Here I am, at age sixty-four, about to enter a new phase of my life: forty-five years after my month-long coma, I've reached that age when I can retire. That idea sounds great, so I tell people I am going to retire in a year. Their usual response is, "Well, what are you retiring from?" "I am going to retire from being disabled." Do I really believe that? No, no I don't, but, I've got to admit, sometimes my mind wanders and I reflect on the past and dream about what the future could ... Read On
This TBI Survivor Doesn’t Care How You Talk to Me
At some point during this 43 year "trip" I've spent living with a brain injury, I got fed up: too much of my mental energy was being spent getting frustrated and angry because of things other people said to me. That was the moment I decided that I should not allow my mental health or my well being be dependent on the words of others. I saw that ... Read On
Let’s Honor the Courage of the TBI Survivor
Some acts are obviously courageous: a person runs into a burning building and saves a life, or a bystander dives into a lake to save a drowning person. These are dramatic examples of courage and bravery, when people make spur of the moment decisions and put their own lives at risk in order to save others. There is, however, another, harder to ... Read On
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Finding the Will to Keep Fighting after Brain Injury
We love those uplifting, feel good stories about survivors who have battled adversity to create a life following brain injury; who have proven doctors and doubters wrong by raising themselves from the ashes. These stories are good for the human spirit and good for the soul; handing us doses of confidence and inspiration by focusing on the best of our human qualities; demonstrating, for all of us, the possibilities in life. However, there are TBI Survivors who find it difficult to relate to ... Read On
TBI & Me: If I Die Today
The story of our life starts the moment we are born into this world. Our story is full of what makes us human: joy, failure, triumph, heartbreak, perseverance, love, facing obstacles and learning what it takes to live. As stories go, each story has a beginning and has an end, and we, at some point during our lives, become aware of our mortality and learn to deal with the concept of death in our own way: Some of us pretend we are indestructible and live as though we will not ... Read On
Lost My Car & Nearly Fell Into the “Brain Injury Trap”
I get a laugh when I mention to somebody that I lost my car in the parking lot and they respond with, "Oh yeah, I do that all the time." I know they are just trying to be cute and funny or to find a way to make a connection with me, but what these people don't understand is that there is nothing cute or funny about a brain injured individual having to deal with constantly forgetting, misplacing or not understanding. I'm sure many, if not all of you, understand exactly what comes with ... Read On
My Mental Balancing Act-Post Brain Injury
For the last forty three years, since my car crash and month long coma, I have essentially been performing one big balancing act. Over this time I have learned what it takes to maintain my balance on the brain injury high wire; balancing what I used to be, what I was becoming, what I thought I was and my new reality in order to build a life that works. I will be balancing for the rest of my life, balancing on a straight and narrow line so I can continue to live my life and move ... Read On