Mariah’s Reemergence

It is 7:45 pm now, and Mariah and I just came back from the AFIP building where she works hours in gross pathology and histopathology Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.  However, we were actually in the medical museum section of the building this evening for a social with various members of Pathology and infectious disease labs from locations all over (including local, regional, and out of country).  The function was extremely casual, which means Mariah and I felt perfectly comfortable casually eating about two plates full of those little turkey and ham rolls and then I tested how long we could keep them down while perusing the exhibits which consisted of amputated legs in jars and plaster remakes of facial reconstruction processes from post-war eras!  Most of the people at the gathering we did not recognize, although those who know Mariah from various phases of her professional life approached to say hello and conversate (yep, it’s a real word when it’s on this blog!).  Thank you to those who are there and who reach out as Mariah reemerges in the social realm.  It is certainly not the most comfortable realm for either of us, but being present with Mariah when she does things like sit up in bed and tell me which sweater and earrings she wants to wear to go to a social event is, I believe, to observe the mark of true emergence.  Therapy is one thing, and Mariah continues to kick butt growing in strength and physical capabilities, but to see the efforts in social connection and reemergence is probably one of, if not the most difficult action to take in this process.  Our days are filled with the usual:  lots of therapy, keeping each other laughing with readers digest jokes read off the computer during breakfast in our room in the mornings, comedy central stand-up TV, and gym time in the evenings.  Keep thinking positive for us and sending your prayers.  Not all our days are super productive, and some we both just struggle through at the bare-minimum, but over-all we continue to move forward.  Thank you for your love!

Clay