Hi Everyone,

To begin, we are all well. I received several text messages and emails this week from dear friends and many of Corey’s carepage followers because we were not posting. I am sorry to make you worry, I was away. With the help of Caitlin, JohnPaul, Jackie and 2 nurses, I took a “real” vacation.

We have been preparing Corey for my trip for several weeks and she handled our separation better than expected. She was sad, had moments of anger and outbursts because she would forget but, during the day at least, she handled her emotions fairly well (her most difficult time is always through the night). She used her journal to write down her frustrations daily. She even mentioned wanting to take her journal to Dr. A to talk out some of what she wrote.

We will be facing many changes in the next several months, so I took advantage of my time away to rest and regroup. While I was away I was making entries in my ‘mental’ journal. As you all know by now, I ‘write’ at night. I often tease that my house is the loudest at bedtime. The conversations and worries in my head are relentless. The change of my 4 walls doesn’t always silence those voices either, and I find myself carrying those concerns with me regardless of the destination.

Several years ago I met the wife of a TBI survivor and she sent me an entry from a blog she keeps. She was sharing how this time of year is particularly difficult as the winter blues settle in. She recalled the trauma her family had to navigate and once she helped them safely to shore, she was out of gas. A counselor gave her practical advise; a version of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. It has become a form of meditation for her and she recommends it nightly.

As I read her meditation questions, it helped me refocus and realign my perspective releasing the anxiety I create within myself from projecting as I listen to those nighttime debates over ‘what’s to come’.

So, per my friend, when you find yourself anxious, worried or tossing and turning about things you cannot control, ask yourself these questions:

Do I have a roof over my head?
Do I have enough to eat?
Am I loved?
Do I have people whom I love?
Do I have “enough” (whatever that may be)
Have I always been able to figure something out, one way or another, to mostly make it work?

If you can answer “yes” to all of these, take a deep breath, roll over, go back to bed and she guarantees it will look a little more possible in the morning.

Happy dreams, xoxo