Help Cynthia raise money

Dear Family and Friends, I am participating for the second year in the Brain Injury Association of Massachusetts annual fundraiser event. This year, I am walking, kayaking, and tricycling individually, but also collectively as part of a team "Embracing Unique," led by my dear BIA friend Ali Rheaume. I met Ali when she attended a number of the art classes I taught and took at the BIA over the last couple of years. Meeting Ali is a great illustration of why I support the BIA. Having an invisible disability is quite a struggle. While I have been very fortunate to adapt my life to a mostly delightful routine that includes volunteering with the BIA, doing lots of art, farming our micro-farm, and enjoying family and friends, I also have challenges on a regular basis. The peer support, and institutional support, that the BIA has provided has been a real life-line for me and many others. Being able to talk with other brain injury survivors and to make friends in this community means I have people around me who really "get it." It allows me a unique kind of support that has been deeply meaningful and helpful. 

This year, I will walk for an hour, kayak for an hour, and tricycle for an hour (not necessarily all on the same day), in support of the BIA. These are activities that I am able to do in an adaptive way, in honor of the "new normal" of my new brain situation. I like to say I have a Tortoise Brain with a "New pace and a beautiful life." Slow and steady.

Thank you for considering making a donation to help support the BIA of Massachusetts, a truly fantastic organization with staff and volunteers who work tirelessly on behalf of people like myself and thousands more who deal with the entire array of brain injuries. They not only provide peer support, but also education to the medical and provider communities, advocacy at the State House, and so much more. Thank you, again, if you are able to make a donation to this wonderful organization that has and continues to support me so much!