You Can Make a Difference!

There are many ways one can acquire a brain injury.  In 2011 we heard about Gabby Gifford’s traumatic brain injury from a gunshot wound to the head, numerous TBI’s acquired in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and brain injuries sustained as a result of domestic abuse, car accidents, bicycle accidents, falls, and in sports ranging from football to hockey--not to mention strokes.

A brain injury can happen to any one of us or those we love. We are all vulnerable.

The Virginia General Assembly is seeking a nearly $78,000 cut to brain injury services. These services are essential to families all over Virginia.

Here is a plea from the Brain Injury Association of Virginia. I hope you will be able to help in any way possible and pass this along.

“Regional budget hearings are scheduled for next week; please consider attending and providing a 3 minute plea for help. Speak about what services you are receiving and why they are important and why more are needed.   Speak about the services you are unable to receive because of wait lists or because there are no services where you live. Speak about how much this $600,000 is needed to fund supports and services for people with brain injury. If you plan to attend, you should arrive 1-2 hours early; you have to sign up to speak and there’s usually a line…and the earlier you get a chance to tell your story, the better.” The schedule for the meetings is: THURSDAY, JANUARY 5, 2012 (Hearing begins at 10:00 a.m.) - Big Stone Gap – Mountain Empire Community College, Philip Taylor Hall, Goodloe Center FRIDAY, JANUARY 6, 2012 (Hearing begins at 10:00 a.m.) - Fairfax County – George Mason University, Fairfax Campus, Johnson Center, Dewberry Hall FRIDAY, JANUARY 6, 2012 (Hearings begin at 12:00 noon) - Newport News – Christopher Newport University, Ferguson Center, Music and Theater Hall - Lexington – Virginia Military Institute, Marshall Center for Leadership and Ethics, Hall of Valor - Richmond – Virginia Commonwealth University, Medical College of Virginia, Larrick Student Center, 900 Turpin Street If you are unable to attend the budget hearings in person, write a letter and tell your Delegate and Senator how you feel.   You can find out who your legislators are by going to http://conview.state.va.us/whosmy.nsf/main?openform and entering your address. Send this email to your friends and family, and tell them to write to their Delegates and Senators and speak up too. Thank you, and Happy New Year! Visit the BIAV site to learn more

An Avalanche of Kindness

I’m asked all the time why I would publish, in such great detail, the emotional story of Learning by Accident, and I always go back to my original motivation—to thank the huge community of caregivers that kept my family going. These were caregivers in the form of doctors, and therapists, surely, but they were also neighbors who stopped by with a pan of baked ziti, or an eighth grade boy with chocolate chip cookies for the girls. They were sisters and brothers calling me to listen, friends offering rides, a dentist who mowed our lawn, and a minister who remarried us in our living room. They were our ever-present parents giving all they could to keep us afloat—everyday people doing extraordinary things to help each other.

On January 1, 2012, I’ll give thanks for the health of my family with a newfound fervor. I’ll also whisper thank-you to the good people in the world, who with small acts of kindness, help others, sometimes without ever knowing it, and without expecting anything in return. Albert Einstein asked: is the universe friendly or hostile? And he said the answer to that question would determine our destiny. I believe the universe is friendly.  Here’s to 2012, and making kindness our measure of success for the coming year.