Take a Little off the Top

Since Juliana’s accident I have tried hard not to look back at ‘what might have been.' I kicked myself several times for choices that we made but just as swiftly forgave myself for not knowing any better to begin with. I didn’t blame anyone for the sequence of events that night and certainly never tried to seek retribution.  That entire ‘blame game’ was never a valuable use of time. And anyone that knows me would agree that I really hate to waste time. As the calendar is moving forward we have come to know many other individuals with a Traumatic Brain Injury and the normal course of action is to compare notes. You can’t help but to trace back your steps and see what worked for you and what did not work. You hope you never have to use the information but when called upon to do so, it is something you never forget. 

Our most recent acquaintance as you may recall is Oak Forest youth, Alex Fitzgerald. For those of you not following his progress, you are missing out on a miracle. This young man is improving at a rapidly impressive pace and each update is a source of joy and wonder. His injury is not getting the best of him but instead he is making strides quickly and early which is, from what we learned, the indicator of overall success. And in reading what his parents write I can see the happiness that they are feeling as they watch their son improve. I remember it well and am still bolstered by the knowledge that in the middle of what seems to be your darkest days, you are simply consumed by the fact that they are less dark than the day before. But in the back of our minds, and most recently in the front of our conversations is this nagging, gnawing feeling that a very serious oversight took place that has forever steered the course of Juliana’s recovery…(to read more, visit www.forjuliana.org)