Back to Albuquerque!

Last Tuesday after her liberation from Bellevue, Jillian enjoyed a wonderful evening with friends (see earlier blog note). Her mantra, as it has been since she awakened in Week 3, remains "I have the best people in my life." Thanks to all who joined her (for her, alcohol-free) celebration, which was not just a return to normalcy but a better-than-normal reminder of how rich and fortunate her life has been and promises to continue to be.

The only difficulty involving our departure from New York was rising at an outrageous hour on Wednesday morning. Even that had an up side: At that hour the street to our sublet was still unblocked, and the traffic was light all the way to LaGuardia. On both flights, Jilly did experience some discomfort, mostly from that pesky PEG site, along with some headache and lightheadedness.

We arrived in Albuquerque to the news that Raymond's brother-in-law had had a heart attack the week before--and his wife had waited to tell us because we were still concerned about Jilly. Some readers may not know this, but when we learned about Jilly's accident we were at a local hospital where a sister-in-law had just died. Superstition has it that bad things come in threes, so I choose to believe we are done with sad events for awhile. At least two of these three have had a happy outcome: We visited Martin on Sunday and found him almost good as new.

And Jilly is better every day. Our first outing was to Whole Foods, where we stocked up on homeopathic remedies, herbal teas, and all kinds of healthy stuff. Avocados, brussels sprouts, black beans--for these and many other foods Raymond and I share Jilly's enthusiasm. Kale, brewers' yeast, beets--not so much. We're working it out.

Best of all, we have ended our seven-week green-chile deprivation with lunch at Monroe's, our favorite Mexican restaurant. Any time of day is a good time for huevos rancheros, our best confirmation that we are home again. Even our dog Maisy, lovingly cared for through our Bellevue days by our dear friend Melanie Wegner, is home at last. Thank you, Mel!

We have spent the last several days setting up and getting to followup appointments for Jillian, with the intention of setting up a therapy schedule as soon as possible. We're still processing what we've learned so far, so I'll report on it tomorrow.

We hear the temperature has dropped in New York. Here today the sky is bright blue, and it's in the low 80's, with a cooling trend (and unfortunately a bit of breeze) forecast for this weekend, the start of the International Balloon Fiesta. We do not miss the humidity.

But we do miss all our NY friends! Our best to all of you--and our continued great thanks as well.

Ingrid