Mary, Julie, and Gabby

Almost everyone has heard of Gabby Giffords now. (If you haven't she's the Arizona congresswoman who was shot in the head on January 8, 2011). Every time I hear about her progress on the radio or television I am reminded of my own mother, Mary, and her long, slow recovery process.

Gabby (pre-accident)

I was recently made aware of a young woman named Julianna, who is engaged to an American Idol contestant. Check out Julie's story on YouTube.

Mary, Julie and Gabby have one thing in common: traumatic brain injury, or TBI.

I toyed with the idea of calling this entry "Brain Injuries Suck" or using my new favorite (possibly someday a book) title "Brain Injuries are Contagious: Nobody Tells You Until it's Too Late." But then I realized I didn't want to write about all the ways my family has gone nutty since my mom's accident. At least, not today. (I'll save that for my book).

I want to write about the heroes in these stories: John, Chris, and Mark. These men spent countless hours in the hospital, crying, meeting with doctors, making phone calls, preforming mundane yet vital duties to aid the recovery of their beloved ones. And these men have to remember. They don't share the one blessing of a TBI - the blessing of forgetting.

Mary (pre-accident)

Pray for the spouses and parents of TBI patients. Their lives are changed forever, too, even when patients "fully" recover. TBI is becoming more common, so

Today I'm hanging out with my mom. We're sitting in her living room and she's insisted several times that she wants to go home. I have to find things around the room and ask her, "Who does this belong to?" until she agrees with me that she's at her home. It's a good day, though. We laugh a lot, sing, talk, and watch movies together. Even though she won't remember any of today when she wakes up tomorrow I feel blessed that she's still here.

The brain fascinates me. Want to learn more?