Hey kids,
I thought maybe I should check in here on the blog since it may seem like I have disappeared off the face of the earth. Rest assured I have not, but instead have been taking a rather long and unplanned break from the blog and any other kind of writing in general, really. There have been a few developments around here to prompt this hiatus, most notable being that, back in May, my beloved Big Brother had a stroke.
I am happy to report he is doing wonderfully and is home and on the mend, and I am very very proud of him for how hard he is working in his recovery and how well he is adapting to this massive crappy curveball life threw at him. While he does have some physical weakness on his one side, Big Brother’s major hurdle is that the stroke affected his speech – he knows exactly what he wants to say but has a hard time spitting it out. And while this in itself shows just how unbelievably lucky he was (it’s about perspective – it could have been so much worse), not being able to express himself as he normally would has required a great deal of adaptation on his part and an amount of patience that boggles me. It would be so easy for him to give up and not even try to talk. It would be so easy for him to withdraw and wonder why he got dealt this shitty hand in life. But he doesn’t. I’ve always idolized my Big Brother – he’s been my hero since the day I was born – but now? Now I want to tell the world that this, this right here, is what it is all about. This is my strong, amazing Big Brother and I couldn’t be more proud of him. 🙂
I also want everyone to know that stroke can happen to anyone. Big Brother is only 40 years old, and as best as the doctors can tell, his stroke was caused by his sleep apnea. Please, if you have sleep apnea WEAR YOUR BREATHING MACHINE. Even if you are young and as strong as a bull moose, just wear it. Also, if you suspect something is not right with someone you love just call 911 or go to the emergency room. It is not a waste of time. Big Brother is most likely here today because my incredibly smart and astute sister-in-law Bex figured out what was going on and got him to the hospital instead of letting him to back to bed (his stroke happened while he was sleeping). I’m still amazed that Bex put the pieces of the puzzle together and reacted so quickly – I can’t say that I would have. Who would suspect a 40-year-old would be having a stroke? We owe everything we have today to her, my wonderful sister-in-law. And, please, learn the warning signs of stroke. Medical treatment of stroke is time-sensitive with the best possible outcomes if help is received within 2-3 hours. If you even think that your loved one might be having a stroke, just go and get help. It’s worth it, no matter what.
Right now I am working on a more in-depth post about stroke because I think it’s important, and about Big Brother because he’s a pretty awesome guy and I want to introduce him to all of you, but I want to get it right and my writing mojo seems to have vanished for the time being. I also didn’t want to write about everything that has been going on until I knew what I wanted to say, and writing about other things as if nothing had happened seemed dishonest and somehow disrespectful. So I’m not sure if my hiatus is over yet or not, I guess time will tell. We do have some fairly neat homesteading-type things going on around here that I want to share, I just don’t know when I’ll do that. Maybe tomorrow, maybe not. We’ll see. Until then, I hope everything is well in your neck of the woods and that you’re all behaving yourselves. I’ll be back soon.
Later, kids. 🙂
Stone House Road 