Home Sweet Home- Children’s Rehab & Mrs. Jan!
The reason for our TN trip was to see one lady– Mrs. Jan. Words cannot express my emotions as we rolled up into that familiar parking lot and walked into their lobby. You see, this place was our home for the first year of Rhema’s life and this one lady, Mrs. Jan, WAS our family, our rock and our support. It was bitter-sweet to see Rhema rolling around the lobby and exploring the place. I remember when she was a baby taking a lot of time to show her all the awesome decor at the place. This is a little bridge in the lobby where they have toys and a TV on the sides where kids can play.
Rhema loved rolling over the bridge and kept talking about it so we just let her loose and let her roll through it as much as she wanted.
This is the ceiling as you walk toward all the therapy rooms. Every week, when Rhema was a baby, I would stop her stroller and park under this and show her all the beautiful fish, butterflies, etc…. Now that she is bigger, she stopped herself and just stared and stared. LOL! Below is the best image I could get of the ceiling for you all to see the beauty of this place where it all began.
But, we did not drive 8+ hours to see scenery; we drove to see the lady pictured below, Mrs. Jan.
Mrs. Jan has long been someone on Rhema’s team that no matter the time nor distance between us, she has always been there. I value her opinion above all earthly opinions. She was with us when Rhema came out of the NICU and she continues to be a valuable team member for Rhema. With all the delays in Rhema’s surgery, castings, etc…. we decided to take advantage of the delays and get Mrs. Jan’s educated eyes on Rhema’s feet and legs.
It was a joy to see her and hear her thoughts on what she saw with Rhema’s legs as they are now. We always walk away with more research needing to be done, but also with direction and encouragement. I keep trying to snag her into coming to Alabama with us and have gone so far as to think about even kidnapping her! LOL! But, for now she will remain in TN and we will just have to travel up to the Smoky’s to see her as often as we can. This precious woman is forever in our hearts and is loved greatly by our family! Say a prayer for her, dear friends who pray; pray blessings and strength for her days. The clients she has probably do not even realize the Gem they have in her and I know some days she may feel unappreciated. However, she is GREATLY appreciated and we think the world of her! We love you Mrs. Jan…..