26 Dec Thank you!

Today is National Thank You Note Day. A nice sentiment right after and during the gift giving of Hanukah, Christmas, and Kwanza for sure.  But more than seven years after my stroke, I have so much more to thank people for.  I’m not even going to name all of you – there are too many.  But you know who you are, and so do I!!!

I’ll start with my family – I am blessed with the strongest family support system anyone could hope for. You know how much I love you and appreciate you, and I’ll try to remember to say so more often. And my friends – my journey wouldn’t be the same without you.  Dear friends from childhood, college, colleagues who became friends, my women’s support group from graduate school, neighbors and the “Las Lomitas posse”, and those of you who just became friends along the way.  Thank you all.

Of course, there was the small task of staying alive, and the long and continuing journey of recovery.  All the doctors who touched me along the way, and those of you who have been with me for the long haul.  Thank you.  The same to all my therapists – physical, occupational and speech. Some of you I saw only briefly, others I worked with extensively, and many of you I still see. My journey was influenced by every one of you; you have and continue to improve the course of my life.  Thank you all.

And then there’s this journey of writing Identity Theft.  This process has been so important to my own journey to rebuild my identity, and continues to be.  And I certainly hope the book – and the network we are building through this website, blog, and social media – will make a difference for many of you who are reading this post, and thousands more survivors in the years ahead.  So, thank you to my co-author, my web-support and social media helpers, my agent and publisher, and those of you who helped me find all of them. And maybe most of all, thanks to all the survivors who have shared your stories with me, bringing perspective to my own journey and a perspective to the book that I know will make it so much more meaningful.

I would love to name you all, but I worried it would be too long and boring for anyone to read and you’d stop.  You can choose later whether to read the acknowledgements in my book :).  But for now…

Thank you all! Even though I can’t always find the words to express exactly how I feel, I hope you all know how much your support, friendship, wisdom, and love means to me.  My resolution this year is to be better about thanking you personally when we talk, email, or connect otherwise.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO ALL.

Debra