Today is the one year anniversary of Kenny's stroke and I thought it would be appropriate to update everyone on his progress. I haven't done a Caring Bridge post for a long time, mainly because his progress is so slow the posts were becoming very repetitious. Kenny is home and Maureen has given up her job to become his fulltime caregiver. She had been taking him to Baltimore three times a week for an hour each of Physical Therapy, Occupational Therapy, and Speech Therapy, but that has been cut back to just Speech. He is walking with a leg brace and a cane and does very well. He can go up and down stairs as long as he has a railing on the left side. He even managed to walk in the sand to sit with the family at the beach this summer, with no trouble, He can repeat any word you say to him, but has difficulty coming up with a word on his own. He speaks distinctly with no slurring of speech. He understands everything you say, but cannot form a sentence or come up with a  response. It is extremely frustrating for him and he uses selective swear words quite often and very appropriately!!! He says "yes" and "no" and "thank you" with ease, but the rest is charades. He cannot read or write. He has no use of his right arm and hand.  Life has settled into a sort of routine and he seems fairly content. He thoroughly enjoys any outing, especially those to the golf course with his brothers and the Bowie Boys. Even an outing to Court to respond to a summons for Jury Duty (that's another story on the incompetence of the Court System!!!!) turned out to be special and fun for him and he's always ready to go out for meals. He experienced a serious set back this past week when he suffered a seizure. and spent three days in the hospital undergoing tests and attempts to lower his blood pressure. Future progress is unpredictable. The doctor's say "Think in years, not months. Where will he be at this time next year?"  He has certainly made progress this first year and we can only hope it continues. Thank you to everyone for your continuing support, and, especially, your prayers. I hear from so many of you that you continue to pray for Kenny and we cannot thank you enough for your thoughtfulness and caring concern.