Book quotes: Family experience

I cannot express to you how badly I feel about putting my family through such hell.  No, I did not intend for this to happen and yes, it was an accident but I can still feel bad that I was the source of their grief and unhappiness.  I am grateful and I feel blessed that everyone gave every ounce of love and compassion they could.  I know I am loved, and that is a gift that I will be forever thankful for.  My mom took alot of pictures of the process for me to look at later if I wanted to. I am so glad that everything was documented but I am sad that there aren't any pictures of me with my mom during that time - she was too busy being the one behind the camera!

Jamie & Nate's rehearsal dinner, 2008

"The magnitude of the story and how our family's experience would touch a chord. ...but with countless others who had suffered grave injuries and fought hard to recover."  In an Instant: A Family's Journey of Love and Healing, written by Lee and Bob Woodruff.
I know my mom has found grace in other care givers stories.  She has been able to feel like she has made it to the other side of a huge wall of grief, I hope that I can continue to make her proud.  I hope that she knows I am eternally grateful for the sacrifices she and my dad made so that I was never alone in the hospital.  I also think that she needs to know that I am fully aware that I would not have recovered this well or this quickly without my amazing family.

"It was easy to hear the word injury and assume that meant it would be a matter of weeks before things knitted themselves back together. A sane person, a person whose mind was not in the zone, would have taken one look at Bob and wondered if he would survive, let alone ever function again."  In an Instant: A Family's Journey of Love and Healing, written by Lee and Bob Woodruff.

"Remember, love is in the guts and the rest is in the brain."  In an Instant: A Family's Journey of Love and Healing, written by Lee and Bob Woodruff.

Gifts and photos at my hospital bedside

"It's sad," Dr. M said. "It's sad what happened to you and your children, but iv'e never seen one family yet who didn't rise to the occassion. People love you and will support you. People put one foot in front of the other every day. They figure out how to do this."  In an Instant: A Family's Journey of Love and Healing, written by Lee and Bob Woodruff.

"Those pentagons represented the two halves of his brain. One contained the love he felt for his family and the gratitude he had for being alive; the other side was the tempest, the horrible raging fear and disorientation that lived in his brain right now, as he tried to make sense of his new world."  In an Instant: A Family's Journey of Love and Healing, written by Lee and Bob Woodruff.

"I had been on go mode, always moving forward, making decisions, not allowing myself to feel very much."  In an Instant: A Family's Journey of Love and Healing, written by Lee and Bob Woodruff.

My family was definitely on "go-mode" during my hospitalization, hell - we are all still in go-mode.  You just go, one foot in front of the other and before you know it a week has gone by.  Are things normal yet?  I think I will always be looking for my world to "normalize".

"We've all endured a crisis. And we've survived to feel the miraculous force of recovery at work. What I do know is that I haave been blessed. I have been very, very lucky - "  In an Instant: A Family's Journey of Love and Healing, written by Lee and Bob Woodruff.

"I cannot imagine what it must have felt like to hold my hand, praying that I would wake up and someday recover."  In an Instant: A Family's Journey of Love and Healing, written by Lee and Bob Woodruff.

Jamie listening to my ipod with me

Daddy's girl...always will be