We thought it would be interesting to include Craig's story from my point of view.
It might be enlightening for other wives, husbands, caregivers. It is certainly not a
dull life, as Craig repeatedly reminds me!

"We share what we know, so that we all may grow."

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A memoir, a story (very personal) about "a not so normal" married life
A tale of change and uncertainty traversing the "the twists and turns, the ups and downs" of life and it's often extremely difficult , but always amazing journey.

A "never-ending story"!



PROLOGUE
I came across this fine bit of writing, which I could closely relate to in those dark days in -. Diana's words describe my feelings better than I could myself... so here they are...
"People speak glibly about life changing moments. Some truly qualify. You propose marriage and are accepted. You hear, 'You're hired' or 'You're fired' and your future shifts instantly. The doctor says 'malignant' (or something else life-changing) and everything is different. But anyone who has ever lived through it will tell you: It is profoundly shattering to learn, in one instant, that everything you thought was true about a loved one (my words: or perhaps your own life) is actually a lie. (Your entire world is turned upside down – what you thought about yourself, and what gave meaning to your life). The world rocks on its axis; when it is finally steady again, you are in a strange place that resembles, but is totally unlike the place you were in just a moment earlier."
– fine and perceptive writing by Diana B Henriques from 'Wizard of Lies; Bernie Madoff and the Death of Trust'
From A Book Extract (as published in the New Zealand Herald)
And that's exactly as we felt*, as we tried to absorb the words of the ...
* Shattered and Broken!

memoirs, head injury, brain injury, traumatic brain injury (TBI), living with head (brain) injury



"Here was a light behind the despair, beyond the darkness. At first a flicker of an ember, just a tiny pin-prick of dawning possibilities. Then burning slowly, brightly and bigger, a glimmer, a candle in the blackness of despair, which gave off just enough of a glow (luminescence?) to light a path. And so show the rest of us the way ahead... a path to endless possibilities...from the darkness into the eternal light."
– as adapted (slightly) from Rian Malan's powerful words in his compelling book 'My Traitor's Heart'

PPS
"Where love endures, hope inevitably follows."





Gill and m July 1995