Letter from Mike West, Callie's husband

Posted by Kelly Haemmerle at 10:38 AM

Please find below recent e-mail from Mike updating us on Callie's progress. This family is so exceptional I am overwhelmed by their love for Callie and their faith in her healing. He has also done a nice job of keeping in touch with everyone for Callie which is so good of him. This is love in action, love at work.

Hi Guys,
Here's the text I promised...
Callie is doing OK. She's healthy and real responsive to people talking to her. She makes a lot of noises sometimes, I swear she is trying to talk.
For Thanksgiving, Sue and Dale loaded her and Ari into the van and took her to Layla's (her sister) place in Columbus, where I met them. It was her first overnight escape from the nursing home since she left Indiana, and I think the weekend was a success. There was a lot going on, with Ari and her 3 little cousins continuously rioting, and I really think that Callie enjoyed it.
We decided to do the same thing at Christmas, and again it was a success. The Columbus zoo is about a mile from Layla's place, and they have a really impressive Christmas light display. With the mild weather we decided to take Callie to see it. Unfortunately Cal fell asleep fairly early which really pissed Sue off. Even splashing cold water on her face and poking and prodding her couldnt bring her around for long, I thought it was all pretty funny. Ari and the 2 older cousins loved it though.
As soon as we took Cal back to Layla's and put her to bed, she became wide awake and proceeded to make all kinds of noises at me most of the night. This also really pissed Sue off, but I'm happy she is trying.
She really reacts well to being taken places (an escape from the asylum), we really have to work on keeping her stimulated and give her a reason to keep trying.
Ari is still with Sue in Chardon. She seems to be doing well and easily makes friends at preschool. I think she is happy there, even though she always tells me that she's going to come back to Indiana with me.
I'm still in Indianapolis. Working too much, but at least I am working. I dont think I have ever seen so many guys coming through the shop looking for work. The barn is still for sale (6 months now). Bad time to be trying to sell a house, huh? There have been some people interested, but they have houses they need to sell first too. I'd be surprised if the place sells over the winter, I'm hoping for better luck in the spring.
I have been looking for a place near Callie in Ohio - actually I have an offer in on a place at the moment. If it happens things will be very tight financially (like really, really tight!), but I will probably be able to spend 4 days a week in Indy and then a long weekend in Chardon. But I'm sick of sitting here waiting for things to happen. I want a place I can bring Callie home to, a room for her where she can have her stuff around her, where she can crank the music without upsetting the old lady in the next bed. A garden of her own that we can wheel her out to (I've already found some big motorcycle wheels and tires I'm going to adapt to her wheelchair so we can take her "off-roading" without beating the crap out of her). I'll keep you posted, and may be calling on the designers for ideas! (Callie will have power of veto though, she is still very clear with her expressions on whether she likes something or not...).
I'm attaching a read reciept to this message, as I know some of the email address's I have here arent valid anymore.
Think thats it for now, hope you guys all had good holidays and a merry Xmas.
Regards
Mike

The part about him adapting her wheelchair has got me balling like a baby. Callie is a big time gardener and the idea of him doing that has completely made my cup runneth over. Thought I'd share this note with you since you all haven't heard much news of Callie lately and have been so supportive. Deep breath.... sigh.

 

1 Comment:

  1. Kelly Haemmerle said...
    January 6, 2009 at 10:57 AM  
    Sue is Callie's Mom and they are very similar in disposition so when he say's Sue was pissed it's a bit of a joke because Callie would have the same reaction. This letter reminds me of the Notebook, but it's real. He loves her so much. ugghhhh. choke, gulp.

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