Whaddya Say?

Many years ago I was going through a particularly rough and stressful time in my life. My marriage was falling apart, but I had to keep it a secret. I had to go on as if nothing was wrong, and pretend I was happily married. The extreme stress of the situation manifested itself physically with me in the form of what I now know to be atypical migraines. I didn't know what they were when they happened. These atypical migraines manifested themselves in three different ways. When the first one happened I was really scared. I got up from the table after working at the computer all afternoon, and one side of my body was numb. I thought I was having a stroke. A trip to the ER, and a negative CAT scan later, and I  knew that I hadn't had a stroke but no explanation of the numbness. The second symptom I had was a sort of block vision. I would look ahead of me, and the horizon would build from the ground up in pixilated blocks. The third, to me, was the most terrifying. I was trying to speak, and my brain knew what I wanted to say, but when the words finally came out of my mouth, they were gibberish. It only lasted a short time, but I had no idea what was happening to me. I thought I had a brain tumor. I saw a neurologist, had an MRI and was eventually diagnosed with atypical migraines. The last symptom I described is a type of aphasia, and is very common in stroke victims. This brings me to the inspiration for this post. 

Back in July of 2010 I had the great fortune to be cast in a workshop production of a show called Company of Angels. Also cast in the show was an incredible young man named Jason Campbell. He was playing an angel named Robert who was trying to earn his wings, and his character talked incessantly and his lines came out like rapid fire. I had never worked with Jason before, but I soon fell in love with him as an actor and person. Early in 2014 Jason was on stage in a production of "Life Could Be a Dream" at Swift Creek Mill Theater when other cast members started to realize that something was wrong. Something was very wrong! Jason was having a stroke. We never think of young, vibrant people having strokes. Strokes are something  that 70 + people have. Jason was taken to the hospital and started a long road to recovery. In less than a year Jason has made incredible progress. To look at him, you would never know the trauma he has faced. It is only when Jason tries to speak to you that you see the one thing from the stroke that has not left him, aphasia. Very shortly after Jason came home from the hospital, my daughter and I went to visit him. He had very few words to say and the few words that did come out didn't seem to match the questions we had asked. Jason makes his living as a theatre teacher and actor. Aphasia makes that close to impossible. Because of some very giving people, Jason had the opportunity to go to the Aphasia Center in Florida. Through intensive treatment he has improved immensely from those first days. Everyday Jason posts a video announcing the date of the current day, and some thought to carry us through. Most days it is funny and very entertaining, but most of all it is inspiring. I dealt with aphasia for minutes, and it was incredibly frustrating and scary. Jason has been dealing with it for months. Not long ago Jason posted a video entitled "Honesty"  Click on  the link and please watch. https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10102297151427176&set=vb.25503273&type=2&theater 

I would have wanted to give up long ago, yet he presses on, never giving up, working tirelessly to do something we take for granted. Jason Campbell you are a hero to more people than you know. You can achieve the impossible, you already have! If you would like to contribute to help Jason continue at the Aphasia Center, please click on this link. http://www.gofundme.com/7odo30

I Hope You Have One Just Like You

Have you ever heard these words uttered by a parent to their child in frustration after the child has done something less than stellar, "I hope you have one just like you?" The parent usually means it as a sort of jinx as in I hope one day you'll know just how I feel today with your own kid. Well, I don't remember if that was ever said to me by my parents. It probably was because God knows I did some majorly frustrating things when I was little, but if they did, thank the Lord it came true. In so many ways, my baby, Georgi, is just like me. We are both stubborn. We are both very independent. We both like to cook. In so many other ways she is totally her own person, and I wouldn't have it any other way.
Georgi wasn't really planned, not in the sense of exact timing. I had had one baby who had just turned 2 in September, and her father and I had decided that we would stop using birth control, and if it so happened that we got pregnant, it was meant for us to have a second child. I was playing the Ugly Duckling's Mother in a children's show the following May, and I found out I was expecting another baby. As with my first pregnancy, I didn't want to know what I was having, so the following February, in the blizzard of 1996, I traveled early one Thursday morning on February 1st to have my scheduled C-section, something my doctor and I had decided after complications with my first pregnancy. At 8:16 am, my OB announced in the surgical suite, "Indoor plumbing!," another little girl. I was very happy!
So many things have happened in the last 19 years, and I have shared stories before in this blog. My little snow angel baby is now a college girl, and I am so proud of all she is doing! I never worry about her! I totally trust her! How many moms say that about their 19 year olds? In so many ways she is all grown up, but in other ways she's still my little girl. She still calls me Mommy sometimes, and it's hard to let go of that tiny munchkin who drew on the wall with marker, but what an amazing friend I have gained! Happy Birthday, sweet girl! It's your birthday, but I'm the one who got the present.