What Constitutes "A Miracle?"

...AND HOW DO WE KNOW WHEN WE SEE ONE? Is it the air we breathe? Is it the birth of a child? Is it the human spirit determined to SURVIVE, even when the odds are less than favorable "a miracle?" I say YES! They all are. And Frieda has pulled another fast one....here's how things are going...
Wayne and I visited Frieda together yesterday. We have, of course, had many hours of discussions on all the "what if's" in terms of Frieda's initial stroke and now the most recent one. I have heard, as you do in small towns, that Frieda is "brain dead." She is not. I have heard that she is a "vegetable." She is not. I will be frank and say how much this hurts me... first as brothers and sisters and as human beings, that we can so quickly begin to label, judge and accept "labels" on another. It really bothers me that there is such negative power in judgment of others. That is non-productive. It doesn't heal. It makes things so much worse. With that, I encourage you all to VISUALIZE Frieda in the THE most wonderful memory you have of her. Whatever that may be, THINK IT. There is power in thought. There is power in prayer. LIFT Frieda up and SEE her in all of her wholeness and in health.
One example comes from an email I received from Dee Sage. Dee wrote to tell me that on the day of Frieda's stroke, she saw her. She said Frieda looked up and waved with the most beautiful and and REAL smile. I know that smile and I have reflected so often on what Dee saw and how in that moment, they connected in such a small, yet important way.
Frieda IS a victim of TWO strokes. Frieda is ALIVE. Dignity is SO important right now. FRIEDA is fighting and DEMONSTRATING the courage and strength that all who know her expect she will give to this situation. Even those who DON'T know Frieda have now
picked up on her strength, her courage and most of all that beautiful stubbornness that won't let Frieda be out done at ANYTHING.
So, how was she last night? Well, she was doing ok and ready to DO something. We have learned yet ANOTHER way to communicate. Frieda shakes her LEFT leg really hard for "yes." She holds it still for "NO." We can work with that...and we did. We were able to get a lot of ground covered in terms of basic yes and no questions. She even frowned at me when I asked a stupid question just to test her. So, she is "with it." Though she cannot speak "FOR NOW," we are able to communicate and that works for us.
As soon as we got the room, she was sleeping. We had stuff to read, so we didn't make a sound until she woke up. We began talking quietly with her, holding hands and telling her we loved her. She cried for a few seconds and I reminded her that we still had work to do. She shook the left leg hard. I asked if we were going to give up? The leg remained still. She tracked all around the room with her eyes following every move we made. The nurse, Jimmi was one of the "club members" we had join us when Frieda was on second floor before. We LOVED her and she was great. She documented EVERYTHING Frieda was doing in her room. We don't ever just sit and look at Frieda. We are actively working on SOME part of her body. You can only imagine what it would be like to just "lay" in a bed for nearly 2 months. We massaged her skin, we stroked her hair, we worked with her arms and fingers. Then we moved to work with her legs. Wayne started with the left leg. He lifted it. It did not hurt. He gently pushed it toward her chest, asking Frieda to push back against his hand as hard as she could. WOW!!!!! She about pushed him off his feet...and that's not a hard thing to do right now since he's still recovering from his own surgery. We continued that for several repetitions. She did the same thing with her RIGHT leg, which had been affected by the first stroke, so there had been NO activity to speak of with that leg. Who is surprised to learn that Frieda was pushing EQUALLY as hard with her RIGHT leg!? Not me. You could SEE her strength and her willingness to do these things. She KNOWS she cannot just 'lay there' in that bed and expect to get better. She has to WORK, no matter what the "diagnosis" might be.
I wish people who don't know her could understand just what a DETERMINED woman Frieda is! Picture your own stubbornness, then multiply times TEN! She is NOT going to be outdone. I hope by reading about her, you've figured that out by now. As I always say, FRIEDA PLAYS GOLF AGAINST MEN! She is NOT going to be outdone, even by them! (I LOVE THAT ABOUT HER! She can flat drive a golf ball!)
As I said, the nurse charted every single thing that Frieda did and was thrilled. She was SO pleased to be able to show the doctors these things. Given the chance, Frieda will work with you...you just have to give her that option. Jimmi, the nurse, was making notes for the physician on how extraordinary it has was for her to watch these things that FRIEDA clearly wanted to do!!! It has been nearly 2 months, and her legs are STILL SO STRONG! It was amazing. I would put my palm on the bottom of her foot and ask her to push. And push she did!!! WE WERE BUSY! Frieda WANTED to do this. She detests laying still like that. She was taking a proactive stance in HER own care AND RECOVERY.
I certainly can't say, nor would I, how things are going to be with Frieda in the immediate future, but, I know this: She is DETERMINED.
Let's consider the football player with the extreme injury last week in the news. He was supposed to be dead or totally paralyzed from a hit last week. He is defying those odds. Is that LUCK? I sure don't think so! Did it SHOCK a total medical community? Yes, it did. BUT...he's alive and, like Frieda, he has a long road ahead, BUT HE IS ALIVE! And he's moving and the doctors are well, shocked. The medical community does NOT like the term "MIRACLE." I say, "well, that's just too bad! They happen!
FRIEDA IS ALIVE!!! Even in the most adverse situations, FRIEDA FIGHTS!
I am asking you all to LIFT FRIEDA UP IN FAITH AND IN PRAY THAT SHE WILL CONTINUE SHOWING THESE AWESOME DISPLAYS OF INNER STRENGTH!!! It is SO important that we do not quit and get tired now. She needs to know that we support her, love her and that FRIEDA IS THE SOLE FOCUS IN THIS RECOVERY! SHE IS NOT ALONE! We need to let her know that we've got her covered...no matter how long this takes.
If you visit Frieda, just know that she will shake her LEFT leg to answer YES. Sometimes, if she is asleep, she will ignore you. We make a practice to say NOTHING to wake her if she is sleeping. Healing in the brain occurs when she is sleeping, so we don't interupt that. Sometimes, however, she is just laying with her eyes closed. When she hears you, she will open them when she's good and ready. (smile!)
I will post more of what we saw later, but I did want to share this with you so you can KEEP PRAYING FOR FRIEDA TO GET STRONGER AND STRONGER.
Again, we petitioned GOD to save her. He has seen fit that she remain with us. We cannot know (nor should we form opinions on others) as children of God, what their conditions are, what their "worth" might be as a result of those conditions and it's dangerous territory to determine "who is fit for life" and "who is not." It's not our job, nor our call. HIS will and only HIS WILL will pravail in this situation. EVEN THE DOCTORS CANNOT SAY WHEN A PERSON WILL DIE! That is between the person and God to determine that.
MIRACLES DO HAPPEN! We just have to DO our roles in faciliating them
and we have to RECEIVE THEM AND GIVE OUR THANKS TO GOD WHEN THESE EVENTS ARRIVE!
NAYSAYERS NEED NOT APPLY! LOL! Just SMLING FACES, HEALING ENERGY, POSITIVE THOUGHTS AND ENCOURAGEMENT ARE NEEDED HERE!!!
I have SO enjoyed getting to know each of you, even if only via email.
NUTSHELL: Frieda is following with her eyes. She is staying awake and alert for long periods of time. She knows exactly what we are saying, so the story about her hearing and sight being lost is simply not true. Small towns, big rumors.They don't help one thing in terms of what Frieda is going through. Didn't all our moms teach us, "if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all?" (Moms know best!)
As I said, if you want to know something, don't mind asking me. I am happy to let you know how YOUR FRIEND FRIEDA IS DOING! She NEEDS to know her friends are around her!! It is so strengthening and healing when you don't feel alone and don't have to wonder where all your FRIENDS ARE!!!
When I initially gave my blog over to Frieda, I made a conscious choice to list email addresses in the "TO" and "CC" lines, hoping that many of you have "FRIEDA" in common. You will have seen most of the list by now and perhaps those of you who know each other can get together and PRAY for Frieda. I think you've all figured out "folks you know" versus "folks you don't." By now, you should have recognized your pal's email addresses. I will now start to show the recipients as "undisclosed," which is protocol. Initially, I left the email addresses posted so that you could find one another. After nearly two months, I feel that you have all you need. I'm happy to email or call you and let you know how things are. Contact means were there so we could all pray.
She's beaten this thing once...and I have every reason to believe that she'll beat it again. Setbacks are a part of ANY recovery. If you have any specific questions, also, just email me. People keep thinking they are BOTHERING ME! That makes me laugh. ANY CONNECTION WITH FREIDA is what I love to see happening. She LOVES ALL OF YOU!!! SHE MISSES NOT INTERACTING WITH HER FRIENDS. Just know, once Frieda's friend, ALWAYS her friend. She has introduced me so many of the friends she is known over the years and I'm so honored by that.
More info today as I have it. Drop me a line with your thoughts, laughs and precious memories you wouldn't mind sharing about Frieda. I'd like to post them and we can ALL lift them up to Frieda in prayer on her behalf. And we can ALL rejoice together and celebrate our love for Frieda Hudson.
She's just amazing. She was "given up for dead" again...and guess what? She's still here...still fighting and funniest of all, NOTHING STOPS ANNIE AND FRIEDA FROM TALKING!!! Not even sure the military could break our "codes of the heart." I know nothing stops the POWER OF FRIENDSHIP AND THE COURAGE TO KEEP MOVING FORWARD...(NO MATTER WHAT THE DOCTORS OR ANYONE ELSE SAYS!) Just TELL Frieda Hudson "she CAN'T do something." I dare you! :)
"Leg lifts" and a "shaking leg" to answer me are ALL I need. I can work with that!! RIGHT?
GO FRIEDA! We're all right here, as we have been all along...WE WANT YOU BACK!!!!
Here's looking forward to hearing from you and I'd LOVE to share some of your stories. I had a lot of emails about the post I wrote mentioning just a FEW of the hundreds of emails I have gotten with "Frieda stories!" If you don't mind sharing, I don't mind typing! Send those stories and anecdotes right on to me! I'd love them!
Love, peace, blessings and many thanks to each of you who stop by and visit me.
-Annie

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