After the fateful last word, “Shotgun,” everything is blank. The account of life until the 2nd week of July is merely an interpretation of what friends and family have described to me.
Happy to have “won” the front passenger seat in S's car, I smiled at B who chided “damn-it Matt!” We exited the parking garage into the blackness of the night. Car lights flooded the city and horns honked as festival-goers were anxious to sleep in their own beds. When we finally made it to the expressway, we were greeted by a never-ending line of automobiles.
Just then B’s cellular phone rang. "L," a friend of ours, wanted to meet us for a nighttime coffee at a local hangout. L and I were becoming good friends, and I was excited to see her! I was becoming more and more attracted to her. She seemed to have something that Stephanie didn’t, and I liked that. S took an exit that would serve as a faster way to get to the coffeehouse.
As we flew down the winding back-road we picked up speed. From what I’ve been told, the last speed that was noted by my fellow passengers was 85 mph (in a 45 zone). As we came around a bend in the road, and drifted into the oncoming traffic lane, S saw a pair of headlights straight ahead of us. He tried to correct the car and lost control of the vehicle...
Friday, November 27, 2009
Sunday, November 15, 2009
...And the story starts like this...
In the Spring of 2000, I was a 16 year-old sophomore in High School. I had a great life. I was in a band, had a promising future in competitive swimming, a girlfriend, and many friends! Stephanie, the girl I was dating was the first girl I truly loved and I was her "first kiss." But life seen through my teenage eyes was depicted differently.
I am a life-long Catholic and at that stage in my life I was beginning to see both people and God in a different light. For a reason I have yet to understand, I believed that although God created as he did in the Book of Genesis, he left his creations on their own and is therefore not a part of the present world. I also took original sin one step further; believing that people were inherently evil and in-compassionate. It was up to the parents of children to instill in them a sense of goodness. In addition, I started drinking and although I didn't drink much, it was just another bad decision in a series of choices.
God would soon tell me how wrong I had become.
At the end of May, My family left for the Odyssey of the Mind World Competition in Knoxville, Tennessee, and my Grandparents were staying at our house to watch me. On June 2nd I broke up with Stephanie so that I could pursue L. Looking back, I'm deeply ashamed of my past behavior, but have learned from my mistakes and plan to teach my 3-month-old son that his father has faced death because of his poor decisions.
My good friend "S" recently got his drivers license and had asked me if I wanted to go to the festival that was downtown. Since final exams were the following week, my grandparents told me to make sure that attending the festivities would be ok with my parents (since I needed to be studying.) I called my dad's cell phone and he said that I could go downtown as long as I studied the following day. Naturally, I said that I would study. Little did I know was that my mom was in the background shaking her head.
S picked me and "B" up that evening. We ventured downtown for a fun evening! After a night of eating elephant ears and seeing local bands perform, we found our way back to the parking garage. As we approached S's 92' Ford Taurus, I ran up ahead and called "Shotgun!" That single word sealed my fate as my life would ultimately change within the following hour.
I am a life-long Catholic and at that stage in my life I was beginning to see both people and God in a different light. For a reason I have yet to understand, I believed that although God created as he did in the Book of Genesis, he left his creations on their own and is therefore not a part of the present world. I also took original sin one step further; believing that people were inherently evil and in-compassionate. It was up to the parents of children to instill in them a sense of goodness. In addition, I started drinking and although I didn't drink much, it was just another bad decision in a series of choices.
God would soon tell me how wrong I had become.
At the end of May, My family left for the Odyssey of the Mind World Competition in Knoxville, Tennessee, and my Grandparents were staying at our house to watch me. On June 2nd I broke up with Stephanie so that I could pursue L. Looking back, I'm deeply ashamed of my past behavior, but have learned from my mistakes and plan to teach my 3-month-old son that his father has faced death because of his poor decisions.
My good friend "S" recently got his drivers license and had asked me if I wanted to go to the festival that was downtown. Since final exams were the following week, my grandparents told me to make sure that attending the festivities would be ok with my parents (since I needed to be studying.) I called my dad's cell phone and he said that I could go downtown as long as I studied the following day. Naturally, I said that I would study. Little did I know was that my mom was in the background shaking her head.
S picked me and "B" up that evening. We ventured downtown for a fun evening! After a night of eating elephant ears and seeing local bands perform, we found our way back to the parking garage. As we approached S's 92' Ford Taurus, I ran up ahead and called "Shotgun!" That single word sealed my fate as my life would ultimately change within the following hour.
Introductions
My name is Matt. In June of 2000, I suffered a traumatic brain injury due to a closed head injury sustained in a car accident. I endured a drug-induced coma for 2 weeks and have since graduated from high school with honors as well as obtained my bachelors degree, gotten married, and am now a successful sales rep. This blog is meant to give hope and offer help to other survivors of head injuries and the family and friends who are watching their loved ones suffer. I want you all to know that a "normal" life is possible! With hard work and support, the survivor CAN recover! They/you may even find that life after brain-injury is more fulfilling than it was before the life-altering event.
This story is as brutally honest as I can possibly be. Perhaps partly because I have had so many of these feelings bottled up inside for the past 9 years, and I needed to put them into to words. Due to my past transgressions and how I not only found God again, but found a greater appreciation for life, friends, and family. I have used letters to represent most of the main characters of the story in order to protect their reputations.
If this is your first visit to my blog, please locate the "archive" on the side to view my entries from November 2009 until the present.
God-Bless and good luck on your journey.
This story is as brutally honest as I can possibly be. Perhaps partly because I have had so many of these feelings bottled up inside for the past 9 years, and I needed to put them into to words. Due to my past transgressions and how I not only found God again, but found a greater appreciation for life, friends, and family. I have used letters to represent most of the main characters of the story in order to protect their reputations.
If this is your first visit to my blog, please locate the "archive" on the side to view my entries from November 2009 until the present.
God-Bless and good luck on your journey.
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