Thank you to all of Beverly's friends who sent Christmas Cards, Gifts, Goodies, Emails and Flowers! Her walls are now papered with cards and notes from you, and the window sill is full of goodies and flowers. Her past week was very full with extensive therapy each day, and with a trip AWAY from Jim Thorpe on Christmas Day!


But before getting to that: On Tuesday morning Jim Thorpe held a "press event" in honor of Beverly. Five local TV stations came to Jim Thorpe to learn about Beverly and her countless volunteer adventures and of course to hear more about her accident and how her recovery is progressing. She did a beautiful job during the interviews and the staff here marveled at her composure and energy. Each station featured Beverly's story on their evening news. You can probably find one of these stories online for a few more days.

About a half hour after the first story aired, in stormed a long-time friend of Beverly's, Judee Baker, who had lost contact with her some years ago but saw the story and rushed over from Newcastle. They had a great visit, talking about their California days and friends there. We also received a couple of other calls from friends who saw the story and who know her as "Beverly Brill".

Now back to Christmas: Beverly received a "day pass" from Jim Thorpe and Leonard, Chris, Janie and Gary were able to get her from a wheelchair into a lift and then into the front seat of Gary's big pickup. We drove about 1/2 hour to Janie's dear friend Melba McCaughey's house for a wonderful Christmas Dinner. We don't have the words to express how much we appreciated this fabulous meal and the opportunity for us to be together - out of the hospital setting! Beverly was a good sport as we man-handled her and even though she was tired when we got back to Jim Thorpe (again... from the pickup to the lift, to the wheelchair), she said she was so glad to have the fresh air and to feel the wind on her face. Luckily, Christmas Day was the best day of the week for our outing.

Alison and her husband Mike and children Maddie and Josh enjoyed visiting with their "Aunt Deedy" on Wednesday afternoon and again on Friday afternoon. Alison was been so generous to convert her family website to "Beverly's Updates" and so faithful with posting these updates. All of us appreciate her so much for giving us this easy avenue for keeping up with Beverly's progress.

On Friday Beverly's physical therapy was stepped up a notch and she worked so very hard at it. She is still working on balance once she is in a sitting position and with help can go down on her side. She practiced rolling over from her stomach to her back and is just about to get it. This will be a very important movement for her to achieve so she can turn herself when in bed.

We found out Friday Morning early that our Mother is in the hospital in Tahlequah. She was vomiting, dizzy, had high blood pressure and an infection. Chris and Leonard immediately returned to Tahlequah to be with her at the hospital. Of course, Beverly wants to be there with Mother also.

Jim Thorpe strives to get patients ready to return to their homes as soon as possible. We've heard the average stay here in only 11-12 days. They determine a patient's readiness to leave by the goals they have achieved while being here and if their progress has hit a plateau. As of today, their hope is that Beverly will be ready to leave around January 8th. (We don't think that is possible but we don't make those decisions.) Beverly has decided that she would like to return to the bottom apartment behind her house as soon as it can be made handicap ready.

So many of you have asked how you can help. Now we really need help with getting this apartment ready for her. The bathroom must be totally redone and enlarged to accept a handicap shower chair. One bedroom will also have to be removed to accommodate this larger bathroom. The kitchen needs to be handicap accessible. If any of you know of materials or labor available, please let us know through the email link above or contact Leonard at 480-258-2344. Before Beverly can go to the apartment, we also will need a lot of special equipment such as a hospital bed with special air mattress, roll-in shower chair, lift, etc. We're beginning to work on these things now. Since the apartment will not be ready by the 8th, we are looking for a place appropriate for her once she leaves Jim Thorpe.

Thank you again for checking in and for helping make Beverly's Christmas a Happy one this year.