe since I woke up from my own sleepwalking & started noticing "how my choices in life has created my destiny" AHA moment & will tell every one around me to notice it too. I realize I have been blessed with amazing parents. They were not perfect but did best of their ability in raising us kids, which has also instilled in some fundamental values in us, which has helped all of us do better in our life. I have always worked very hard all my life & luckily that habit is still there, though I am still learning to figure everything out from scratch, instead of asking for help right away. so basically get lot frustrated before asking for help, hard thing for me to do. anyway all these realization came when I talked with same age cousin whose thinking is quite different than mine. why work when you are sister of four brothers, so they will help you out in your hour of need or your husband, I guess I have different outlook there, cause I believe in if I want something in life I need to work for it and can't depend on husband or my family for it. Asha

Sarah : welcome back, I am glad you have settled in new place & Gary is also slowly settling in. change is hard. I m glad Gary has you & his familiar caregivers to settle in. It has to be so har for both of you to go thrugh so much together recently. Asha

Kelli you are one gutsy woman I knew it you can do it and going to have wonderful time. I have found usually people are very nice and everybody loves positive young brave woman. You attract that positivity I can't believe you had so much fun without your glasses think how much more fun you will have with your glasses next time Ken looks so much like his dad Asha

today we went to check out our son's off-campus housing. after checking out the place when we were leaving on top of the stairs I lost my balance luckily our son was right behind me & held on me tight till I could regain my balance. it was so close had I fallen would have break my neck falling from top of stairs. man it was close. It was miracle, I felt gods hands holding me tight on stairs, I did not get scared or anything & did right things to balance myself when he was holding me tight. so feel so fortunate. Asha

Ruth : william is adult & if he refuse to do his pool therapy then its his choice. you can do what you can do in your power. Asha

nancy : sending you hugs & prayers. I have followed you r post stroke journey through your blogs, I know you have tried your best. after all we all are responsible for our own life, our own happiness, and he has chosen that path for himself, so I pray for peaceful loving end for him , and hope you have lot of other good memories of Dan to fall back on. hugs, Asha

just heard oprah discussing new book trust on her super-soul Sunday series. & it does make me think about trust & it is so hard in our difficult times to trust God or someone that something better is going to come out of this ordeal. Sometimes when you venture into complete unknown territory like bird learning to fly for the first time & jump off its nest, trusting in his wings that it will be able to keep him off ground & able to soar & not jump off to its death. does make me think about how I struggled when I decided to go on early retirement & venture into complete new territory, I was so afraid though I remember very distinctly thinking God please show me some sign that this is right decision I am doing for me. & he did by drawing my attention to logo of my college was similar to company I decided to leave behind, that made me realize that I need to just relax & trust power bigger than me & enjoy my journey. I am so thankful for all this valuable lessons in my life where sometimes when I look back it feels like there are no coincidences in life. how one would explain all choices , decisions & opportunities I got in my life. those choices, actions made me person I have become today. Asha

hi strokewife: I don't know how my caregiver handled my stroke is beyond me though no two strokes are similar & so are stroke caregivers experiences. stroke does put every one outside of their comfort zone to handle their new reality & make you feel insecure & overburdened by things to deal with. my husband aka caregiver used to tell me following things which made me feel so much better. keep your head above water when you are feeling like you going to drown tide will change. I know one thing for sure nothing lasts forever good times or bad times things do change. don't worry about things you can not control. Asha

I sometime forget that I am stroke survivor & try to do things beyound my limit., but when something needs to be done I push myself & do more things I ever did prestroke or post stroke for that matter, so had to pay price for it, luckily no damage just day spent in ER & came home to get more checking done on monday. Anyway last week I met my grade school friend after some 20+ years & day before & after had family reunions to attend, so had lot of fun in all events, stayed long hours up to make food for party & guests coming at our home. So anyway after all that ended my body also gave out & was feeling uncomfortable on my non affected side of body, so went to ER got it checked out nothing showed up at ER now have to do more testing on Monday hopefully it will be nothing, learn to treat my half body kindly just because I can do it, does not mean I should. anyway there were extreme emotions on all days. this is first time all of my siblings were together. So it was very nice & get together of all my extended family members are always memorable & on top of that meeting my school friend made it sweeter, so visit to ER was good equalizer of the all positive feelings lol Asha

wow Pam : are you flying to CA to go to yosemite & lake tahao both beautiful places I am sure you are going to have lot of fun. take lot of pictures & update us. did you by accident deleted your old blogs? Asha

Kelli : family reunions are so much fun. I am glad you had great time meeting all of your cousins Asha

you all know how I resisted our move to our new home, slowly it is beginning to feel like home & has my print everywhere. yes decorated with material things I loved. hubby is usually dead against of buying things we don't need so him relaxing about my purchases feels good. This home was unoccupied for last few years so when we moved in we interrupted ground hog who was living in our flower bed. There was war going on between my husband & ground hog & I bet both were admitting to their spouses that this time I got tough opponent lol. groundhog would dig in hubby would fill in hole & in the end my flower bed became our front patio lol hubby had tried cage & all other tricks but could not never catch the critter finally when ground hog started digging at other place hubby called animal control professional guy who charged us big bucks & was able to catch critter in a day using same tricks hubby had tried. that groundhog looked so cute trapped in that cage that next day in hot weather kido & hubby were making sure to give him food & water lol. Anyway slowly all smalll nuisances we were dealing with after our move is beginning to sort out & this does feel like home where we belong together. So I am happy Asha

Sue : I feel some babits die hard, we can afford to keep heating very high, but I find it waste of energy & of money so will rather keep cold in night & wear sweaters & stay beneath comforters. I guess I find that more exciting when we are saving money & not wasting where it is not needed. mind you we have plans to donate most of the our money when we die, that has been our goal from very beginning. So I feel its personal choice. Asha

Tracy : thats the best thing you can do for yourself Asha

Pam : glad you had great time outside with your son. this is our new life post stroke slowly needs to add all what we like it in. Asha

Kelli : well said loved your OM mantra I better start working on that mantra Asha

I am usually very happy go person, but lately I m realizing I am being more kind to myself & realizing some of the positive qualities in me which I never noticed before since I was always so focused on other negative things like not pretty enough or fashionable enough or smart enough, you get the zist. but lately I m realizing one of few very good qualities about me, which in turn makes me succeed in things I set out to do. first thing important thing I noticed if something matters to me dearly I will be very persistent in efforts to achieve those goals. so I don't give up. yes things do frustrates me sometimes but I will stick it out & won't quit till I find solution for it. yes I will irritate few people in pursuit of finishing what I m set out to do. & ofcourse my sense of humor, I can take good joke on me. now that I noticed that positive aspects about me, I am beginning to like me & realizing that all family members & friends who chose to stay by me even in my worst period did it, cause I am worth it & we all are reaping joy of having each other in our life. Asha

Kelli : Its going to get better, give your brain & eyes to get used to each other, brain is amazing organ & is full of plasticity, it will learn that new eyesight is right way of seeing & will adjust eventually. I know it has to be so hard in the mean time. read Mike Mays crashing through book on his recovery after blind man got his vision back & how is brain interpreted all that new information differently. I will pray for your speedy recovery & strength to get through this tough period, & when you feel all better, you will have to come with me and drive to this beautiful indian temple for granting my wishes of you seeing better. hugs, Asha

Sarah : moving is tough job, & unpacking & settling in new home takes time. when we last moved in our new home whole family helped. my sister, sister in law helped set up our kitchen & bedroom closets first, as I started using it regularly it started to take shape of my liking & after few trips to IKEA home depot it feels like we are finally settled in our new home. I wish you lot of peace & happiness in your new home. Enjoy. Asha

wow heather amazing I never thought I can run again but your post is giving me hope to try out Asha

kelli : patience is a virtue. Its going to get better only can't go back to worse, it can only get better from here, so give yourself time & patience rome wasn't built in a day. you will be in my prayers for quick recovery & hoping to see you soon. Asha

Tracy : I will echo same sentiments others told you. I know when we are in midst of hardship it feels like your life ended, & you will never find your joy in living again but trust me when I say this, sometimes we go through severe hardship so that something very beautiful can happen in our life. so believe in best is yet to come. & very important to do 1. have a routine in life (waking up at set time,doing chores, sleeping on set time 2. very important do 30 mins of exercise every day. 3. try to learn something new, there are lot of online courses free on sites like coursera, EDX & so on 4. staying active in support group is also very therapeutic. 5. always count your blessings in the morning or evening. I am sure few years down the road you are going to look back & see God's master stroke in your today's hardship Asha

Pam : I understand what Jay is trying to say & your point too. though from my own personal experience when I write positive things I find in my day, I feel better too. yes but its your personal blog, you can write whatever you want to write in it. whatever makes you feel good. for me reading & writing blogs both are therapeutic for me, reading others struggles I find my own inner strength to fight on. & writing about my positives makes me feel good about my life, but that's my coping mechanism every one has their own style & I understand that. Asha

Fred : yes I see your comment & remember you very well, hope you are praying for our son too Asha