Neil's report from Friday Oct 28th as "detailed as Mel's and the others"

In presenting sister maryEllen's journal entry I explained that her report had significant and immediate impact upon me and other siblings. Mel's reports struck a chord that resonated and continued to elicit thoughts in others that found their way into words. Mel's comments appeared to remind us all of what I was like before my stroke and the expression of her affection for those qualities in and about me had the not so subtle effect of reminding all of us of what was nearly lost and in turn provided motivation for and excitement about each step of my recovery.The tone and content of Neil's report on the 28th of October illustrate the ripple effect I sensed her email had upon others in the family:"I will try to be as detailed as Mel and the other sisters with a report on last evening and today. When I stooped by last night John was not in his room-- he was at a Halloween party on the 6th floor. The staff and some of the patients were wearing costumes, John was wearing all black with his red sox hat on. To complete his costume he then taped a piece of paper to his chest that read"Red sox fan in October The wrong Sox won." There were games that John participated in , including a putting contest. John made a few puts, but missed most of themHe noted that the stroke had not improved his short game.. We then went back to his room, where John took several calls.
I returned to the RIC around 9:30 this morning and stayed with John this morning and afternoon, leaving at 3. We went on a starbucks run--this is becoming a part of the routine..I saw two of John's physical therapy sessions. The first focused on walking. This was with Jennifer and Julia-- as mom and dad can tell you, all the therapists are really friendly and know all of the murphys (mostly because John talks about us constantly)In my untrained view John is showing remarkably good movement with his left leg. John went up and down a flight of stairs with contact assistance-- this means he is doing it on his own with someone there to catch him if he looses his balance. He can walk pretty well and quickly. They're now trying to get him to look to his left and his right while walking, this is tricky for john and he sometimes has difficulty maintaining his balance. Same for walking and then stopping short, he sometimes loses his balance doing this. The last walking exercise was an obstacle course--trying to walk over objects blocks etc without touching them. This was tough for john, he kept walking into objects and he lost his balance several times, but after several tries he successfully completed the course, insisting that I and his therapists"give him some love" and applaud him for his efforts by clapping and cheering(direct quote from john upon completing this exercise: 'I avoided not only the obstacles, but also the pools of my own drool.' His sense of humor and wit still have not missed a beat."
This journal entry was not (by the way) the first manifestation of Neil's fraternal instincts during this episode. It' s worth noting here that I and other family members survived a traumatic visit to the emergency room and a harrowing sequence of decisions to transfer me to the Intensive care unit of Loyola hospital due to Neil's cogent and calm demeanor in making and communicating to family by cell and text messages critical decisions about my treatment and care. I had the rare privilege of publicly acknowledging Neil's contributions to my treatment and recovery several months later in the role of best man at neil's wedding:and provided Neil the "fair warning" a best man should provide a potentially nervous groom by emailing him copy of the notes I had prepared on the eve of his wedding:

I want the Cox family to know that throughout his life Neil has conducted himself in a manner appropriate to the legacy of his name and I must add the gesture of my dad when he choose this significant name.....but,enough about the legacy of his name, and Murphy family history--what has he done for us lately? You all know that I spent a harrowing night on October 9^th in the emergency room of Illinois massonic. Neil and Tricia (who were by my side throughout the ordeal) shared the terrible burden of having to make decisions that might have saved or permantly alter my life-- all while managing communication by cell phone and text message back to parents and siblings on my failing status and the uncertainty of what to do. I’m told that neil was a tremendous source of reason and stability and helped everyone involved to make what proved to be a decision that not only may have saved my life but made possible the miraculous recovery that I have made. And so, Rose and Ed, as best man I present to you that Kathy is marrying a man who embodies all the traits of his namesake,the wisdom and great jusdgement by which he acquired the name, and to that I add my personal and recent experience that he is a man in whose hands I would trust my own life and well-being.