If ever you needed a reason to appreciate life, then you MUST read Scott Bolzan's non-fiction book: MY LIFE DELETED: A MEMOIR! He is a former NFL football player for the Cleveland Browns, who, at the age of 46, had become a very successful businessman, but in 2008, he slipped and fell in a men's restroom and completely, totally, lost his memory!! He had been married for 24 years, but when his wife got to the hospital, not only did he not know who she was, he didn't even know what a wife was!! He didn't know his kids or his parents, either! Not only that, he didn't know the first thing about football or his current profession of being a successful pilot! His entire former 46 years had been wiped off the map!! CAN YOU JUST IMAGINE????
Doctors told him that he should retrieve his memory in 2 weeks, but unfortunately, that was not the case. He has had to start his life anew and make new memories from that day forward. What was most fascinating to me, while reading this, was how he was an OUTsider, looking INTO his own life! When going back to his house for the first time since his hospital stay, he couldn't understand why his wife had to have so many pairs of shoes or why he had to have so many watches! G-d forbid this should happen to any of us, but what would we think if we had to look objectively into the lives that we've led? Would we also think we had too many possessions? Too large a house? Would we learn to love our spouses, parents, siblings and friends again or not? Scott's challenges, and those of his family, were overwhelming. Honestly, I don't know if I could have done as well as he has, but I do know that he has given me a completely different perspective on life. Two years later, his therapist "predicted that my biggest challenge would be to adjust to who I was now and accept that I might never know who I'd been before, to face the reality that I had experienced a death- in myself. I should grieve the old Scott, which might take years, rather than try to bring him back." How awful would that be, to not have a past?? This is a book that I absolutely could not wait to pick up every night, before I went to bed. I count my blessings as never before. I'm sure you will, too.
You've cried at weddings, right? At the birth of a baby? And, of course, you've probably cried at funerals, but have you ever stopped to wonder why both happy and sad events, make you so emotional? Even worse, do you often feel like you're the only one? I will impart wisdom gleaned from professional conferences, seminars, books and articles and/or I will blog my personal thoughts. Either way, I hope you check in often, so you know that your tears are never shed in a vacuum!
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
About Me
- Ms. Baby Boomer-dang
- Dallas, TX, United States
- I am an educator and consultant, in the field of loss and grief. I love educating others, as well as learning from them, about life's little and big, happy and sad losses: marriage, divorce, moving away, losing one's health, aging gracefully.....or not......death of a loved one, a pet, a dream, children growing up and parents having to let go, etc. etc. Hopefully, you get the picture. Let's laugh, cry and learn together!
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment