Post by clayfisher on Jun 11, 2012 2:56:01 GMT -5
My name is Donna Fisher. I'm a historian/librarian/educator/artist. I'm a CC2.0 delegate in PA District 14.
I have been with the woman of my dreams since 1977 when we moved to Pittsburgh from Cleveland to study psychology as a human science in programs based in Existential Phenomenology at Duquesne University. She as a masters and later doctoral student; me as an undergrad. We held a private commitment ceremony (just the two of us!) in 1977. 31 years later we legally married in a glorious ceremony attended by 30 of our closest family and friends in the Underground of the Drake Hotel in Toronto which was followed by the best party ever on its rooftop. Seven and a half months later, I survived ruptured brain aneurysm and we discovered precisely what we meant when we promised to stay together for better or worse.
On Christmas Eve 2008, I fell unconscious onto the icy concrete of my wife's sister's driveway in Michigan. I came back to consciousness when I felt the Invisible Hand of Fate reach in and pull me up from my death. I gasped like I imagine my first breath upon being born must have been or like I suspect one does when pulled out of water from drowning. Seven brain surgeries, two months in Neuro ICU, a month in a Skilled Nursing facility, the deaths of three roommates, a Presidential Inauguration, a Superbowl, the installation of two shunts in my brain, and two more months in the loving care of dear friends in Detroit before being able to return home to my home in Pittsburgh. Most people don't survive such a catastrophic health incident. I was one of the lucky ones. I am humbled by my survival. Changed in my outlook and perspectives. My return from the other side enabled me to finally find it!
I have been with the woman of my dreams since 1977 when we moved to Pittsburgh from Cleveland to study psychology as a human science in programs based in Existential Phenomenology at Duquesne University. She as a masters and later doctoral student; me as an undergrad. We held a private commitment ceremony (just the two of us!) in 1977. 31 years later we legally married in a glorious ceremony attended by 30 of our closest family and friends in the Underground of the Drake Hotel in Toronto which was followed by the best party ever on its rooftop. Seven and a half months later, I survived ruptured brain aneurysm and we discovered precisely what we meant when we promised to stay together for better or worse.
On Christmas Eve 2008, I fell unconscious onto the icy concrete of my wife's sister's driveway in Michigan. I came back to consciousness when I felt the Invisible Hand of Fate reach in and pull me up from my death. I gasped like I imagine my first breath upon being born must have been or like I suspect one does when pulled out of water from drowning. Seven brain surgeries, two months in Neuro ICU, a month in a Skilled Nursing facility, the deaths of three roommates, a Presidential Inauguration, a Superbowl, the installation of two shunts in my brain, and two more months in the loving care of dear friends in Detroit before being able to return home to my home in Pittsburgh. Most people don't survive such a catastrophic health incident. I was one of the lucky ones. I am humbled by my survival. Changed in my outlook and perspectives. My return from the other side enabled me to finally find it!