Eileen brings document and a CD to Chicago that inspires and motivates

Upon receiving the news that I had been felled by a stroke, the first reaction of many siblings was to go online and check for flights to Chicago, once Eileen confirmed a flight to arrive Monday afternoon - the day after my stroke, she began a frantic search to locate a note I had sent to her son Ryan several months earlier when he had called to ask if I had seen his hit single before leaving after watching a few innings of his little league game. Eileen explained to me that her "irrational" motive for the search for this seemingly innocuous document was out of concern that she and others were feeling that I wasn't receiving optimum care in the emergency room where I had was brought by ambulance, so in the middle of what appeared to be a conflict between the advice of medical staff at one hospital and the neurology staff at Loyola, Eileen's instinct was to gather this document as compelling evidence to show the medical staff why (to her and hopefully to them ) it was so vital that her brother receive the best possible care...Again, I learned of much of this after the fact but now realize how the concern of my siblings, and the intimate, affectionate ways in which they expressed that concern at the time and on an ongoing, sometimes, daily basis has been a powerful source of support and motivation because it reminds me in vivid and precise detail how and why my recovery means so much to so many remarkable people -I think if you knew or now that you've had a small insight into how she operates you too would understand why I think Eileen and her son Ryan are truly remarkable people.

Another gift Eileen brought from Austin to Chicago was a Darden Smith CD with the song "Little Victories" -one that I had always loved - I had told Eileen how the term "little victories" had acquired new meaning and significance for me: that instead of giving into fear or self-pity over my situation I was going to celebrate the little victories: my first BM, standing for the first time(without falling), my first steps with walker, then with cane and on and on they came- to the point where the song was the soundtrack that got me through the down times or the drudgery of the therapies. Over time, the lyric became a motivational mantra by which momentum was sustained to achieve the big accomplishments/break-throughs.