Thank Goodness

 Ok, more truly, this is a thank you to luck, or at least good fortune, which sounds less mystical and so, more to my liking. A few weeks have passed since Thanksgiving and my enjoyable ride to Connecticut on my shockingly enjoyable bike to share a repast with friends, their friends, and their family. Among that last group was the brother of half our hosts, whom I don't believe I had met.

Our meeting came outside in the waning moments of dinner about the chiminia fire. I'd dined outside after learning a few weeks prior that, with a TBI in my history, I'm substantially more likely to suffer long Covid symptoms, that nasty disabling aspect of the disease which is too bad for the economy to gain the discussion it merits.  It would also definitely severely crimp the living of my lifestyle. 

The brother had returned outside early for a smoke.  He was a nice enough bloke, and seemed unoffended when I, hopefully gently, pushed back on a comment I judged potentially sexist.  We chatted, but knowing the intellect of his sister and enough of how genetics tends to work, I was surprised at what seemed some mental struggles with cognition. These things happen.

We talked some more, and before long, I learned one of the thing that happened in his history, a TBI from a one vehicle auto accident. He made the third TBI case I met aside from mine and all of them involved automobiles, although I'm the one exception who was not enclosed in a vehicle.

The first case I met through another friend in Connecticut. The two would ride bikes together, as that was actually easier for the TBI recipient versus the coordination that walking required. For that he used a cane. Big perspective of how fortunate I've been: I don't need a cane and somehow regained enough balance and coordination to finish 4th in the rather rugged 7 Sisters trail running race early this year. Yes, damn right I'm fortunate.

The second TBI case I met late last year, helping as an instructor of sorts at Bike Lab in Northampton, a program where people can receive help learning to work on their bikes themselves. Late last year, that was less than six months after my accident, so I felt it appropriate, part way through, to warn the biker I was helping that any advice I offered was coming from a slightly addled brain.

The biker, now known as my friend Anne, replied with some surprise, said she never would have guessed, and then shared that she had the same history from an auto accident over two decades prior in her twenties. Anne is intellectually sharp, and we are both fortunate to recover as we have. Oh, and as an aside, she's part of my small sample of two long Covid cases. The other had five concussions, the other positive predictor, so yup, I ate Thanksgiving outside and still carry and use a mask

My friend's brother, I didn't post our meeting before, and hopefully this mention now in no way disrespects him. Cars have a track record of banging up the human body, that really evolved for walking, maybe running, speeds. We and our brains bruise easily, but wow, I'm thankful to have recovered to this degree. Thank you luck, or fortune, whatever we want to call it. I'll take it!