Introduction (Read this first)

I experienced various emotional, physical, and psychological traumas and challenges. I did not have a good life. Growing up I felt unsupported and alone.  I also had to work hard to create a functional “lemonade life.” I gathered the lemons in my life - disappointment, loss, grief, etc. and transformed these emotional heartaches into lemonade. However, I know I am not alone in living a challenging life.  Many people do not get a good life.  There are many of us whose magic lies in turning lemons into lemonade. Many people like me manage these lemonade stands to survive.

There are those who never accomplished their dreams or had their prayers answered. Those whose hearts are broken beyond repair or weighed down by suffering.  Those who are discriminated against and whose hope is shattered. Those who God forgot or failed them.  Those who know injustice and the horrors evil people inflict. Those not seen or heard.  To name a few.

I am not an anomaly. Sound familiar?  I know you exist.  I hear and see you.  I want you to know you are not alone - although I know you feel otherwise.  Even though I am one of “those” I still created a functional lemonade life. By that I mean I had 3 very successful careers in spite of other areas of my life crashing and burning. 

This blog grew out of my journey with 2 disabilities.  One is Traumatic Brain Injury. Undiagnosed TBI haunted me all my life.  The two head wounds and resulting brain damage occurred in the 1950s.  However, the TBI’s were not diagnosed and treated until 2019. I found the time gap to be a very long and difficult wait.  The second disability is Hyper-mobility.  In 1986 I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia - now in remission.  However, I still had many difficult symptoms that unfortunately were treated as separate diagnoses.  Finally, in 2014 I was correctly diagnosed with Hyper-mobility as it turned out fibromyalgia is for some a symptom of hypermobility. The bottom line is since childhood I struggled with undiagnosed symptoms that left me feeling like a psychological failure. The symptoms also constantly derailed the expansion of my life.

Since age 5 I knew something was very wrong with me.  I searched my whole life for the answer to the puzzle of me.  Along the way, I developed strategies to cope with all problems the symptoms created in my life.  

This blog is to offer you support through sharing my journey. I don't have all the answers you need.  However, I know I have my insights, strategies, guideline (thank you for that one Jack Sparrow). I have solutions I was given, created, or stumbled upon which may shine a light on your journey. Some of my discoveries may inspire you to create your own map of assistance, support, and change for the better.  I am living proof “it takes a village (thank Hillary Clinton for that one)......and I would like to be a part of your village. Now that I and my brain are in rehab, I want to share the journey of how I solved the puzzle of me. May my path be support for yours.  And then “One day you will tell your story of how you overcame what you went through and it will be someones else’s survival guide.” - Brene Brown. So here is my story of how I solved the puzzle of me.