A Letter From '#BrainAneurysm'

'I' wasn’t invited.

But on April 1st, 2010, 'I' arrived, unannounced and unrelenting.

They called me a brain aneurysm. A silent threat that screamed without words.

In one moment, 'I' cracked Annabel's world open.

The doctors spoke in warnings:

“She may not live.”

“She won’t remember things the same.”

“She won’t return to who she was.”

“She can’t have children...at least not for a few years.”

And in the days after 'I' let Annabel go, bruised but breathing, 'I' watched her try to piece together a self that no longer fit.

She forgot names mid-sentence.

Lost her train of thought.

Started things and rarely followed it through to the end.

Watched her confidence collapse under the weight of “What’s wrong with me? and "Why me”!

The world kept moving, but Annabel felt frozen.

The bright, capable woman she knew...? Gone.

Or so it seemed.

The unexpected twist even 'I' didn’t see coming:

She didn’t just survive me, she rewrote me. She refused to allow me to get my way as 'I' do and have done typically. She refused to allow the inevitable comparison of people, to people, by people to penetrate or impact her.

She changed the narrative.

She stopped asking, “Why me?” and started declaring, “Watch me.”

She saw opportunities in the aftermath and not pity.

She rebuilt (and is still building her) identity not based on memory, but on meaning.

And now, 15 years later this April 2025, 'I' see it clearly:

'I' was never the end.

'I' was a beginning that Annabel refused to allow negatively impact her.

Annabel chose to accept what happened. But, she also changed the script and made it her own, one that will positively impact those that know, hear or speak to her.

You can too.

Whether you’re the survivor, the loved one, or the silent sufferer, the script can change.

Annabel:

1. Named the truth, but refused to live under it. Acknowledge the pain, but don’t let it write your future. Put it in its place!

2. Find one thing you can do each day and do it well. Build from there.

3. Talk to God like a friend. Let Him remind you: Broken crayons still colour! You just have to do things differently!

Annabel's story didn’t end when 'I' showed up 15 years ago, her mind may forget some things, but her Spirit never will. Annabel's story continues...!

#IChoose to thank God for what tried to break me.

#IChoose to change my script and remain persistent.

#IChoose to be living proof that healing rewrites everything.