25th/26th February 2011

Hiya,
thought it was time to send you a photo' of Steven to the family. Taken today in glorious sunshine, at the front of the hospital, sitting upright in his wheelchair. He's had a good day today, but he is extremely emotional. We brought back from his house a bird-of-paradise flower which has taken 7yrs to flower, very time he looks at it he cries. The flower now has 3 sets of wings, it's gorgeous. We feed him, he thanks us, then cries again. We tell him he's getting better, he cries again. One of us walks into the room having been out for an hour or so, he cries again. He says he's crying with happiness. He still doesn't like to go to the physio' but we have to continue to tell him it's the only way he'll get better. A lady who for a long time has been staring into the ceiling in the hospital has suddenly started to move her head, and today she started speaking. Every day we see some sort of apparent minor miracle. Steven next.
Steven's progress for the last couple of days has been remarkable. I just managed to briefly see him sitting unaided on a bench in physio'. He has told me he is standing for longer periods, and though he feels dizzy, it's not as bad as before. When standing, he stands in a "loose" frame, with a nurse standing close by in case he falls. His talking is improving all the time except when he's tired. He is talking about everything, old and new, even a joke. There is a bird locally called a hoopoe (google it), it's latin (or even Spanish) name is something like eepops oopops. Steven said that this name was invented by someone who was smoking weed, and with a pretend cigarette in his hand and a smile on his face, he made us laugh so much. He cried at seeing his dog. He still claims he is crying because he's happy and knows he's getting better. Still sleeping well.
love
Terry