Brenda's Brainstorm & Trevor, a T Man Production 2009 - 2022

Here we are at the end of this journey. It's been almost 13 years to the day, since Brenda started blogging. It was on a Friday morning June 26, 2009. She had been thinking about starting a blog, something she really had no idea how to do. She needed a name that would be catchy and while in the shower that morning, Brenda's Brainstorm (An Inspiration Out of the Blue) came to mind. She later sat down behind her keyboard and composed her first blog post. In October of that same year, this blog was moved to BlogSpot, as the group site where she was presently blogging, was going to be disbanded. A season with that group was coming to an end, much like this one.  For those who may not know who has been sharing this tale so far, I'm Trevor, who has gone by so many titles. First was Trevor, the Tell Tale Dog or Trevor's Tales, kind of the same. BOL That stands for Bark Out Loud. We know our friend Seth the co-founder and president of CreakyJoints loves this. We had to do this ...

It's with a heavy heart, that I have decided until further notice to pause my blog; Brenda's Brainstorm & Trevor. It has been almost 13 years of sharing 2 significant journeys with the help of my storyteller and companion, Trevor aka T-Man, who I brought on board in 2011.  As of late my energy level is not where I want it to be. It's time for me to take a break and figure out where I will continue with this, if at all. I will leave it up for anyone to read. There are as of last week, 171 blogs posts. If you wish to comment, I would love that.  In the meantime, I will be sharing blog posts from the past years. As you will notice, my style of writing has evolved over the years. I would like to think that is a sign of growth as a writer.  I had no idea when I sat down and composed my first blog post almost 13 years ago, where this would all lead. It has given me great opportunities to be involved in several writing projects.  I want to thank all of our faithful read...

Hello my fellow readers and friends! It's Trevor aka T Man with our May tale. By our title, you might think that we are going to talk about The Civil War nevertheless, we are going to share about battles. Brenda deals with 2 challenges and it happens to be the awareness month for both, so this will be broken up in 2 parts. I think this is rather genius myself. BOL What do I know, I'm a dog. BOL  Here we go! BOL Brenda lives with Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) and also was diagnosed by her current rheumatologist with OA, the most common type of arthritis. That kind involves her ankles, which makes it difficult to walk at times. You know how Brenda enjoys her walks. She enjoys seeing my kind and they always have a tail wag for her. BOL Howard the Border Collie is usually out for his walk in the morning. I kind of got off the track here, so we will continue.  This month marks 31 years that Brenda has been living with RA. She no longer says suffers. It has been a battle and for the fir...

Hello and welcome to our April tale. I'm your host and storyteller, Trevor aka T Man bringing you another inspiring tale of Brenda's life. As you know, Brenda has been living with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) for almost 31 one years and is also a 13 year brain tumor survivor. We give you these stats as background, so you will understand were we are going with this tale.  Brenda has loved the singer, Elton John since she was 10 years old. It had always been a dream to one day see him in concert. Sometimes dreams actually come true. This particular one happened twice. We want to bring out what was going on in Brenda's life with each significant event.  11 years ago, Brenda was facing some major challenges. She had found out very recently that her mother was facing the end of life in a nursing home. Brenda would try to come and visit her most days, as the home at that time was located in close proximity to where Brenda's apartment is.  Brenda was also scheduled to attend a ...

Well hello there my fellow readers, and welcome to our March installment of this blog. I'm Trevor aka T Man, your host and golden boy. BOL I just loved saying that. It's Brain Injury Awareness Month in the United States and that is what we will be focusing on in this tale.  As you know Brenda underwent a right frontal lobe craniotomy on September 8, 2008. As a result she now lives with an acquired brain injury. Frontal lobe syndrome is real and can be scary, because it was foreign to Brenda in the beginning of her journey. It was about a month after her procedure that things started to materialize. She was getting her stitches removed and was getting ready to have another CT scan. While the technician was trying to get her IV started to inject dye, so they could perform the CT, Brenda started crying, actually sobbing. The technician thought she was hurting Brenda, but no this was different. It was an overwhelming sense that Brenda had never experienced before. She assured the t...

Hello my fellow readers! Trevor aka T Man here with our February tale. As it will soon be Valentine's Day, we thought it appropriate to share this particular tale with you. As we continue, you will understand where we are going with this. BOL  On February 13, 2011, I was introduced as the new storyteller for Brenda's Brainstorm. Don't you just love that name? It's hard to picture it being that long, but I've enjoyed it so much.  Brenda and I became a team that day and that has never wavered. BOL Many of you thought I was real for years. It was all part of Brenda's creativity that was sparked after her brain tumor experience. Along with emotions came a real sense of wanting to illustrate how this experience truly changed her. Speaking of creativity, Brenda's mother probably held that title even more so. This is where we get into the meat of this tale. You know how I love meat. BOL Many years ago for Valentine's Day, Brenda's mother surprised her with ...

Hi it's Trevor aka T Man back after a short hiatus from our blog. We begin this new year by exploring a subject that we think is ignored far too often, self-respect. It's said that we are our own worst critic, when it comes to evaluating ourselves. If that is the case, then it could be hard to possess self-respect. Brenda is going to be celebrating another year around the sun tomorrow and this has been on her mind for over a month now. Self-respect is actually telling ourselves that we care enough to do what is right for us, even if it may ruffle a few feathers. Honestly, I don't even know what that means, as well, I'm a dog and it doesn't make sense. BOL Anyway, the way she explains it is, that having self-respect means you sometimes have to go against the grain. Again, have no idea what that means, but from what I can glean from this is to do what you feel is best for you. Self-respect does not mean that you don't care about others, but that you don't just...