Hi Everyone,
Last night’s Comedy show was outstanding. 180 people came out to celebrate Corey’s first year of recovery and watch Caitlin’s performance, including a group of Corey’s friends that came home from college just for the show.
Corey chose her outfit, jeans and a cheetah top (Aunt Kay would be proud-check out the photo gallery). She did a great job managing her fatigue, greeting all our friends and family, and she made it through the entire performance watching from the first row! My nephew Mark joined Caitlin on stage. Mark is from New York and is a comedian and an actor. The two of them were very entertaining.
Caitlin opened the set and introduced herself. As soon as Corey saw her she started laughing. Caitlin turned to Corey whispering, “Corey, this isn’t the funny part yet”. Caitlin did a great job introducing one of her characters, Ida Zimmerman and talking about her adventures at Wawa highlighting her homeless customers. She warned me ahead of time that she had a few stories about me…thank goodness she limited that part of the set! I don’t know what I enjoyed more, listening to Caitlin and Mark or Corey laughing throughout the performance.
Mark closed his set with a special gift to Corey. When he was an aspiring actor, he was a waiter in NYC (like all aspiring actors). He worked for a famous chef, Tom Colicchio. Mark told Tom about Corey’s aspirations to become a chef. Tom’s comment was ‘Good, we need more women to be chef’s’. Tom couldn’t make the show due to his commitment to Top Chef; he did however sign a picture for Corey. “To Corey, Cook Often, Eat Well ~ Tom Colicchio”. She loved it and has her framed print on her dresser in front of her TV!
I also want to share a new first from yesterday. We were getting ready for the comedy night and as you know, Corey enjoys her spa sessions. Part of the experience is to turn her Ipod on and play her “Shower” songs; just one category of her favorite music. Every once in awhile, I recognize a song and sing out loud to Corey. (It’s true ~ your voice always sounds better in the shower) As I sang, I was actually thinking of Melody Gardot. She didn’t speak for two years after her accident. She learned to speak through music therapy. I told Corey, “You can sing with me you know”. She shook her head no. “Ok, than just hum with the music”; she did and before I knew it, she was trying to mouth the words as well as coordinating hand gestures to match the lyrics. Needless to say, we turned the music up and sang as loud as we could! I believe we will be adding music to our daily therapy.
This weekend has been fun but unfortunately Corey was not feeling well today. I think she’s caught a stomach bug. She slept on and off all day (that’s how you know she’s not feeling well…this kid doesn’t sleep during the day). At one point she wanted to sit in her chair for a little while this afternoon. The tone in her left leg had increased due to her inactivity today. I sat across from her trying to range her leg. Once she was relaxed with her leg fully extended on my lap, I placed my right pointer finger in front of her left toes. I asked her to look at her foot and try to curl her toes around my finger. I was not watching her foot; I watched her face. Her face was expressionless as she was intently concentrating. Just as I felt the pressure of her grip on my finger, her eyes met mine, her face lit up with a smile and she pointed to her self. She didn’t need any words at that moment…she spoke loud and clear ‘Look what I just did’!
Yes you did Corey! You deserve to be proud of yourself. Your achievements this year have been incredible. I love to watch you as you focus and work through each task. I especially love watching your excitement when you achieve what you were working towards. You have overcome so much this year and look at all you’ve regained. I know it’s not close to where you want to be, but you’re on your way and I know you’ll do it. We are 5 months away from Kerri and Brendan’s wedding. I’ll wager that you’ll be standing and might even take a few steps towards that dance floor. Who knows, you might even been singing the lyrics as we dance!
We love you so much Corey! Your continued accomplishments make this a Happy 1st Year Anniversary. XOXO