Happy Valentine’s Day from Ashley!

It has been a  long, cold and snowy winter and it isn’t over yet.  Perhaps we should have realized it was going to be an exceptionally cold winter when attending a Bishop Dwenger football playoff game in mid November with temperatures around 20 degrees.

Ashley cheering on her alma mater.  They advanced to the state finals, but for the fourth time since her freshman year they came up short (this time by one point).

The cold weather has not forced Ashley to baton down the hatches.

In early November we made a couple of trips down to Indianapolis for Ashely’s Vocal Fold procedure and follow up.  The procedure was a success, but it has not made a significant immediate difference in Ashley’s speech.

Ashley in post-op.  The nurses said she was smiling immediately upon waking up and lit up the room.

Ashley continues to go to speech therapy every week day and is working on a therapy regimen that is designed to help her adjust to her corrected vocal cords.  Her spirits remain high and she is still confident that she will get her voice back to where it belongs.

The three day-a-week strength and conditioning that Ashley is doing at Turnstone is paying off.  Her stamina is improving along with the weight/resistance increases she is achieving. Her work outs include walking inside of parallel bars, rowing machine for her arms working with weights and moto-ped for her legs followed by moto-ped for her arms.

Prior to Christmas we had the privilege to once again participate in preparing turkey dinners for families in the area through the Miss Virginia program.  Hundreds of boxes were filled with frozen turkeys, vegetables, biscuits and a lot of love and care.

Ashley was at the end of the ‘assembly line’ placing a gift in each of the boxes.  Pictured with Ashley is Suzie who coordinates the huge project each year.  Ashley first met Suzie when she volunteered at the Matthew 25 clinic during high school.

The Christmas and New Year holidays brought opportunities to visit with family and friends.

 

Christmas day with brother Miles.

Ashley and Hope Ashley

Okay, it wasn’t all snow and cold.  The family ventured down to Naples, Florida to visit with Grandma and Grandpa Harrington.

 

Lunch on the beach

A day on a sunny Naples beach beats...

 

a day in sub-zero Fort Wayne even if the snow looks beautiful on the trees. 

That same view of the back year in the fall is a bit more colorful.

Prior to heading back to the frozen tundra of Northern Indiana we drove across the Everglades to Miami for lunch with George and his family. 

 

George was stricken with ADEM about a year prior to Ashley.  They share that special bond of knowing the challenges each faces.  Both of them also share the trait of being driven goal oriented individuals that will do what it takes to overcome the barriers ADEM has placed in their paths.

 

May God keep you safe and warm this winter and may this coming spring be bright, and blessed for you.

Love Ashley!