About

Welcome to my word garden.   This is a collection of thoughts, smiles, and life-moments. Feel free to stop a while and relax. Thanks for reading

I wrote those words when I first set up this blog, before any of the rest of my story unfolded.  A little back story…in my previous life I was a teacher, most recently at the high school level.  At the time I set up this blog I felt as if I was drowning in love and passion and stress.  I had no idea what to do.   Then life totally threw me a curve.  If you’re interested in finding out more, please read a few of my posts from before September 14 2014.   On that date I was in a car accident and almost died several times over.  I was left in a coma for several months, eventually went to a brain rehabilitation facility to make a recovery that defied every expectation.  At first  I wasn’t expected to come out of my vegetative state, then I wouldn’t have any quality of life.  Next I  wouldn’t walk or see:  then I wouldn’t be able to swallow, etc. etc. etc. etc.

Now I am home.  At this point I cannot drive, and may not be able to drive forever.  I admit I struggle with that possibility.    I  am scarred, but my face still looks pretty good.  My brain is broken, but when it’s fresh and well-rested, it still works pretty well.  I have remnants of my speech aphasia, especially when I’m tired., and occasionally my speech gets slurred.  But it’s far from where it could have been, or was predicted to be.  So I write, and I tell my story.

The posts from the period 2015-2017 deal far more with my brain injury and recovery than do the subsequent ones.  Which makes sense….at first the effects were more all-consuming to me, and I had not yet figured out how to live with my brain injury.  Plus I was trying to get the record down of what I had experienced and felt in those months, while I still remembered clearly.  And, thanks so much to brain plasticity and human adaptability,  I am both  functioning  far better and am feeling more alive than I really have any right to.  🙂

All in all, I’m very very very very grateful for all these  things.  I hope you will come along and enjoy this garden that I planted  two years before the accident–just enough time for the  perennials to start blooming.    Little did I realize that God knew all along this was in my future.    His tenderness and attention to the least details is staggering.

12 thoughts on “About”

  2. I’ve learned that with aphasia, writing is a real positive. It allows you time to gather your thoughts, rearrange words and end up communicating fluidly. God’s given you a story to tell! 😉

    Like

    Reply

  3. Hi, this is the first time I visited your blog and I wanted to say hello. I am a new blogger and have been touring myself around many different blogs and trying to make friends.
    Just recently, I challenged myself to do blog hopping for at least 21 days. During the blog hopping I will be leaving comment and have the blog listed on mine. However, my blog hopping got impaired due to some errands for the family.
    Therefore instead of just doing it for only 21 days, I will be doing it continually given I have a few minutes for it.
    Hope you can support me by visiting my blog too.

    Like

    Reply

  5. I would love to read your blogs on living with TBI. My daughter at 18 years old survived a TBI as a passenger in a deadly car crash with her best friend. I am her mom and caregiver. Your article on packing is so very helpful and I can hear the “teacher” come out in your details and love it! Please sign me up to receive for your blog.

    Like

    Reply

Leave a comment