by: Cindy Massey
My name is Cynthia Massey and I am a TBI survivor. Back in January 16th of ‘92 .I was involved in a serious car accident, in a coma for 22 days, I had a broken collar-bone, busted nose, chipped knee-cap, partially detached optic nerve in my left eye, and pneumonia twice, and nearly died several times, but I survived!
When I came to, my mother told me what had happened to me. When I heard this, the first thing that came to my mind was, “Wow, I need a cigarette!” My mother said, “ Cindy, Why don’t you just quit. You haven’t had a cigarette in 22 days!” I couldn’t quit before the accident. I was too addicted. So I said to myself, “ I’ve got 22 days on it, I may as well just quit.” So I did.
Before the wreck (and I say wreck because alcohol was involved, therefore it was a wreck, not an accident), I was a wedding photographer. I was fast moving, fast thinking, going to school for photography, and also working at Manor Downs horse track as their photographer. Then I had this wreck, which totally turned my life upside down and a total 360 degrees.
My mother and father couldn’t take care of me, because I still had a tummy tube in my trach. So I went into a nursing home. My good friend Tommy would come visit me. After several visits, I couldn’t stand it any more. I begged him,” Tommy, the next time you come here, I need a drink. Just bring me one shot of whiskey. An alcoholic brain thinking!He said, “ Cindy, why don’t you just quit! You haven’t had a drink for months!” So I said to myself, “Cindy, give it a shot. Quit!” So I did.
So January 16th of ’92 was my last drink.
Dr. John Luker knew I was an alcoholic. My blood alcohol level was .36. Dr Luker sent me to an substance abuse program at Breckenridge hospital and introduced me to STS (Special Transit Service). So I went into recovery for the first time ( that I wanted to) and that was a CONVERSION! So that was the biggest conversion of my life: from party animal to a good, clean, and sober life!
Year after year went by and I had a number of different jobs, but I would get fired, or I would just quit. Either they would fire me because I was too slow, or I would get totally frustrated and I would just quit.
I was born and raised a Roman Catholic and when I started drinking and drugging, I got away from the faith. Then the wreck made me realize that I was saved for a reason. So I was praying every night,” May your will be done, Lord, and I need to know what your will is. I can’t be a wedding photographer, I can’t think or move that fast any more.”
In '96, I took my very first vacation with my brand new Ford Econoline van and my brand new little Sheltie dog Star! Nothing was planned! I was to meet Father Jerry up in Calspell, Montana to show his sister that having a disability should not make you break down or be a shut-in.She found out that she has adult diabetes, and she shut down. Father Jerry wanted her to see me with my disability hauling off across the country in my van, with my little Star, and no gun, camping across the United States and driving by all of this beauty that this country has to offer: the Grand Canyon, the Sierras, Yosemite National Park, the Painted Forest, the Redwood Forests, the Pacific Ocean, and the Glacier National Park in Calspell, Montana.
I took 350 beautiful landscape pictures of God’s scenic creations. Four years later down the road, it finally came to me one night, as I was laying there praying, “ Lord, what did you save me for? I need to know. Then I felt that He said, “ Cindy, you’ve already got half the job done! You’ve got 350 pictures of my gift to you!! Take those pictures, matte them, and put my words under it (the Psalms) and you’ve got a saleable product.!” So I hit the ground running the next day, I put together a few of them, and sold them to people in my church! They said, “ Cindy, you MUST get a website and sell these to the whole world! ” And that’s what started my whole, brand new business. My name before the accident, was “Creative Images by Cynthia”DBA. So I just kept my same DBA (doing business as) because you are creating your own piece of art on my website, that I helped design. By picking a picture of God’s beautiful gift to us that I took on my ’96 trip, then picking a matte board, the color of the matte board, or a double or single matte board.
Then I’ve got ten Psalms up there that I picked to illuminate my pictures. You pick the right one, and I just put it together for you and send it to you. My website is:
www.creativeimagesbycynthia.com
Now, I want to describe to you how my business got started. I was previously a client of TRC (Texas Rehabilitation Commission) because of a back injury, and they were so good because initially they paid for all my therapies, to send me to school in photographic technologies with graphic arts, and helped me begin my first business, doing weddings. After the wreck, I had this God-sent idea to produce my matted pictures with Psalms.
I returned to TRC with my inspiration, and convinced them that this was my real purpose in life. They bought me all the equipment that I needed to start my own business, so I have a website, my computer, a scanner, a printer, a matte board cutter, and appropriate office furniture, and it is all put together in my home. Business is slow right now because I need help in learning how to market this business to get it off the ground. However, I feel like I am an example of how any brain-injured person CAN, with determination, support, and prayer, be a successful, happy, productive disabled individual.
Cindy Massey
P.S. This letter was written with help from my friend Norma, who edited and typed this composition.