Five Year Class Reunion

Ashleigh attended her Five Year Class Reunion. She seemed to have a good time and saw a number of friends she had not seen in a while. Below are a few photos.

Quite frankly, my wife and I had a lot of trepidation about the reunion. We were worried she would feel out of place, or depressed, or left out.

So not knowing if Ashleigh would be ignored or if she would become upset seeing the others we made the trip. At first, we felt a little ignored but then a couple of girls came over and started talking with her. It is interesting that both of the girls are in nursing. As the night wore on it got better and it ended up being pretty comfortable.

Some of that fear was based on the fact that when some of Ashleigh’s friends have visited her, they really don’t know how to handle the fact that she can’t speak. We have tried to tell them to just talk about things they would normally talk about. My wife or I usually stay in the room for a while to start things off and then we leave the room to let them continue talking. With most people, the room soon turns quiet. We come back in but the conversation often is with ourselves and the visitor.

Near the end of the party one of Ashleigh’s favorite teachers dropped in to say hello. Mr. Fogle has been battling problems of his own as he has successfully survived a life threatening battle with cancer. He came over and spoke with Ashleigh and she really appreciated it.

For me, I kept thinking that it was right after Mr. Fogle’s English final exam that Ashleigh and Celeste went to lunch and then had the accident that has changed all of our lives.

Here is Ashleigh with a couple of her girlfriends. Don’t email, the beer in Ashleigh’s hand was just a prop. She couldn’t drink even if she wanted to with her seizure meds.