The five year anniversary of my near fatal car accident that put me in a coma and gave me a severe Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) was yesterday September 15th. As many know, “celebrating” the anniversary of a tragic event isn’t the right word for it. It’s more like you “commemorate” the event. I have decided to commemorate in a few ways that are specific for this blog and a way that helped me manage any emotions and discomfort my family and I had in real life (you know… not online life)! I share what I mean in this very TBI #TBIthursday
As I did last year around my brain injury anniversary, I have decided to review the year as it was on this blog (see below for a list and links and also a visual). I have in part decided to do this because it’s a great way to mark time and progress in my recovery but it’s also a way for me to recognize another year successfully lived with brain injury.
- September 2020: I started what will hopefully be an annual tradition by reviewing my blogging year in My Brain Injury Story: An Anniversary.
- October 2020: I write about my development as a descriptive story teller post TBI in this essay about Descriptive Words.
- November 2020: A tactic I used to survive the time when I was first injured is a tactic I still use today to help calm me down. This tactic was employing my Friends From The Movies.
- December 2020: It’s the holiday season, which in modern Western culture that typically means holiday music played endlessly on radio stations. In honor of that, I write about the Annoying Radio Station in My Head (i.e. my aural distortions).
- January 2021: On January 6, 2021 there was an insurrection at the United States Capitol building. As an American I wrote about my thoughts in Anything But Normal.
- February 2021: As a former Advertising Project Manager and someone who received two Master’s degrees while working full time, I used to be a very skilled multitasker. This is something I have lost with my brain injury and I miss it. So I wrote a Valentine to Multitasking.
- March 2021: March brought another Brain Injury Awareness Month. I talk about the theme for the month for Brain Injury Association of America called More Than My Brain Injury. I also review a movie specifically about Brain Injury in A Movie for Brain Injury Awareness Month.
- April 2021: I had a little fun and got back to my short story roots (this blog started as one short story a month) by writing and sharing A Short Story For April Fool’s Day.
- May 2021: I talk about battling my own brain post-TBI in Battling Your Brain. I also share that I had some poetry published online in this blog post.
- June 2021: As a person with severe hearing loss and distortions, the COVID-19 pandemic has brought unique complications since face masks are prevalent and speech reading is impossible. I discuss this in this essay about masks.
- July 2021: I talk about how I have grown and changed as a Reader Through The Years. I also recruited my parents to help curate Pop Culture Top 5 Lists. And I talk about The Olympics and Mental Health.
- August 2021: I review a book I really enjoyed (The Vanishing Half). I also discuss how my memory is very visual after TBI in Pictures of Memory.
I decided that on the 5 year anniversary of my accident that my parents and I needed to funnel any sad or negative energy into positive energy to celebrate the little furry pep in our step: Selby Sweetie! So we took her to a local dog bakery (yup… this is a thing… proving I am not the only dog crazy lady around), PetSmart and a coffee shop drive-through where she gets a great “pup cup.” I had ambitions of taking her to a dog park but I couldn’t handle all that (and Selby was also over-stimulated). So we will have to dog park another day! All in all it was a great way to divert any negative energy and I think we will definitely do this again!
Daily Doodle Project Highlights of the Week
A Selby Sweetie Conclusion
Writing By Laura 
Last December was my *25* year anniversary of my near fatal accident. Time truly does dull old wounds. I barely even remembered the anniversary and didn’t commemorate it in any way. It’s the gift that keeps giving though. Over the past few months, my collar bone (which I badly dislocated, called an AC separation) has recently developed a nagging ache, Might be one of those things that just never goes away.
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I thought of you because I think you have said you barely remember the anniversary of your accident. My goal is to get there eventually, I hope to get to Jeff level of OK-ness! 👌🏻 Sorry your injury is the gift that keeps giving. 😞 Since mine is so omnipresent with my hearing it is certainly that way for me.
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I think even if your hearing never improves, your accident as an event will mean less and less to you. Things like that tend to lose power after a while. Your hearing will seem like you, not the result of an accident. I could be wrong, but I attribute a whole host of problems to my brain injury, yet I rarely think of them in connection with my injury. They are just now who I am. That said, I hope your incremental improvement helps take the strength away from the disability so you don’t need to think about it at all.
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Wow! Thank you so much for your incredible comments and insight. I don’t know exactly why but this year I was much more aware of the accident anniversary but I haven’t been previously this much (that I remember) and I bet you’re right that in time it will mean less and less.
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Just as “celebrate” is not the correct way to acknowledge an anniversary like yours, Laura, “congratulations” is not appropriate, so I’ll honor how far you’ve come. And twelve blogs in 12 months is quite an accomplishment! You do such a great job of keeping busy and staying positive, and I hope you keep it up!
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Thank you, Karen! I post every week usually and I forget to be proud of it.
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You should be VERY proud. 🙂
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