Sunday, January 18, 2009

Yesterday, we made our first "social visit." We went to see Mary and Al, up in Harbeson, a forty-minute drive (very long for us). Al had a stroke a month after Tommy did, and we got to be good friends at Ren rehab, where we'd often be a foursome for dinner. At first, Al couldn't talk other than saying "No no no", which he did often and loudly; and--as he got better--he started to make short mumbling sounds that sounded like "Rr rr rr" to Mary and me. What's funny is that Al and Tommy both have great senses of humor, and when Al would say something funny, Al and Tommy would look across the table at each other and laugh out loud--something neither had done since their strokes. I will never forget the evening that Mary, for the first time, understood what Al was saying. She and I had been talking about the presidential race (we were on different sides), and Al looked across at Tommy and, with a big smile, said "Rr rr rr"; and the two laughed. Mary turned to Al and said, "You just said we sure talk a lot, didn't you?!" He nodded yes, with great big nods, and we all had a good laugh.