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At the time of Mary’s stroke we were both physically active and in good health. We enjoyed travel, camping, and exploring. We looked forward to moving from Prescott, Arizona to Ridgecrest, California. Mary was writing a book on the use of biofeedback for professionals. Frank was developing new equipment. We were excited about conducting our third annual week long professional training conference in the use of biofeedback. Life was going well.

We were about to start our 40th year of marriage at the time of Mary’s stroke. During our life together we have pursued a journey of personal and shared growth. While life is not always smooth we have an underlying deep trust in each other. We are able to share our deepest joys and fears. This was very important at the time of the stroke as Frank was left with the responsibility of making life and death decisions, which affected both of us. Later as we moved into Mary’s recovery, her trust of Frank’s support and guidance allowed her to move confidently into activities and areas that would not have been possible otherwise.

Mary has been an amazing person during this whole experience. Her motivation and drive has been unbelievable. During the most difficult and scary times she has kept her eye on the journey rather than the destination. While there have been times of sadness, joy, excitement, anger, and frustration, she was never depressed nor felt sorry for herself. Where many would be annoyed at having their life interrupted, Mary saw this as an opportunity to understand her own brain. Her background in biology, counseling and biofeedback gave her the tools even during the early days of recovery to focus on an awareness of what was happening. This lead to our taking responsibility for her rehab as soon as Mary was past the acute phase of the stroke. The medical setting was too restrictive, and she was ready to move on. Time has proven this to have been an excellent decision.