Hi. I just got back from a weekend visit with Danny. Danny is really happy there. He’s working hard. We went to dinner and took a couple of walks in the fall leaves. On Saturday, we found a place to get Danny’s hair cut. The guy, Mr. Jackson did a great job, Danny loved it. Afterwards, Danny had his massage to help loosen his muscles. They donated this to Danny! It was a beautiful weekend. I would like to know, why it rains every time I drive there??
Each time I see Danny, I can see small improvements. He has more control when he lifts his right arm and it seems stronger too. It’s a small improvement but it’s an improvement.
Danny hasn’t been able to take his daily walk. He’s busy with his speech, OT, and PT. His day is starting at early. First session is at 9:00 and he’s going until after 6 with his OT and PT. He’s usually very tired at night.
It’s exciting each time I go up to Michigan and see the changes. The changes seem small, but it’s been 18 months since Danny has said a sentence to me. He recited two sentences to me, after his first week there. His reading is slowing improving as well. It’s hard to watch him struggle so. He’s remarkable in his never ending work ethics. He does his homework religiously. He’ll go over and over words till he has them just right. When you talked to Danny, he had a very limited vocabulary. He’d say just a few words and only one at a time. Now his vocabulary has greatly improved and we get a couple or three words at a time. At night Danny and I text and I would get a one word text. This week, I got a three words , “love you mom”. As you can imagine, I got teary.
UMAP has been very good for Danny. His therapists agrees. They would like to see Danny be able to stay at UMAP. As you know, the program is close to $1000/per day. We need your help in keeping him there. Please help us spread Danny’s story. We need everyone’s help in doing this. You all have helped us so much already, THANK YOU!
Ways to help: 1) donate directly to UMAP (earmarked for Danny) and get their tax ID number.
2) donate Marriott points
3) donate to any Fifth/Third Bank under The O’Keefe Family Assistance Fund.
4) donate with paypal on the help the O’Keefe Family blog.
5) help us spread the word
6) share your ideas!
Thank you for helping us get Danny’s life back.
Love,
Kathy
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