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Laura Hewett - Journal

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Posted 2015-12-27T15:07:42Z

Frohe Weihnachten

I've got a long way to go in my recovery, but I've come an incredible distance. I had a beautiful reminder of that last night as I celebrated Second Christmas with my former neighbors who used to visit me in REHAB. When I first moved to Germany, I met this couple but was unable to communicate with them directly because they don't speak any English. Gundi was reflecting with her daughter about how when she and her husband first visited me in REHAB all those months ago, they were so excited by a little wiggle in my knees and my whopping two word Swiss German vocabulary. By the next visit, I'd picked up a handful of words and could just barely lift my legs in the seated position. The third time they visited, they had to explain to Sandra (who usually translated between us) some of the Swiss German phrases I was using; they also witnessed with delight as I stood and took timid steps with the modified walker. [...]

Posted 2015-12-21T22:49:14Z

Merry Christmas

I've started this post three times already, but I'm not really sure what to focus on since so much has happened in the last week. Wednesday I successfully finished classes with my precious students, and they have scattered to different corners of the globe for the next three weeks. (I'm still a little jealous of the one spending the break in Colorado Springs.) Thursday I went out to dinner with the rest of the Bible department to enjoy time with my great coworkers. Friday I spent time with my physio again working to loosen my ankles. Anja moved the feet and instructed me to think about the motion and try to help. I'm still a long way away from moving my ankles on my own, but it was months of practice before I had any real control over the flexing in my butt.[...]

Posted 2015-12-12T18:37:16Z

Guess What?

Once upon a time, my mom asked me, "Guess what?" I responded, "It's almost Christmas." I'm pretty sure this began in July. Now, whenever I'm asked that question, my response usually is, "It's almost Christmas." We're so close to Christmas break at BFA, my students are using that phrase liberally in their conversations. "It's almost Christmas - can we have a party in class?" "Why do we still have homework? It's almost Christmas."[...]

Posted 2015-12-06T21:26:11Z

The Worst Gift and the Best

Around 200 years ago, people were dying of "wurstgift" in Germany - sausage poisoning - without really understanding why. Don't you just love the German language? It really was the worst gift; it was botulism. Scientists started studying it and finding uses for it in the nineteenth century that led to the multitude of treatments available now. The most well known use is the cosmetic treatment for wrinkles. A less well known use is to treat muscle spasms. [...]