wHy Do I sTaY???

    Over the past six years family, friends, acquaintances, and strangers have given me permission to leave my marriage (especially in the first year or two after the accident) and some of them at one time or another have questioned my reason to stay in my marriage. I am not upset with any of those above statements now because I have learned as I look back that they were only concerned for my future as much as they were concerned about Aaron's. At this point, I feel that they have ALL accepted my decision to stay right where I am and want to be, supporting and encouraging me and us as a couple...which is a good feeling. 

   This week was my first week back to school, all good things must come to an end and summer vacation is one of them unfortunately! Aaron and his caregiver resumed our "school schedule", which includes her being at our house at 7am five days a week! Aaron and Alexa (that's our person) find a lot of things to do while I am gone! One afternoon she was working on cleaning up the kitchen and since he was sitting out there with her, she suggested that he practice his writing and he decided to write me a note. 

   Here is the note, he had no help. I took a picture of it and because it's difficult to read since he writes so small, something that we are working on, I have also typed out what it says below the picture. 

Renee, 

I love you.

Thank you for putting up with me and all of my personal stuff. I will try to make it up to you any way I can. 

Love, Aaron

   He is the reason I have stayed. He is as sweet, caring, and considerate as he was when I first met him ten years ago in 2004. We may have some other things thrown in that we didn't plan on that make our life just little more difficult that it once was but that's okay. We are learning to adjust, change, and accept that things aren't the way we had planned them to be. 

    I also know how fortunate to have him be the person I was married to before his accident, it is not often like that for families who have someone with a brain injury as severe as the one Aaron had. I stay for so many reasons but most of all I stay because I love the man he was and is and this note is just a reminder of that!