Chapter By Chapter Synopsis

CHAPTER 1               HELLO!

My picture perfect life comes to a screeching halt when my life is changed by a car accident.  The first chapter is a glimpse into my world before the accident and the moments immediately following the accident.

CHAPTER 2               YOU SHOULD ALWAYS WEAR CLEAN UNDERWEAR

Immediately after the accident, things began happening quickly.  Family was contacted and I was life-flighted to a trauma hospital for hours and hours of surgery while my life hung in the balance.  That night was the beginning of a new life for me.  One that I never imagined myself in.

CHAPTER 3               ON DISPLAY AT THIS RESORT

My Mom and Dad were determined to keep me alive while maintaining some semblance of my former self and my former life.  They brought friends in to see me on a continuous basis and they took turns at my bedside.  The pain in their eyes was evident, but they never broke in front of me, their strength gave me the strength to keep fighting.

CHAPTER 4               MY MOVE TO A PRIVATE PALACE

Any change, no matter how large or small, threw me into despair.  I had become accustomed to my surroundings and now they were moving me.  I was able to see my daughter for the first time, my husband, however, was still in a hospital over an hour away and my tiny son was off with family members who were taking care of him.

CHAPTER 5               BIRTHDAYS, BALLOONS & BABYSITTERS

My birthday, one I will never forget.  The nursing staff came in with candles aglow on my cake and I was able to see my husband for the first time since the accident.  Seeing him was a shock, he was so thin and pale but I can’t imagine what he must have been thinking about me.

CHAPTER 6               SCARING THE PUBLIC

I was moved to Spain Rehab and I really didn’t want to move again.  Dr. Bessey had become more than just my doctor, he was my security, my sanity, and my families comfort in this strange new world of medical terms that they’d been thrown into.  My new room had a view of the McDonalds across the street, and after what seemed like months of drooling, I was allowed my first big outing to the golden arches.

CHAPTER 7               A COOK, A POP, & PARTNERS IN CRIME

My new best friend and partner in crime was my new roommate Cook.  My grandfather, Pop, was determined that Cook and I would not miss out on the wonderful taste of summer:  watermelon and tomatoes, and he made sure we had more than enough.  I learned new things every day that would help me adjust to my new way of life.

CHAPTER 8               I WAS A GLAMOUR DON’T

Every day was an adventure, not always a good one, but an adventure nonetheless.  There was always some new task to conquer.  While I was learning how to be independent, my parents were learning to treat me normally and not allow me to become dependent on them.  I quickly realized that part of this new life, at least for a while, was that my style was going to be one of comfort and convenience and not fashion like before.

CHAPTER 9              TWIDDLING TOES & MICROWAVES

It’s the little things…the outings to the grocery store, the family events that you take for granted.  Just getting me to the car and in the car had to be planned and plotted.  Muscle spasms, I soon learned, would cause my toes to wiggle and thus cause people to wonder if I was really paralyzed.

CHAPTER 10             WHEELS – MINE & THEIRS

Life on my stomach…after developing a severe pressure sore that wouldn’t heal, it was decided that I would have to undergo another surgery, which required me to be face down on a borrowed stretcher for a month.  I felt like a pig on a spit, being rotated when one side was done.  But my friends, it never occurred to them to leave me lying around in my house all day.  They would come and get me and roll me all over our complex, much to my grandparents' fear.

CHAPTER 11            CAR OUT OF CONTROL

This was not like the days before I turned 16, this was driving like I’d never done before-without my legs.  And not only do I have to learn to drive this car, I have to learn how to put the wheelchair in it as well.  Thank goodness for strong dashboards, seats and steering wheels because I beat on them all in anger, frustration & tears.  Had I lived through my first accident only to die learning how to drive?  I thanked God the world wasn’t square because I definitely would have driven off of it.

CHAPTER 12             FRIENDS AND FAMILY COME TOGETHER

Many changes were taking place in my life.  It was an adjustment for all of us.  The whole town seemed to come together to help make my life easier by building us a home.  A totally handicap accessible home.  At the same time, I decided it was time to go back to school for a college degree.  Guess I didn’t feel like I had enough changes and challenges in my life, I needed one more.

CHAPTER 13             LOOSING TWO ROCKS

I was bound and determined to live my life as normal as possible in spite of the paralysis.  It slowed me down, but it wasn’t going to stop me.  I was always searching for easier, quicker ways to do things.  And as much as I was seeking independence, one person who I depended on and had depended on all my life for love, support, encouragement and wisdom was taken from me and I would never be the same. 

CHAPTER 14         FLOATING SHOES

Traveling could have been a real challenge-it would have been a real challenge without a sense of humor and without limitations.  Luckily the people I traveled with were willing to do whatever it took to accommodate my chair and me-even on the crowded streets of New Orleans.  At times, my stubbornness had really paid off, especially during my healing, but there were also times when it nearly killed me.

CHAPTER 15        LIVING UP TO “HANDICAP”

I wasn’t really good at labels and it was hard for me-impossible for me-to lie around and be “handicapped”.  I started getting out there, competing for scholarships, winning awards and traveling all over the state and all over the country to help bring disabilities to people's attention and make people more aware of the need not just to be treated as normal as other people, but also to address the need for handicap accessibility to all buildings, no matter where they were.  I won an award in recognition for overcoming my disability and was invited to attend a wonderful party at the White House.

CHAPTER 16        SO THIS IS THE CITY

I made one of the biggest decisions of my life and packed up my family and moved us all to Orlando, FL.  I had never lived very far from my parents and grandparents and now I was moving a world away from them, my old life, and my security.  The big city was sure different from Carrollton, AL, but we quickly settled in, bought a house and began a new, warm life in sunny Florida.

CHAPTER 17        OH NO, NOT AGAIN

The kids grew up and moved out and on.  I continued my education and quickly adjusted to a quiet house with just the cat and me.  Things were running along smoothly and then-another back surgery.  This one would be unlike the others.  The damage, the infections, the talk behind my back of putting me in a nursing home, this was not like before.  No way!  Not me!  I was independent.  I owned my own home. “Daddy come help me-please!”

CHAPTER 18        GOD’S LITTLE GIFTS

How things come full circle.  I have had so many ups and downs, surgeries, stretches of incredible health, times when I didn’t think I would see tomorrow, broken dreams, what I saw as a broken body, a broken heart and yet…here I am.  My life is full, full of wonderful family and friends, full of laughter, full of tears full of life!  I am still the mother of two wonderful children, the daughter of two incredible parents and the grandmother of the most adorable, wonderful, incredible gift that has ever been given me…Kylan!  And just as my son learned to crawl up my chair to get to me and sit in my lap, Kylan has learned how to crawl into his “Ganny’s” heart and soul.

New Perspective...Same Dreams

By Julie Windle Bryant