Severe Brain Injury Relationships: Hampered

Severe Brain Injury Relationships: Zach Part Twenty Two 

What is it like socially in college for you? How were your severe brain injury relationships with other students once you started college?

Its like this, I would go to a party and I would try to like hang out with some friends, go to a party, I did have some friends.  So I’d go to a party and everyone would go: “Oh, why aren’t you drinking, you know, why aren’t you drinking?”  You know, I’m like: “Well, number one is I got in my car accident, I got a brain injury, almost died.” I tell them the whole thing and, they’re like: “Oh, I’m sorry to hear that.” Not like they care, they don’t care, nobody cares.  So, that’s it.

Now you, you said that you stayed with your girlfriend a severe brain injury relationship, for a couple of years  are you still together, when you start college?

We were together my entire freshman year at college and things started falling apart at the summer.

The summer after your freshman year? 

Yes.

Where did she go to college?

Westfield State, which is like 45 minutes away from me.

How far is the university from where we are now?

Fifty.

And she is what, the other direction?

Yes.

So you managed to stay together throughout your freshman year but was there much of a severe brain injury relationship going on?

We tried to see each other as much as we could.  We both like tried to make it work.  I was in a different place than she was and she, she wanted different than I did.  I don’t know.  It just didn’t work.

You started dating as juniors in high school, it’s not unusual for you not to be together as sophomores in college.  Is there more than just normal growing apart with your severe brain injury relationship that caused your breakup? 

Well, maybe because I broke up with her and then I asked for her back.  Well yeah.  I asked for her back and one of the reasons she told me she couldn’t be with me anymore was because she feels too much like my mom, not like my girlfriend. She thought that she had to take care of me all the time and things like that.

Do you think one of the reasons you guys stayed together was this sense of commitment she felt because you’d been hurt?

Yeah.  Yeah.

Can you explain that?

I was told by some people that she had said that she kind of felt, she felt like she couldn’t break up with me.

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Next in Part Twenty Three –

Alcohol No Answer in Filling Relationship Gap