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Growth and Change Through Trauma with Gratitude and Connection

A man watches two girls play a VR motorcycle video game in an arcade

The holiday season is upon us and that means family time and reflection. But this year just feels off. I’m not sure if it’s the change of seasons, the upcoming holidays, our added pressures at work, or just the stress of everything going on in the world, but my husband, Russ, and I have both been stressed. 

Long Brain Injury?

David and his wife smiling in bright pink Hawaiian shirts

Well, it finally happened. After successfully dodging COVID for over three-and-a-half years, the virus finally struck our household. Since the outbreak, my biggest fear about COVID was having a preexisting brain injury — what might the virus do to further compromise my already challenged brain? 

My External Brain

David and his wife smiling in front of tall pine trees

Many years ago, I was introduced to a phrase that, before my brain injury, had not been part of my vocabulary: “compensatory strategies.” Why? Because prior to my injury, there had been nothing to compensate for. I was a fully formed and completely functional adult. Strategies were for board games.

My Relationship with Depression

David and his wife smiling in a garden

My life will forever be marked by that day in November of 2010 when I sustained a brain injury after being hit by a car while riding my bicycle. It was a true "before and after" scenario. However, an unexpected consequence followed: my decades-long depression disappeared. I was as stunned as anyone …

Lost Memories and Living in the Present: Reflections of a Brain Injury Survivor

David and his wife smiling in front of trees on a sunny day

Over the last couple of years, I’ve discovered mindfulness and have learned the value of living life “in the moment.” It’s a learned skill that has enabled me to find peace in my life. In what amounts to almost an irony, I no longer have much of my past to recall. The future never really comes. By circumstance, rather than any virtue, I am now forced to live in the moment.

Ignoring the Inner Narrative

David and his wife smiling by a sunny pier

Living with a brain injury is, by far, the most complicated thing I have ever done. There have been great joys, stunning victories, and, somehow against all odds, I’ve carved out this amazing life. Sometimes, I just need to remind myself that just because I think something, doesn’t mean that it’s true. 

Good News Disguised as Bad News

David and his wife smiling surrounded by foliage

Last month, I found out that I qualified for a Cornell University research study about brain injury.... I ruefully admit that I was nervous going into the testing. What brokenness in me would they find? I do pretty well these days, well enough that most people might not notice my challenges. But I still have an ego and can be more sensitive that I care to admit.

The Inherent Uncertainty of Life After Brain Injury

David and his wife, wearing "Wild African Trek" vests, smile in front of a hippopotamus

If there’s one thing that is all but guaranteed after a brain injury, it’s uncertainty. So much of what we face as survivors is unique to the brain injury community. Brain injury is often — but not always — invisible to others and no two brain injuries are alike. The challenges I face are often different from those other survivors face. Often invisible, and always unpredictable, brain injury is a unique confluence of challenges.