I spoke earlier this week at the annual conference of the Brain Injury Association of Vermont where I conducted a workshop on Grief, Loss and Coping: How families survive the emotional trauma of brain injury. It was largely attended by family members who openly shared their experiences and the challenges that they face every day. No matter how many conferences I go to or how many families I meet, I continue to be amazed by their courage, love, commitment and tenacity. It’s clearly never easy and it doesn’t necessarily get easier over time either. But these families certainly demonstrate the importance of holding on to hope, of making their voices heard and of never giving up as they seek services, supports and funding for brain injury services.

Going back up to Vermont was also a reminder to me of why we moved from New Hampshire to North Carolina over 10 years ago. It was pretty nippy up there with snow already on the mountains and I never really warmed up until I got back home! Many thanks to Trevor Squirrel, the new Executive Director of the Brain Injury Association of Vermont for putting together a terrific conference with attendance of close to 400 families, persons with brain injury, caregivers and providers.