As a teacher, C. J. Teahan often presented her lessons through stories. However, on Saturday, January 28, 1989, her daughter's car hit a black ice patch next to the edge of a steep embankment, whereupon the car left the road and was air-born until stopped by the big lonely tree at the bottom of the gulch. The tree trunk shattered Caron's window and crunched the car around her. Caron sustained a Traumatic Brain Injury. A substitute teacher was hired to teach C.J.'s 1st-grade class; so C.J. was able to spend most of her time with Caron in the TBI wing of St. Joseph Mercy Hospital in Ann Arbor--and also visits her class of six-year-olds regularly, reading and telling stories, as well as working with the substitute teacher, giving 1:1 help to students, where needed.
Over the years, C.J.'s friends urged her to write Caron's story. This book is the result, and she prays that it may offer hope and inspiration to families now caring for a loved one with a brain injury.
C. J. lives with her husband Larry and their high-spirited Beagle, Jack, who sometimes stays with Caron, her husband John, and their Labrador Retriever when the Teahans go traveling to see sights that will wind themselves into more stories to share--some with lessons, and some just for fun.
