An Excerpt from Chapter One of Flashes of Light: How to reboot your life, your business or both when chaos strikes by Ann M. Babiarz, as told to Michael A. Babiarz

Creative Consultant: K. Lee — Editor: Annamaria Farbizio

©2015 by Ann M. Babiarz and Michael A. Babiarz, J.D., all rights reserved (see notice below)

Chapter 1: In the Beginning (part 10 of 10)

I shed tears again as I bid my sisters and mom farewell. The next day, Super Bowl Sunday, dawned bright and sunny. The temperature climbed rapidly into the mid-80s, and Michael took me out for a car ride in my little Mazda Miata convertible. How freaking glorious it felt, wind flowing through my hair, sun on my face, as we cruised along the rural roads leading into interior Collier County. On a whim we decided to stop by the little community of Immokalee. My favorite nurse from ICU mentioned she was from there and we never visited that town before. Immokalee is nestled among rich fields where tomatoes and other crops grew year-round. The drive there and back was awesome.

We returned home and settled in to catch the remaining hour or so of the interminably long pregame show on TV, and then, on to the Super Bowl. While my normal diet was and is a healthy one — lots of lean protein, fresh fruits and vegetables — the big game is always an excuse for pigging out on favorite junk foods. So as Michael prepared traditional football fare of mozzarella sticks and pizza, I watched as commentators struggled to explain to casual fans like me the intricacies of the Denver offense, or the unusual ability of some particular Seattle player.

While I burned new neural pathways at an incredible rate, fixing speech, writing, and typing, other things within my body didn’t feel right. Fogginess blanketed me. I passed it off as disorientation from the previous week and a half, but a sensation of straddling two worlds — one real and one almost dreamlike — persisted.

As kickoff approached, my eyes troubled me. I was having difficulty focusing when text appeared on the TV screen. Thinking my contact lenses were dirty or torn, I went into the bathroom to pop them out and to make do with glasses for the rest of the day.

I struggled to pluck the soft lenses from my eyes. As a contact wearer for decades, this inability frustrated me. I didn’t seem to be able to remove my left lens. When I put my glasses on, my vision towards the left was impaired.

I looked again in the bathroom mirror, with a bright light to see where that lens might’ve gone. I asked Michael for help. We both searched in vain for the contact. Was it still within my eye? Had it popped out and fallen somewhere? I couldn’t explain why it felt like there was something on that cornea.

I returned to the couch and tried viewing the TV. No luck. My eyesight grew worse, and I felt a wave of anxiety sweep over me. As I looked at my husband, the concern on his face was visible even through my debilitated gaze.

He picked up his cell phone and called the paramedics.

This concludes Chapter 1, our “sneak peek.” For information on the book, please visit: https://annbabiarz.com/flashes-of-light-2/

©2015 by Ann M. Babiarz and Michael A. Babiarz, J.D., all rights reserved

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