News from The West End - the Greatest Neighborhood in the World

Two sources of info this evening. The lovely Amy arrived home on Peter Pan this evening and was a font of information. Most of it of no interest to y'all, but one nice story. Amy was waiting for Tim in his room, when Maria of the housekeeping staff stopped by. She made a point to tell Amy that Tim was one of the nicest young men she has run into at Spaulding and she's been there awhile. He is always respectful and takes time to talk with her.

So it's tough typing this during the first inning of tonight's game - a bit distracting as Beckett strikes out the side and the Sox get rolling with a homer from Pedroia and a Youuuuuuuuuk-ilis two bagger and now an RBI single from Manny being Manny. 2 zip. Yikes.

Anyway, back to today. Spoke with Tim just before the start of the game. He went on an organized outing with his Recreational Therapy group - to Galleria Cambridge Side! Hadn't been there for a whole two days. Anyway, the mission was to buy some crafts for a Fine Motor Skills project. Tim said that he felt very comfortable getting around, opening doors etc. The project they were working on this week was to create creepy Halloween Surprises for the Pediatric Unit at Mass General. Tim's job was to tape a joke to a little bag of treats. "What do you call a young skeleton?" " A skele-teen!" Well, it's the thought that counts.

Tim also said that he had a good day in wheelchair group, going outside and tackling some more challenging scenarios - grass and hills. Again, feeling more and more comfortable. I asked him if he stood today, and yeah, he does that all the time now. He's using a "stand and pivot" move to transfer himself at time, instead of shuffling across a transfer board. Not a bad day, I'd say.

Well, the Rockies have picked up a run to show that it's not going to be a walk in the park. I need to pick up Jancy in Barrington. Sighhh.