A day or so after Dad had his stroke I remember emailing Mindy asking her what kind of stroke her ex husband had. I needed information, I was grasping at straws and I knew she and he lived together and she took care of him. She would know something. She responded back quickly. From the sounds of it, it appeared that Dad had experienced a similar type of stroke her ex Don had. Mindy ended up becoming an amazing beacon of light in the dark world I found myself following Dad's stroke.
You may be asking yourself, who's Mindy?
Mindy and I worked in the same office, what seems like eons ago now. In reality it's only been half a dozen. But that's neither here or there. Don, her husband at the time, had a stroke while I was working there and while I didn't really know either of them in depth, their story and his life changing event made its way around the office cubicles. Gossip tends to spread faster than wild fire once you get a group of people together. Mindy was a smoker, like me, and occasionally our paths would cross while out having a cigarette. I've met more people being a smoker than not, if that doesn't speak about the social aspect of a nasty habit.
Like I said people gossip and talked. While I tend to keep to myself, I couldn't help but hear this and that, sometimes from Mindy herself, while out on a smoke break. We all need to vent sometimes. So I sort of knew what happened after Don's stroke. Sort of.
Flash forward a few years. I've left my job (right before it was outsourced), attempted to move halfway across the country (bad mistake) and ended up regrouping at my parents, which leads us to why I was there the morning Dad had his stroke. Life has a funny way of providing you a reason for everything.
But back to the stroke and who I can turn to for answers, because the questions in my head grow hour by hour in the days and weeks following his stroke. One of those people was Mindy. With a smile, an email of encouragement or relatable story, she helped in ways to this day she probably doesn't realize. She got it. And got it, all while living through her own life and what was transpiring there. That's what truly selfless people do. Little did I know, that what was transpiring there, she would eventually turn into a book called His Stroke, My Recovery. She recently published it online.
I picked up Mindy's book through Amazon Kindle a couple of weeks ago and burned through it pretty quickly. It's an easy read with a crazy story. I highly recommend reading about her journey, Don's journey, their journey together. In the end you are left with an indelible mark on your soul and a true realization of the transcendent power of love.
