NYC BABY!!!!

So... I am finally getting around to my NYC story. It was one of the most incredible experiences I have ever had. I came back with a deeper understanding of my husband and what he goes through. I also learned of many different benefits he is entitled to but has been overlooked. I have been working hard since my return trying to dig for those benefits. Some of the struggles he encounters could be made much easier with the help available, but he has never been informed of the opportunities. As his wife I believe it is my job to make these happen.

The weekend in NYC was therapy/education filled. Talking to the other wives of wounded warriors helped me better understand that what I experience with my husband is commom with a wounded warrior. PTSD is all too real, and I gained a better grasp on it while there. Many things that I thought were just a part of his personality I have learned are PTSD related. I am very blessed that my husband is so devout in his Christian faith, which tremendously helps alleviate some of his symptoms. Learning how to handle them on my end, though, is making a world of difference.

His spinal cord injuries and nerve damage are not only physical inhibitors, but they are also mental inhibitors. And there are many explanations that I received for symptoms that we have been unable to understand. We have decided to schedule some more testing that will hopefully give us some answers.

In addition to learning more about my husband, his injuries and his benefits, though, the purpose of this weekend was to attend a writing workshop at the Writer's Guild of America, East. They broke us into small groups of five, and each group was assigned two mentors. We were the lucky group who received three mentors, and we were so blessed with the ones we got.

Eric Bogosian, otherwise known as Captain Danny Ross on LAW AND ORDER: CRIMINAL INTENT, was incredible in his wisdom, insight and understanding. The man has lived life, and he was not afraid to share that with us. He listened to our stories, and he encouraged us as writers to pursue them. In addition to his role on LAW AND ORDER, Eric also starred in UNDER SEIGE II as well as numerous Broadway shows, and he is a successful novelist.

Marsha Norman is an instructor at Juliard, an incredibly successful novelist, and an even more successful playwrite. She spoke to us on an emotional level, and she fully immersed herself into our stories. She guided us in a way I cannot explain, and her guidance helped tremendously.

John Markus formerly wrote for THE COSBY SHOW. His list of successful writing jobs are far too many for me to remember, but that is the one that stuck out the most in my head. He also wrote jokes for Bob Hope, Conan O'Brien, and other late night comedians. He was a kind, honest man who helped us look at our writing from different angles.

The caregivers in my group touched my heart in ways they will never know. I was blessed with an incredible group of ladies, and I feel that I can call on them at any moment. We encouraged each other, and I believe that we all truly believed in each other's abilities. We will motivate and encourage one another until we return to NYC in November with (hopefully) our finished, our close-to-finished, work.

All in all, I experienced a weekend far greater than anything I could have imagined. The donations people gave blew my mind, and the care and hard work that Anna and Michelle put into making sure every single detail was perfect was unbelievable! Disney donated tickets to Broadway shows; Wounded Warrior Project flew us up there, gave us hotel rooms, and fed us 3 dinners, a lunch and a breakfast; the Writer's Guild provided us with a location for the workshop, breakfast and lunch two days, copies of screenplay scripts, snacks throughout, and far more that I am forgetting; every mentor donated their entire father's day weekend to us, one even missing the Tony Awards for this event, where he won two Tony's; and a software company donated a copy of "Final Draft" for each of us, software worth approximately $200. I am still in awe, and I have now been home for almost a week. All of their hard work just for us motivates me to work hard to create a worthwhile piece from this. So... I'm off to writing....