Weekend with Girlfriends

Merry McKenny and Susan Sheard spent the weekend with Liz Ann at Craig. Here are some excerpts from Merry’s e-mail about the weekend:

“We arrived late Saturday morning and spent the whole day just catching up. It was GREAT to see how far she has come since Billings! She looks like her old self with spark in her eyes. She's doing so much independently. She gets herself dressed, bends forward and backward. Wheels herself around, up hills & down.
She educated us on her life at Craig and how to help her. She transferring from one seat to the other almost independently. She likes one of us there just for comfort. We rented a minivan. We thought this would be ok with the wheelchair, but it proved to be very challenging because we had to get her from down low to way up in the back van seat. We did alright, sometimes smoother than others.

At night we went to this quaint French restaurant in Denver called Le Central. It was great to go out and eat good food. Then we all went back to her room. We had a big slumber party, staying up late to catch Saturday Night Live and the Tina Fey skit, which made us laugh all over again! On Sunday we went to the IMAX, the rose gardens and Cherry Creek. It was a cooler day. Liz Ann gets cold in her wheelchair, so we didn't spent a ton of time outdoors.
Liz Ann just rolls with it all, finding the humor in it and laughing until she has tears.
We returned to Craig after a stop at Whole Foods. Susan and I made a delicious salad and we watched DVDs on crazy sled racing and mountain biking with disabled men. It looked very scary.
Liz Ann has had the chance to ride a hand cycle and is very excited about it. She hopes to get one for Bozeman. I'm not sure I'll be able to keep up with her once she takes to the road on that! She is showing she has maintained the "go-getter" attitude and is thinking of all the things she will be able to partake in. It's amazingly cool to learn about what is out there for paras.
It's Monday morning. Susan, Liz Ann, and I had breakfast and are doing the morning routine with Liz Ann. We have a busy day of "classes" to go to, with an hour break for lunch. Liz Ann really is SUPER busy all weekdays. It's a rigorous schedule. She gets up at 6:15, after being woken up at least twice in the night and doesn't seem to hit the hay until after 10. It is easy to see why she doesn't always get the chance to call people back or e-mail them back!”