Happy 8th birthday to Josie's dear friend, Emmie Lew. The girls were so cute in the sandbox today. They wouldn't let Emmie come over because they were making her a sand birthday cake. When they were finished they called her over and sang happy birthday to her. Sweet little friends.
Big day for us. School was great. Mrs. G is quickly picking up how to move Josie and work with her at school. I am so excited she is Josie's aid. I think they will work really well together. After school, we went straight out to Liz's for the first time since we have been back. Josie made sure to give Liz Przemek's strict list of things that he wants done while we are home. Of course Liz is happy to comply. I spent most of her therapy getting her new canes cut down to the right height. Not an easy task at all. Josie really wants to use them for 1st communion Saturday.
From Liz's we went to St. Bede for a 2 hour communion practice. At first, I never thought that they would need that long. They actually could have used 3 hours. This is the biggest class to ever go through at St. Bede.
So next I am going to share with you a very deflated moment for Josie. Let me start with a bit of background...when we went to Michigan this time, Josie's goal that she set for herself was to work really hard so she could walk up to the alter from the pew to receive communion. OK, good goal. We took extraordinary measures to make sure we could attempt this lofty goal. She can definitely walk that far the problem is the speed in which it has to happen. While in Michigan, we bought her white shoes as soon as we got there because they had to have a lift put on the left shoe. Took the shoe to the orthotist to have it lifted. We sent my mom down to the church to measure the actual distance so we could practice everyday with Przemek. We taped the distance onto the floor in the gym. We made Maks be the priest for Josie. I think you understand what prep was required. So here is what took place tonight. They lined everyone up from shortest to tallest so of course this would put Josie up front. She is so relieved and delighted because she knows that she can only walk up if she is close. All of a sudden they move her to the very back of the line putting her in the very last pew which is about 8 back. From that spot it would take her 20 minutes to get up the aisle. I feel her body sink. All of a sudden there was a stream of tears rushing down her face. When I could finally get her to talk to me she just said, "I worked so hard, but I can't do it from back here." She was completed deflated. I wanted to lay on the floor myself and cry. I know I shouldn't ask for special privileges (the lady at the airport reminded me many times of that) just because her need are different. This is such a big moment for her not just from a religious stand point but a physical and mental one too. She is going to be able to accomplish a goal that she set. When there was a little break we went to Mrs. Arjani. Josie was crying so hard she couldn't talk so I explained what was going on. She did allow her to move back up to the front. I know this complicates things a bit, but I am thankful for Josie's sake that we could work it out. It is still going to be a really hard task for her to accomplish, but at least now she has a chance. Cross your fingers for Saturday. Night, Jenny
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