Broken Butterfly: My Daughter's Struggle with Brain Injury

Acknowledgments

xi Acknowledgments I met Anaïs Nin a few months before Stephanie was hospitalized. When she heard of Stephanie’s illness, she advised me to make a habit of writing the day’s events down every night, before memory threw a veil over the activities. She said to record the conversations between the doctors and myself; to note every detail of the surroundings, and most important, the flux of my emotions. I followed her advice, and the first half of this memoir is based on those journal pages. In this book I not only want to give thanks to the writers and editors who helped shape these pages, but since it contains the essence of Stephanie’s life, I’d like to thank the many individuals who played an important part in her life and in this story. This book is the product of the University of Missouri Press, and I cannot thank its staff enough. Foremost is its editor-in-chief, Clair Willcox. Thank you so much, Clair. I am enormously grateful to my editor, Sara Davis. She deserves a medal for working with my sometimes convoluted Germanic sentence structure. Along with the edits, Sara sifted through many photos to use or discard. All this under the pressure of a tight schedule. Sara, you are a “Wonder Woman!” Beverly Jarrett, former director, years ago encouraged my completion of this book. I thank her for her interest which spurred me on. Beth Chandler deserves kudos for her patience with me. She always answered my questions when, at times, I made a pest of myself. Thank you, Beth. Lyn Smith and Jennifer Gravley have been extremely helpful, and I thank them. There were numerous doctors who treated Stephanie. My gratitude goes to all of them. I thank Dr. Robert Podosin, pediatric neurologist, for the care he gave my daughter through the years from 1970 to 1994. Stephanie’s doctors in Santa Barbara were equally caring, with Dr. Ralph Quijano, her gynecologist , functioning in many roles and as advisor beyond his specialty. Dr. David Agnew took over Stephanie’s neurological care in Santa Barbara and renewed our hopes. Dr. Richard Danson was our family internist. All were kind and caring. The Marianne Frostig Center of Educational Therapy became our lifeline in the summer of 1971. Dr. Frostig, the founder of the Frostig Center, took Stephanie under her tutelage when no other school could be found. Stephanie xii Acknowledgments relearned language, and her life became one of hope. I cannot thank Marianne Frostig enough for the interest she showed and the love she gave to my daughter. Louise Fields and coteacher Judy Nason, who were Stephanie’s teachers in remedial classes at Santa Barbara City College, advised Stephanie to visit Jodi House, which provided counsel and information for those with brain injuries . Here Stephanie met others who had suffered similar damage, all sharing the problems of their often “invisible” illness. My thanks go to this wonderful organization. Through Jodi House, Stephanie met Renée van Horne and Libby Whaley, who helped Stephanie in various ways. With Libby she went skiing at Big Bear Mountain with other disabled persons. Thank you, Renée and Libby; through you Stephanie experienced a feeling of freedom in the snow and whizzing down a mountain. Also through Jodi House, Stephanie began therapeutic riding at Elaine Kay’s Toro Canyon facility. Through Elaine, Stephanie came to participate in the Special Olympics. Thank you, Elaine, for having expanded Stephanie’s life to include the world of horses and animals in a deeper sense. Pat Morales, then principal of Peabody Charter School, accepted the certificate Stephanie had earned, and Stephanie began as a volunteer teacher’s aide in K-Grade. Stephanie loved feeling needed by children. Thank you, Pat Morales. I owe a debt of gratitude to the Santa Barbara Writers Conference, and especially its founder, Barnaby Conrad. The Africa chapters in this book are his favorites. Also at the conference, a former Los Angeles Times book critic, Charles Champlin, surprised me when he was visibly moved by my reading. He encouraged me to finish the book. Thank you, Charles. At the conference, I met Perie Longo, who teaches poetry and is also a licensed psychologist. I arranged for her to meet Stephanie who had not tolerated “standard” therapy but loved this poetry-based therapy and blossomed. Thank you, Perie, for having given Stephanie the tools to take away the pain of loss she felt over her father, and to fill...