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The inauguration of President Obama was not violent, except for the violence leveled against me
Yesterday there was another inauguration in Washington, D.C. This one with troops, fences, sharpshooters, and roadblocks to prevent the kind of violence that invaded the Capitol on January 6, 2021. As with other national crises, José Andrés marshalled his organization, to feed and care for the men and women protecting the Capitol from another attempted insurrection.
My mind drifted back twelve years, to President Obama’s first inauguration. What a time that was! I was bursting with excitement and determination to inhale as much of that inaugural celebration as possible. As life would have it, my plans didn’t happen. Ten minutes after stepping off the D.C. Metro, I was assaulted by a stranger, my skull cracked, my hands broken and my life re-arranged.
Since then, my life has been a journey through traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress disorder. My recovery has been called miraculous. I can write, speak, run, laugh, and travel. Behind the successes are daily struggles. I’ve written about the hurdles and challenges in essays and in my book, “Headstrong: Surviving a traumatic brain injury.”
On the anniversary of my assault, January 16,2021, and during the days surrounding the Biden/Harris inauguration, my thoughts have…
