I have always found major transitions in life to be mind-warping  and destabilizing experiences. The transitions after graduation from college and graduate school and doctoral studies, including moves from the U.S. to Japan to England and back and forth between the U.S. and Japan, were quite agonizing in various ways. There were times I felt as if we were riding Hokusai’s great wave off Kanagawa in one of the boats pictured here. Thinking back on it now is enough to... Read more

My faith is pretty raw—especially these days in the face of the unrelenting struggle of my son Christopher’s traumatic brain injury and comatose state. It reminds me of the moving film on my friend Marilyn Sewell’s life titled Raw Faith. Not everyone has a movie on their life, nor a theme song performed by Sheryl Crow (“Love Will Remain”). My friend Rev. Dr. Marilyn Sewell practices what she preaches and teaches, including in her various writings, and she practices transparent,... Read more

In American football, a “pile on” can refer to players from both teams jumping on top of one another and forming a mound while wrestling and clawing to gain control of a loose ball. Woe to the person on the bottom of the pile! I endured and helped to instigate my fair share of pile on contests during my football playing days a long time ago. It can be suffocating and back breaking. Sometimes all one comes away with is... Read more

Last night as I made my way to the hospital entrance, I looked up to see the trees clothed and decorated with pink blossoms. A bit later I enjoyed a glorious sunset from Christopher’s hospital room, where he rests in a comatose state. Now my wife and I pray he will open his eyes and see those same trees and glorious sunsets. I don’t take such sights for granted, that is, since he’s been on life support for three months.... Read more

We have heard a lot about stimulus packages over the past year as we weather the COVID nightmare. We may debate one another about the merits of this or that economic stimulus package under different political administrations. But hopefully, we can all agree about the need for developing a robust emotional stimulus package for weathering trauma involving a variety of stimuli in our relationships with others. This subject is important to me on a very personal level. Amid dealing with... Read more

My wife Mariko went to the hospital last night to visit our son Christopher, who is in a comatose state after suffering a traumatic brain injury. Here’s what my wife texted the family at the end of her visit: When I walked into his hospital room and called his name, Christopher moved his head and upper body. I felt certain that he heard my voice. I talked to him in Japanese touching his hands and face, I felt in his... Read more

There was a popular science-fiction television series back in the 1960s titled The Time Tunnel. Two scientists working on a special project for the US government created a time tunnel and got trapped in it. They were propelled back to various important events in history and forward into the future. Sometimes I wish I had a time machine, or time tunnel. That way I could possibly go back to January of this year and rearrange events so my son Christopher would... Read more

This weekend I recalled a homeless person saying his greatest fear was dying alone. Would there be anyone there when he departs? Would anyone remember him after he is gone? You don’t have to be homeless in a physical sense to fear isolation. The dread of isolation is no respecter of persons. If you’re a praying person, you may cry out to God to take away your anonymity and loneliness, even the fear of praying alone. But you are never... Read more

I am fortunate to have a friend who doubles as a registered nurse and as an acclaimed author. Sallie (Jiko) Tisdale and I were corresponding this week on my family’s present crisis involving my son’s traumatic brain injury and comatose state. As a medical-psychological and literary care giver, Sallie shared with me about what a crisis involves and how writing can help me navigate this altered state of existence. Perhaps you will find her words instructive for your own journey.... Read more

Some wise sage told us recently we should think “baby steps” in terms of approaching my son Christopher’s hoped-for recovery from his traumatic brain injury. Oxford Learner’s Dictionaries defines “baby step” as “a small act or measure, usually at the start of a long or difficult process.” This definition does not go far enough, since the wording is in the singular. We are not looking at one small step, but a seemingly infinite number of such small, though exceptionally important... Read more