“Dear Friends and Family,

Merry Christmas! I hope this letter finds you well and filled with the warmth of the holiday season. I wanted to take a moment to express my deepest gratitude for the overwhelming support and love that you've showered upon me during the past four months.

Firstly, I want to extend my heartfelt appreciation to my daughter-in-law Katelyn for diligently sharing updates about my journey. All of my children and their spouses have been absolutely incredible in their support. This accident has impacted all of them. Each one of them has brought their different talents to the situation and have worked as an incredible team to deal with the variety of challenges that one faces in a situation like this. I couldn’t be more grateful to each one of them.

The outpouring of support, both emotionally and financially, from friends and family has touched me profoundly. You have lightened the burden and allowed me to focus on my recovery with determination and optimism. 

It has only been recently that I have started reading through the posts here to the journal as well as the comments and I am still working through it. It has been so heartwarming, and I am so thoroughly touched by the sentiments. Reading the posts by Katelyn and a couple by Sudzy has really made me realize how far I’ve come and it is giving me more hope for the future. Every message, every card, every phone call, every text, every visit I’ve received and especially every prayer that has been prayed for me, have meant more than I could ever communicate. This is not just a journey of physical healing; this is a journey of the heart and the spirit, thus the love and kindness I have received only fuel my determination to recover as much as possible.

As I just mentioned that this is also a journey of the heart and spirit, I must say that from the very beginning, I believe God put a deep peace in my heart, that ultimately everything was going to be OK and I have continued to feel that sense of peace to this day. In fact, I believe the Bible calls it the peace that passes all understanding, and I certainly think this qualifies for that kind of peace. Actually a couple of evenings ago I was in my room and I had been doing some reading and I was listening to some Christmas music. A song came on called breath of Heaven and it’s a Christmas song by Amy Grant in the song she takes the perspective of Mary, and how she must’ve felt as she was carrying the Christ child. I highly recommend this song. Anyway, I was listening to it and then I was just singing along and just thinking about, how that must’ve felt for Mary when all of a sudden I just sensed a great presence in my room and then in my own heart, and all I can say is that it was the most palpable sense of peace and joy that I can ever recall feeling. My heart felt so incredibly full, and it remains full to this day. I am so thankful.

Although this season of life has its challenges, it has been filled with many blessings. Trevor and Abbey both received promotions at work, Patrick graduated from The Ohio State University, and Sudzy and Katelyn continue to raise the most adorable little girl, Annie. Our family continues to grow closer and stronger together. 

I do also want to give you a little more detail on how things are coming along with therapy. I attend physical and occupational therapy at Osu’s New Albany Hamilton Rd location, three days a week and then I also supplement that with physical therapy where I live two days a week and the last couple of weeks one day I walked 450 feet with a walker. I have now graduated to working out on a gait trainer which is essentially a treadmill, and I am held by a harness above it, so I can’t fall. It allows me to get in a lot of steps and teaches my brain what the muscle memory needs to be for me to walk normally without a walker. I was able to walk 20 minutes on my first try and believe me I felt like I would run a marathon afterwards. I am also now able to get myself sitting up on the edge of the bed where I can stand with the walker and then walk to the bathroom. All of these are things that I need to of course live independently. I’m also able to easily eat with a regular fork and spoon and come out of it generally without too many spills.

I must also give a shout out to the incredible care I’ve received from nurses, aides, doctors, physical, and occupational therapists. Their excellence has been a crucial part of my recovery. i’m not just repeating the company line when I say that Wexner Medical Center has some of the best of the best!

Again, thank you for your love and prayers and thoughtfulness. Wishing you a wonderful 2024.

 Much love, Nan”