People note anniversaries of all kinds. Of course birthdays are anniversaries. So too are wedding anniversaries. And, in Judaism, we mark the anniversary of a loved one's death (called a yarzheit). Today is the 9th anniversary of the accident that caused my traumatic brain injury. Some people might get upset or depressed on such anniversary. But I look at it through a different lens. I'm thankful. Thankful that I survived; thankful that I'm thriving; thankful to be present for my amazing children and surrounded by loved ones and friends. So, on this anniversary, and those that follow, I choose to be thankful for how far I've come since April 24, 2016, and looking ahead to meeting new goals for the next anniversary.
I never intended planned--of course--to incur nor live with a traumatic brain injury. (TBI).No one does. Since I am lucky to have survived, my attitude is to work hard to reclaim as much of my pre-injury life as possible and even to embark on new experiences that I didn't before (mostly because I barely had time to breathe between working and raising children.) While I can't run the San Francisco marathon like I did many years ago, I can and have walked a half marathon with a cane; use a treadmill; ride horseback. I have done all three after my accident. (I rode horseback as a child but had not been on a horse for twenty years prior to my accident. Now I ride every week. It is true that the way I do these activities does not look like someone without a disability does them. But that doesn't make them any less of an accomplishment. Many able-bodied people never ride a horse nor ski. These activities are challenging for me in differing ways. Both are im...
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