Rosy's story

A few weeks later Rosy came to visit again, after having read the pre-school counting books, story books, and having moved up to elementary school level books. Her speech had improved dramatically. It was slow, and she had a bit of trouble remembering some words, but she'd mastered thousands of words and spoke fairly clearly. She came to speak with me for a reason that day. She specifically wanted to thank me for the ideas and for believing that she could do better than the doctor had told her. She was able to explain to me that the doctor and therapist had been telling her that she wouldn't be able to function normally again and I'd been, unknowingly, contradicting them. Now that she could speak well, she explained that the encouragement and the idea of using children's books had done more than the physical therapist had been able to do. I reminded her that it was Rosy who did the work, Rosy who focused on recovery and Rosy who strove to improve, but she insisted that she couldn't have done it without me. I wasn't sure how to react. She'd never said a kind word to me, ever, in the four or five years that I'd known her. I thanked her and told her that she was a miracle. I also told her about the book My Stroke of Insight by Jill Bolte Taylor, P.h.D. and the corresponding website, http://mystrokeofinsight.com/index.html. We wrote the title down and her daughter helped her watch a video of Doctor Tayler explaining what had happened when she, a neurologist, had the same stroke as Rosy. The effects of the stroke on both women have astounded me, but their recovery is miraculous and fabulous all at once. I'll have to tell you about it next time!