explore #391
This is my life and my story - then and now
This is my brother. we were raised in foster homes and throughout most of our early adulthood. I went one way (military) and he went another, (street life and in and out of prison for non violent crimes)
Homelessness and alcohol ruled his life, mine was ruled by raising a family and living thousands of miles away from him while I was in the army. We connected several times during those 20 years and he lived with me for over a year at one duty station in the 1980′s but then we went our separate ways again.
I moved to California after retiring from the military 14 years ago and he would visit the kids and I but was drunk most of the time.
About 10 years ago he hit rock bottom when he was drinking sun up to sun down and had a severe car accident that required surgeries for internal injuries and several broken bones in his hand and arm. 6 months later he had an alcoholic seizure that caused him to incur a traumatic brain injury, surgery and a month in a coma. I kept him at my place after his release from the hospital, got him on disability and was looking for long term care but all this still didn’t stop him from drinking – so we were estranged and he lived with a family he knew.
I found him this past April and learned that he has been sober for 8 years. He still has a few seizures a year from the scarring on his brain.
It is amazing how people can change – it is even more amazing that in this photo he is only 53 years old and I was 51.
I felt 107 in this photo but it was a good day.
you can see his left hand (yes he is a lefty) can't open fully and he has scars on his face. On the left side of his head there is a big dent and scar that runs from his temple to the back of his head and he has a scar from his chest to his belly button. Loma Linda Hospital saved his life twice but he saved his life once and that is what brought us to this day.
He has a memory like steel for the past but can't remember something from 12 hours ago - he tries to write down reminders and then forgets where he left them or the importance of them when he sees them. Something as simple as fasting the night before a blood test is lost from when he goes to bed to when he gets up in the morning, or even the fact that he has a doctor's appointment.
explore #391
This is my life and my story - then and now
This is my brother. we were raised in foster homes and throughout most of our early adulthood. I went one way (military) and he went another, (street life and in and out of prison for non violent crimes)
Homelessness and alcohol ruled his life, mine was ruled by raising a family and living thousands of miles away from him while I was in the army. We connected several times during those 20 years and he lived with me for over a year at one duty station in the 1980′s but then we went our separate ways again.
I moved to California after retiring from the military 14 years ago and he would visit the kids and I but was drunk most of the time.
About 10 years ago he hit rock bottom when he was drinking sun up to sun down and had a severe car accident that required surgeries for internal injuries and several broken bones in his hand and arm. 6 months later he had an alcoholic seizure that caused him to incur a traumatic brain injury, surgery and a month in a coma. I kept him at my place after his release from the hospital, got him on disability and was looking for long term care but all this still didn’t stop him from drinking – so we were estranged and he lived with a family he knew.
I found him this past April and learned that he has been sober for 8 years. He still has a few seizures a year from the scarring on his brain.
It is amazing how people can change – it is even more amazing that in this photo he is only 53 years old and I was 51.
I felt 107 in this photo but it was a good day.
you can see his left hand (yes he is a lefty) can't open fully and he has scars on his face. On the left side of his head there is a big dent and scar that runs from his temple to the back of his head and he has a scar from his chest to his belly button. Loma Linda Hospital saved his life twice but he saved his life once and that is what brought us to this day.
He has a memory like steel for the past but can't remember something from 12 hours ago - he tries to write down reminders and then forgets where he left them or the importance of them when he sees them. Something as simple as fasting the night before a blood test is lost from when he goes to bed to when he gets up in the morning, or even the fact that he has a doctor's appointment.