Back again

Another xmas has past and it is catch up time. The end of Oct. was a real trip and I mean that literally. While watering my garden slipped in the mud onto a concrete slab and broke my Humerus bone,upper arm under the shoulder bone. This cost me my job and couldn't drive for a month. Vacation time NO, Pain lots and lots of it. I could not write or type. So felt quite isolated.
Now that I can type again I intend to do all of the writing I should have been doing instead of feeling sorry for myself and my lack of computer skills. I think I was just ahead of the computer age, but not tooo old now to learn and catch up.
Our "Freedom House" homes for TBIs is still going strong, but we are really in need to find more people to help us who have experience in fund raising. If we are going to build these homes we need all the help we can get. To Visit our web site go www.freedomhouseabi.org and www.youtube.com/user/freedomhouseabi. We have a video that is very compelling Let us know how you liked it.

A Year Later

Time passes so quickly since I last wrote. I went back to work full time and did not seem to have the energy to sit and write when I got home. Now I am back with a purpose. During this past year we were able to get our non-profit status from the IRS,, for "Freedome House" a home for survivors of Tramatic Brain Injury. Now the hard part will be getting funding to support the home with our breaking the families bank. I will keep everyone up dated on our plans.

Dealing with difficult behaviors

Most of us who live with a family member who suffered a TBI are dealing with some form of their impaired memory. At the beginning of their recovery, it is difficult to know the extensiveness of the impairment. In time, a lot of healing will take place and may even take several years. During that time the whole family will learn how to compensate for the deficit. Many will return to activities and jobs and a normal family life. For some of us who take care of a TBI it is a totally different story. It took a year for my daughter to physically recover most of her physical problems. Loss of her short term memory and social skills has been more difficult to deal with. Her long term memory seems to be in place but without a short term memory there is no way to access it. So social skills are not available and we must constantly remind her of what is and is not appropriate behavior. It very difficult to teach a person new and appropriate behavior when the memory is about two minutes long. We have tried many different strategies during the time she has been living with us and nothing seemed to work. Often it felt as if her rebellious nature and natural stubbornness were getting in the way. Although, she had lost so much of “whom” she used to be, this could be the only way she has any control of her life. So finding a consequence for the inappropriate behaviors that would make an impact on her has been very frustrating. My son finally came up with an idea, and, it seems to be helping, at least at home. When the behavior is inappropriate at home she gets two warnings, explaining the behavior that is unacceptable and the third time she will be sent outside for an indefinite period of time. So far, we explain the consequences and she will change or stop the behavior. Now, I am looking for some way to remind her when we are out without being so obvious to those around us. If you have ideas please send them to me. I really dread taking her out at times because it almost seems she knows I am more vulnerable and will give in rather then have her suffer a consequence that is immediate. Help!!

Kittens-Feelings and a Walk

Its an early Sunday morning and cold. Had to get up and check our new additions three new kittens. A somewhat feral cat I have been taking care of decided under my stairs would be the safest place for them, but not for our studio. Now they live in my bathroom which mom didn't like and took one and escaped to the big out doors. That left me with three in and one out in the bushes, well I brought it back, but she later took another one. It is still out and I wonder if it survived. That leaves me to now. I did'nt want to go back to bed and wanted something hot to drink so heated up a half cup of milk put a little coffee on top and tne memories flooded over me. I was taken back to when I was a little girl and hated milk so my father would take some of his coffee and put it in my milk and I thought it was the best thing I ever had. Some memories leave you with such warm feeling, what a way to start a day. We have our "Freedom House" board meeting on the 25th, and are planning a mile and a half walk in March. We share the money we make, and use our portion to support our mailings and supplies to help get us started. I well keep it posted when I have more information. Hope you all have a great day I know I will.

"Living With A Brain Injured family member"

This can have many challenges, and some very poignant moments. Last night was one of those moments. My daughter had just finished her dinner and came to join me at the sink in the kitchen to watch the sunset. She looked so vunerable, that I could only turn to her and say "I love you Pia". She gave me a big smile, and I said, " I wonder if you would be happier too". She responder, "Mom, I am happy!" At a moment like this I could only feel teary and no matter what I will always hope she can be happy. Many of us take these moments and build our hope on them. I do that too, but know that she still has a long way to go and I will have to practice my letting go skills, as one day she must move on and be on her own, and I will not be there for her. That is a lot of my motivation to find funding for a non-profit organization ,Freedom House, to have homes for our tramatic brain injured family member. A place where they can live in a family atmosphere for the rest of there lives. If anyone who reads this and has ideas that we can use or want to donate time to our cause we would love to hear from you. I will continue with this to present our needs to you and the kind of help we need. Have a great day its beautiful on my end hope yours is too. Bev T.
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A Home for Pia "Freedom House"

"Yesterday" showed what a new BLOGGER I am. I let my lap top run on NO battery and it shut me down!! Oh well, to continue, after stopping my meds I have been able to under stand my depression and have worked through the thoughts that I could not deal with. Today I can face situations and know that I could feel sad, but do not need to. I accept it is part of my past and have grown beyound those feelings. They can no long interfer with my life. It may sound simplistic, but it works for me. And , I am back to my enegetic thinking self. I am now ready to take on the challenge of helping to build a non-profit buisness "Freedom House" where we can build homes that will be forever homes, if it is needed, for those with a brain injury. Families grow older too, and cannot, in many cases, continue the care of a brain injureded person. As of now, there are very few homes for the TBI and the cost is prohibitive. A few start at $5000 a month, but more likely $10,000+. We are working to change this for everyone who will need a home that is affodable. We will need a lot of help and ask those who can and want to become involved let us know. We will soon have our own blog up for Freedom House so I will continue to use my bolog to keep everyone informed. Have a great week end!!