When Connie Strickland came to Walter Reed about three years ago, she was paralyzed. She could barely lift her head when someone fed her. She did physical therapy for about a year. “The therapists did a fantastic job with me. I hated them. But they got me moving, and I can do everything except walk with my left leg and my back is not good. Other than that, I’m fine,” she says. Now she visits the therapy room to encourage those there that “it isn’t hopeless,” she says. “Those therapists, I call them my angels.”
She now lives across the hall from her best friend Lola, and the women on the unit have become fast friends. “I do find I love it here,” she says. “They’re really good to me and we all have a good time.” She participates in as many activities as she’s able with Bingo and “all the thinking activities” being her favorites. “I stay busy,” she says. Connie also is an active member of the resident council.
Originally from West Virginia, where she met her husband in 11th grade, they moved to the Gloucester area to take care of members of her husband’s family before he passed.
They were married (one month shy of) 50 years. While in West Virginia, they did a lot of camping, fishing and boating, and had a lot of dogs. Connie has portraits of them up in her room, which drew Lola to inquire about them, igniting their friendship.
Connie taught English for 35 years. “All the way from elementary to college, I loved it,” she says.
Since moving to Virginia, she made several friends she relies on, including best friends who serve as her responsible party. She encourages her fellow residents and says they are always there for each other on their unit. “I think this is a good place for anybody,” she says. “I was meant to be here, that’s what I’ve told people. That’s how we all look at it. We take care of each other.”
Walter Reed Nursing and Rehabilitation, Gloucester