#125

Some days are better than others and today was a great one. Elaine made a major move toward independence today. It was mostly her idea with pushes from Fred, Paul, and her therapists at Hoag. Everyone has explained to her just how remarkable her improvement has been, and that now it is time for her to take control of her life. For example, at one point today she asked the therapist to help her put her hair up. The therapist said, "No, you do it yourself." And guess what? Elaine did it herself without a problem. It is often the little things that give you the confidence to forge ahead. After that victory, Elaine decided that she WOULD be more independent. She is working on getting dressed on her own, managing her medicines on her own, and getting up and down stairs on her own. She is amazing, and we love when she sees in herself the progress that we have all seen.  Here is the photo of the hair clip.

The therapists and the Smiths have made a decision to focus exclusively on walking correctly. That means that they are going to work very hard on getting rid of the "hitch" in Elaine's gait. It will take some serious effort to get it moving more naturally and in sync, but we know that Elaine has just the personality to tackle this challenge. 

After the confidence from the therapy session and the move toward independence, Elaine felt like tackling another challenge. She headed over to the driving range to hit some golf balls. You read that right. She went to hit some balls. All told, she went through two pyramids of balls at the range! Be sure to watch this video of her!