Methodist, TBI Conference with Kerry Briner and TBI survivor talk

October 14, 2023:

Alright let’s go for it. I slept at home last night! It was nice, and made me feel quite a bit more independent. I think I'm going to keep doing that. I woke up and took my meds at 7:20am with two of the little yogurts I’d taken from Papa’s house the night before. They were banana and strawberry & cream. I also woke up to Hannah’s April 2023 playlist playing from the night before. Then, I was ready to go to the volunteer meeting for Methodist Church at 10am, and I just took a Zofran because I was feeling a touch nauseous. I didn’t throw up though! Congrats, Anya. Then I walked over to Methodist for the meeting. It’s like two blocks away, and I literally got there, and the front steps were all torn up, and there was no meeting. Then I thought to double check the email invitation, and it turns out that it actually was at a different location, not the church. I started walking back to my house to grab my car, and then realized that it was literally across the street from my apartment. It was in the ground floor of senior living community across the street. They served apple cider and had snacks, which was good because just when I was walking over I had been hoping for something to drink.

At the meeting, I learned that the amount of Spanish-speaking clients they have is new in the last 10 years, and mainly consists of Ecuadorians. In the self-introduction I gave, I literally said that I also worked at a different food shelf that did appointments, and I’d heard suggestions that we start them at Methodist, but I didn’t think that was doable here. When we all stood up a little, I was approached by a woman named Jetta, who I think worked at the church or something. She said, “Hola, me llamo Jetta” since she'd taken some Spanish a few years ago. We agreed that appointments wouldn’t work here because it’s only one day a week. After the meeting, I also talked to the lady Kathy, who works up front a ton, and told her that I loved checking names computer when I have the chance. I also asked Kathy the name of the woman who’s a volunteer and also a client, and it’s Margarita, which I had been told before. Kathy also said that in the future I could maybe walk up and down the line of clients and ask for people’s general additional food wanta. She also said she likes me working on the computer, and we agreed it was good to have a Spanish speaker on the computer. It’s too bad that Angel is going back to Mexico soon.

After the meeting, I went back to my place, and mom came by and took me to get bagels and yogurt at Trader Joe’s. Then we went to her house, and I also voted in the city council election with mom as my witness. Then, I got some drafts done of some Instagram posts that Open Door had asked me to design, and I sent an email to the person who asked me, pointing her to some of the options I’d put in their Canva account.

At that point, it was pretty much time to go to the TBI speaker event we’d signed up for. There, we were able to meet with the HCMC traumatic brain injury center coordinator, who’d visited me when I was basically in a coma. She’d also seen me at the one year anniversary. Then, we listened to the speech. Honestly, I’d been afraid that the TBI survivor story would be of someone who had a much less severe injury than me, but honestly it was kind of the opposite. It sounded like hers was just was just as bad, if not more severe. I don’t think she can drive. I had the first question, when they asked for audience questions, and I asked basically, “how do you spend all of your days?” It was interesting to hear the answers. My conclusion from that was that spending my time volunteering as a translator is kind of a good outcome.

I also asked some people about making friends. The stuff people said kind of convinced me that new friends could be just as good, or better, than old friends, since they won’t be comparing you to how you used to be. It was suggested that I also find a support group, and in fact, at the meeting, I was able to meet with a guy who runs a TBI support group in the same room in which I was forced to attend CRP. The group meets on the second Tuesday of the month, which would conflict with Open Door Spanish nights, but it would be worth it to go. After the meeting, I was taken back to mom's house, where I took my night meds. Today I literally didn't even try to do it at the same time I'd take the morning ones, and hadn't even remembered that time, but when I finished my quesadilla with the right fat, it was 7:20pm and that's when I took them.