Plymouth resident David is an archivist of his own life. When we met, he pulled document after document from a plastic bag, laying them gingerly in my open hand. A pile grew. It started with his birth certificate, which was created late one night in 1969 in Columbus, Ohio. After that was his transcript from college, where he studied chemistry. Then came a Navy enlistment confirmation letter, photos of him with friends, maps, and articles.
David provided details with a pen and paper, gestures, and his words, which often come through a tablet computer loaded with pre-programmed phrases. That’s because David has aphasia, brought on by two back-to-back strokes in 2008. When he shares that part of his life history, his tablet displays the brain scans from the incident. “The area that appears smoky was the area affected. As you can see, about 90% of the right side,” it reads.
The strokes put him in a coma for three months. And in the midst of all that pain, David says he saw something incredible. He was in Heaven, surrounded by angels, before being sent back to Earth by God. “It was a beautiful experience that deeply shapes the person I am today,” he concluded.
A view of David’s speech tablet from over his shoulder.
Our conversation was evidence of his ability to see beauty even in the middle of pain. For every moment he focused on loss, David spent twice as long on good memories. He recalled trips around Washington before his strokes; one to a forest draped in moss, accompanied by six dogs. In telling the story, he went through the motions of driving, leaning side-to-side to indicate the curves of the road. And, suddenly, the wonder he felt all those years ago resurfaced in his eyes. “Moments of joy are really important to me,” he said, “because they can be rare sometimes.”
David lives with a lot of pain on a daily basis. After his strokes, a series of support systems fell through, and David was left without a home. But since coming to Plymouth in 2011, there have been plenty of causes for joy, including building outings to the tulip fields and Snoqualmie Falls.
And Plymouth staff are there for him every day, like when he needed assistance buying concert tickets earlier this year. Although his case managers had a hard time understanding which musician he wanted to see, they wouldn’t give up. So they went through an alphabetical list of musical artists until they found the right one, and David got his Jimmy Buffett tickets. He even has the photo of himself wearing a Hawaiian shirt at the show to prove it.
We’re so glad that David found a home at Plymouth, where he’s able to get the support he needs. He brightens our community by reminding us to appreciate every moment of joy, even when they might feel rare.