December Continues

Friday 28 December 2001
Brian and Mom walked on the bike path today, in the cold. Brian had OT and PT in the afternoon. Dave, Brian, and Mom watched "Conflict Resolution - Small World", the video of plays that Suzi (Aufderheide) gave Martha for Mother's Day, 1990. It features Brian and Jesse prominently. Sara Golden called from Pennsylvania again! 

I remember that frosty bike path walk. I was worried that Brian might slip and fall, and he finally told me to stop being so jumpy about it. He was amused at my nervousness. I was like that for a long time, concerned that he could fall or get injured in some other way and I would lose him.
Suzi was a long-time friend who took care of Brian and Jesse when I worked full-time. She was beginning to get into video production, and did these wonderful plays and activities with her kids and the others who were there, and filmed them. I only have a VHS version of the film mentioned, or I would try to add it here.

Saturday 29 December 2001
Brian and Dave walked the bike path to shop at Bi Mart, and had burgers at Goodtimes. Mom, Brian, and Dave walked to and through downtown. We saw Cheyenne, Nick, Nate Orf, and others, and visited the Green Man and Plaza Cafe. max visited and brought Brian a Pink Floyd poster. They put it up in Brian's room. Jesse called, and Brian talked to him.

As you can see, we did a lot of walking. It helped Brian in many ways: coordination, balance, vision - and speech and cognition, because walking and talking helped him stutter less and kept his brain active. The physical activity helped stimulate his brain, and work it harder so he could focus more. 
The Green Man, as I may have mentioned before, was the coffee shop above Bloomsbury Books downtown, where Brian and I used to meet. The Plaza Cafe was where he had worked. 
Obviously, Ashland is a very walk-friendly town, which was perfect for us with Brian.