Best.

My mom has suffered a series of mini strokes over the last few years and it’s been very difficult to see her transform from strong and very independent to increasingly frail and confused. I’ll second Ashley’s comment that it’s hard to stop being your parent’s child and become your parent’s caregiver. I’m happy to do it since she’s given me so much over the years but honestly, sometimes I just want my mom back.

Thanks for the retroactive t-shirt credit (bought mine about a month ago). I’m going to get one for my husband so he can be cool like me. Good luck this season, we’ll be rooting for you in NH.

I recognize how fortunate I am and there is a shirt and a set of stickers in my future.

Best of luck on a great season Ted!

Thank you for writing this and sharing your family’s story. I understand how difficult it is to write, speak, and often, even think about such a parent’s injury. 3 years ago, when I was in Europe studying abroad in college, my mom had a very serious cycling accident. While riding down a local mountain, she came around a turn too quickly (we think) and crashed. She put her arms out to break her fall and shattered both of her elbows, compound fractured her left and right wrist, and smashed her head, giving her a severe concussion. She was airlifted from the mountain and spent a week in the ICU, then 2 months in the hospital. The call from my step dad was the most difficult/terrifying conversation of my life, one that I never want to recall or experience again.
Since that time, it has been a new life for my family, just as you described. She did not have the use of her arms for a number of months and has undergone 7 surgeries, however will never have full/complete use of her arms. In those early months I changed from a naive, happy-go-lucky 20 year old girl to a quasi-mom/wife/all around taker-carer (a role you may/may not have assumed yourself), as the head of my family was rendered nearly completely helpless; something that’s not easy for people to relate to, unless they’ve gone through a similar experience with a parent. Anyway, too much to say about this on someone else’s blog, and I don’t want to move away from what you’ve shared. So, I’ll end by saying thank you for sharing and supporting this cause which hits far too close to home. While it is cliched, it’s still very much true…difficult times really do make you realize what is important in life. In an instant I learned that, for me, it is family.