The TBI Chatroom and Homepage

Hello. *smiling* I guess this is where my story goes, so I best get to it. I came here to Oklahoma City from Lawton, Oklahoma where I was stationed in the U.S. Army (but I lived in Oklahoma City for most of my life) to stay the weekend with some of my best friends, George, his wife Hellen and their son Lance. Well apparently we had gone out to eat dinner with their other friends, Tina, Lisa and her son Monty, and Hellens little sister Shaunda. We finished dinner and decided to go see a movie on the south side of town (because we were WAY northwest). On the way there a car cut us off and Goerge over-corrected and lost control of the Chevy Blazer we were in. We went into the median, and flipped end over end three times. The news paper even quoted a witness as saying, People were just flying. The only people that weren't ejected were George and the two small children. I thank God that this didn't happen to one of the children. Anyway, everyone that got thrown out landed in the grass......... except me. I landed on the shoulder of the road. *smile* Mmmmmm, sooooo comfy. *laugh*

The paramedics of course used triage and since they KNEW they could save the others, they went to them first. It took them awhile to even find me. I was 150 ft away from everyone else. I died once on the way to the hospital and three other times while I was in er, right at the beggining. I was extremely lucky. I had no broken bones or cuts of any sort. Oh, I was on a respirator. *grinning* That is, I was in a respirator until I decided to take my tach tube out myself. I was SOOOOOOO out of it though. Then I went from the hospital here in OKC to another one here, but only for a short time. Then I hit sunny Florida, and it is there, or to be more precise when I was on the way there, that I started on this path to awareness that we find ourselves on. That may be confusing to some, but while on the way there I was semi-comatose. I'd been in that state for two weeks. So I was in Florida for a month, then back here to the OKC VA hospital, and from there to the Center for Comprehensive Services in Carbondale, Illinois, I probably made more gains while there, than I had since the accident.

From there I went to Fort Smith, Arkansas because my wife and I were of course getting divorced. I saw my children as much as I could, working little visits in when I was going from one place to another, but of course they grew away from me. I was living with my mother at the time and you can imagine how that was. *grin* Of course I love my mom, but I didn't want or NEED to be so mothered, you know? So I moved here to Oklahoma City in August 1997. I see my kids almost every weekend. My ex and I are friendly with each other, so there is no problem there.

Life for me now is............... difficult, I guess says it best. Relationships seem to go bad for me. I'VE been used more times than any woman would accept being. I crave an adult, responsible, commited, HONEST, relationship, but the women I seem to date just want the physical aspect. I know, it strange for a guy to feel this way, but to be honest, a person can get sex anywhere. I want a bit more than that though. I want to find someone who understands me, who loves me for me, who's impecably honest, someone willing to take the time it takes to be as close as we can possibly be. *sighs* Maybe I'm asking for too much. I don't know. *shrugs*

But anyway, to get back on TBI stuff, there are some people that I've come across who just don't get it, the only way I CAN survive is to look at everything in the most positive light that I can. It's very true that we're all individuals and we've all been through different, but still similar, things. Who am I to say that my injury was worse than yours? And who are OU to say that yours was worse than mine? NONE of us CAN know EXACTLY what the other experienced.

Well, that's more than enough. Hope to hear from you soon!!! *HUGS*
Always~
John

Email John
ICQ number: 6840044