We Know Our Truth

Teaching high school students about brain injuries has been a blessing for Veronica and me. We have met literally thousands of new people. We have taught students, teachers, and counselors things they didn’t know. So many of them have already had concussions/traumatic brain injuries (TBI).

We have taught well over 60 classes in the past four years. Teens and adults have come up to us after class to talk about what they are personally going through themselves or with someone they care about. We have been able to offer them resources, validation, understanding; but the hugs and thank yous really let me know we are helping others.

We are changing lives. As many of you reading this knows, so many doctors know very little about brain injuries, and no matter what these thousands of students do in the future, they will know what a brain injury is.

We were caught off guard today.

Anyone that knows or reads about Veronica or me knows that we are positive people that have chosen to do something good with the trauma we experienced. (Veronica-severe TBI, and me- moderate TBI). Yesterday while teaching, after telling the students so many of our deficits, appropriate or inappropriate, I said, “Brain Injuries SUCK.”. Before I could move on, the substitute teacher blurted out, “But You Can Recover.” She looked at me and said, “You could find the positive.”

I felt belittled and disrespected. I did not want to, nor did I make a scene in front of the students but believe me when I tell you I thought about it! I told her, “We count our blessings every day. That is why we have taught over 60 classes. I wrote my book to help others, and that is why I write my blogs.”

She said, “OH, good.”

The reason I was upset is because the way she said it, it was like it is all okay because we recover- discounting the hell we go through along the way!

I could feel my anger rise. The class ended soon after and as we walked down the hall together, and I gently put my hand on her arm and said, “I was offended when you said we could find the positive. I don’t know if she heard me right, because she said, “I would be too.” That was the end of it.

My hands were shaking by the time we got to our car. I was so proud of myself for being calm, but I obsessed over this interaction, and lost sleep that night over what she said. Much to my surprise I found out she had previously worked for/with brain injured survivors, veterans of the military. But the truth is, she doesn’t truly know how hard it is to live with a brain injury. She doesn’t have one.

I do feel better this morning though. We know our truth, our passion for educating others, and our gratefulness for our God given blessings.