In Man’s Search for Meaning, author Viktor Frankl discusses the connection between physical as well as mental health and meaning or purpose in one’s life. Mr. Frankl quotes Nietzsche- “He who has a why to live can bear almost any how.” In the days and years during my recovery from a traumatic brain injury, I have borne witness to the nexus, which Viktor Frankl and Friedrich Nietzsche recognized.

On May 30, 2005, I sustained a traumatic brain injury after falling thirty feet from a highway overpass. I was in a coma for the following thirteen days and was an inpatient at two hospitals for the next three months. There was no single day that I felt I was not a priority to you- my friends and family. The hospital rooms were packed with people every night. You treated me the same as before the accident that had battered my body. During your visits, we laughed, reminisced, and spoke about better future days. When I was discharged, your companionship did not wane. I never felt that I was left behind as you proceeded with life. Instead, it was apparent that you patiently waited for me to recover to a point when I could re-join you.

Today marks the sixteenth year since my life changed forever. Unfortunately, I do not often see many of those friendly faces critical to my acute recovery. Instead, new friends and acquaintances provide me with a continued purpose such that I “can bear almost any how.” I look forward to, for example, the future of the nascent ghostwriting business, meeting a friend – new or old – for a coffee or proper drink, and Sunday dinners with my parents, sister, and princess nieces.

I am genuinely thankful to all of you for your presence in my life – then and now. Whether it was sixteen years or sixteen hours ago, you instilled a purpose for me to smile and fight despite any physical or mental setbacks. I love you.