As Maura’s husband, I have been a part of this wonderful organization called TAP since its inception all those years ago. It is humbling to read all of these “12 Days of TAP” stories and to see what this small, grass roots nonprofit can do by helping one person, one family, at a time. I […]
On May 22, 2013, at 7:30 a.m. I tried calling my mom at her home in North Carolina, and she didn’t answer. I felt strange about it. Normally she would call me at 7:00 a.m. as we prayed every morning that time. I kept calling consistently every 15 to 30 minutes yet still no answer. I began to panic. […]
One morning I got up and drove to a coffee shop to meet my dad. As I waited for him there was a funny feeling. I asked him to grab a doughnut for me. I don’t remember if I even had a bite before asking him to take me home. He called Barb and she […]
My name is Krystal Jackson and it has been almost four years since my stoke in January 2012, and my life has not been the same since. It has been a journey. We were living in Northern Virginia at the time and my husband and I just signed a contract to build a new home here […]
I know that TAP can be an immense gift for individuals, families, and friends living with aphasia, as I have witnessed it first hand. But I don’t know if those served by TAP truly understand that they, and TAP, can be an immense gift to us that serve. I am blessed to have several passions […]
Everyone who knows Thomas, knows that he has never met a stranger, before and after his stroke. His position as a industrial business development manager for a design-build, construction company was a perfect fit. He had brought in 90 percent of the work in 2013, and 2014 was looking good. He traveled most of the […]
November 30, 2011, changed my mom’s life forever. That day, she had a massive, life-threatening stroke. On life support for three days, my dad, my brother, and I kept vigil by her bedside as doctors moved in and out running tests, changing tubes, and checking vitals. As they huddled and whispered, the looks on their […]
TAP client , Jackie M. “He’ll never sing again.” On June 8, 2008, I uttered those words in the emergency room of a trauma center in Orlando, Florida. I was irrational. My faith was failing me. My husband had collapsed during the last day of a professional conference, having suffered a massive stroke that left […]
Lu Dumas, his wife, noticed Bob with bad headaches, fatigue, and an episode of what we now know was “speech arrest.” Your mind then starts to wander. What’s wrong with my strong, young, healthy husband? Maybe he’s working too much. That must be it, he’s just tired. But an MRI changed our life forever that […]
When I moved here to begin graduate school at UNC-Chapel Hill, I knew I wanted to work in a medical setting with adults who suffered from neurological trauma or disease. I felt blessed to move to an area that was bursting at the seams with major medical centers! What I didn’t know, however, was that […]
I was preparing for an event at church. My wife noticed that something was wrong. The first stroke occurred on September 21, 2014. The first hospital stay was 10 days. It was obvious that I still had problems and I had to return in a couple of days. Now my problems extended to my speech. […]
Margaret, my wife, and I were on a 2015 Lewis & Clark Cultural Tour traveling through Montana and Idaho following part of the trail of the early nineteenth century expedition. In Montana we canoed and camped on the Missouri River. In Idaho we did some strenuous hikes in order to visit Lewis and Clark trails […]
