I am normally not a hash tag user on social media. I'm not opposed to them. I just don't usually use them. This morning, however, as I created an entry on yesterday's events in a journaling app called "Journey", I remembered I could add a tag to group the entries under a similar topic. I began to do so and suddenly halted as I had no idea what to tag this experience. Previous experiences were always labeled "The Accident", and we just knew it referred to anything related to July 4, 1998. However I am stumped as to what to call this one. It’s not " The Stroke" or "The Fall". There’s no aneurism or car wreck. As I don't have a cause yet to his expressive speech loss and cognitive impairments, I don’t have a label.
So then I began to think of other terms I could call this. At first words like "The Setback" came to mind. However, we've been down this road before and I refuse to use a negative term to define us right now. We need something more inspiring to keep us going. "The setback" implies defeat and I need one that will help us overcome. I then scrapped that idea and kept searching.
A vision of the childhood game Chutes and Ladders popped into my head. This certainly was not a ladder, but more of a chute sending us back to a previous state of being. However, calling this whole experience "The Chute" doesn’t seem to work. I'll just have to keep thinking.
Next my Sci-Fi brain thought of time travel shows in which the characters live in an alternate time continuum for the episode. Sometimes they are thrown there in a wormhole. "Yes", I thought. We could tag this "The Wormhole". One moment we celebrated New Years Day with family playing games, singing, and laughing - and the next we were transported back to the world of hospitals, medical tests, and therapies. The challenge then would be to find the opening of another wormhole that leads back to the old life and skills. However, I know that wishing for our old lives back is not productive and wastes valuable mental energy. I've been there and done that. It didn’t work. What worked was rolling up our sleeves and digging in to make the most of the new situation and trusting in a God who loves me and would help me through this experience. There is no magic wormhole that will take me back and magically end this sci-fi episode in 47 minutes. We are more like the crew of the starship Voyager, who were thrown 75,000 light years from home and had to brave the journey back home with courage, determination, and ingenuity. I could call this "The Voyage" and try to apply the same principles on our own journey, but perhaps only my Trekkie friends would appreciate the tag.
That puts me back at the drawing board looking for a tag for what lies ahead. Brene Brown says there is power in identifying and writing our own story. Each story, she says, has 3 acts. I thought we had made it through the first two acts and were enjoying the experiences of the third. In fact, in my own private writings I've been laying out pieces of his book for our children and calling it "How Can I Keep From Singing?" It chronicles his journey from motorcycle accident to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, culminating with performances in Carnegie Hall and Europe. Maybe we have begun Book 2, "The Sequel" and are sitting now on the edge of a new 3 act story. We are experiencing the opening event and now we get to write the rest. The first book covered 18 years. Who knows how long the second one will take. I only pray I am up to this arduous task. I know I have the help of family and friends. They've been there for me before and are currently by my side again. Most importantly, I believe in a Higher Power, a Divine Author, a loving Heavenly Father and His Son, who do know the end and will guide me through it. I'm sure it will be a tale of heartache and struggle, but probably it will also chronicle personal growth and ultimately victory. It has to.
I've found my tag. We'll call this Book 2 and see where the story takes us.
So then I began to think of other terms I could call this. At first words like "The Setback" came to mind. However, we've been down this road before and I refuse to use a negative term to define us right now. We need something more inspiring to keep us going. "The setback" implies defeat and I need one that will help us overcome. I then scrapped that idea and kept searching.
A vision of the childhood game Chutes and Ladders popped into my head. This certainly was not a ladder, but more of a chute sending us back to a previous state of being. However, calling this whole experience "The Chute" doesn’t seem to work. I'll just have to keep thinking.
Next my Sci-Fi brain thought of time travel shows in which the characters live in an alternate time continuum for the episode. Sometimes they are thrown there in a wormhole. "Yes", I thought. We could tag this "The Wormhole". One moment we celebrated New Years Day with family playing games, singing, and laughing - and the next we were transported back to the world of hospitals, medical tests, and therapies. The challenge then would be to find the opening of another wormhole that leads back to the old life and skills. However, I know that wishing for our old lives back is not productive and wastes valuable mental energy. I've been there and done that. It didn’t work. What worked was rolling up our sleeves and digging in to make the most of the new situation and trusting in a God who loves me and would help me through this experience. There is no magic wormhole that will take me back and magically end this sci-fi episode in 47 minutes. We are more like the crew of the starship Voyager, who were thrown 75,000 light years from home and had to brave the journey back home with courage, determination, and ingenuity. I could call this "The Voyage" and try to apply the same principles on our own journey, but perhaps only my Trekkie friends would appreciate the tag.
That puts me back at the drawing board looking for a tag for what lies ahead. Brene Brown says there is power in identifying and writing our own story. Each story, she says, has 3 acts. I thought we had made it through the first two acts and were enjoying the experiences of the third. In fact, in my own private writings I've been laying out pieces of his book for our children and calling it "How Can I Keep From Singing?" It chronicles his journey from motorcycle accident to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, culminating with performances in Carnegie Hall and Europe. Maybe we have begun Book 2, "The Sequel" and are sitting now on the edge of a new 3 act story. We are experiencing the opening event and now we get to write the rest. The first book covered 18 years. Who knows how long the second one will take. I only pray I am up to this arduous task. I know I have the help of family and friends. They've been there for me before and are currently by my side again. Most importantly, I believe in a Higher Power, a Divine Author, a loving Heavenly Father and His Son, who do know the end and will guide me through it. I'm sure it will be a tale of heartache and struggle, but probably it will also chronicle personal growth and ultimately victory. It has to.
I've found my tag. We'll call this Book 2 and see where the story takes us.