This is a sample story that demonstrates the markdown format. Each story should have frontmatter (the content between the --- marks) that includes:
<ul>
<li>title: The title of the story</li>
<li>name: The name of the person</li>
<li>coordinates: [longitude, latitude] for the map marker</li>
<li>date: When the story was written</li>
<li>location: The location name</li>
</ul>
The rest of the content can include regular markdown formatting:
<h2>My Experience</h2>
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris.
<h3>Important Moments</h3>
<ul>
<li>First moment</li>
<li>Second moment</li>
<li>Third moment</li>
</ul>
You can include quotes, lists, and other markdown formatting as needed.

John Doe

Sample Story

<h2>Once I get that done, I would like to get an RV and drive. Drive all my sewing machines and do a sewing show.</h2>
I’ve always been more stubborn. Like if I want – If I think – I can get better, I will get better. But aphasia was hard. It was real hard. It was hard at first, from my stroke, with the animals (two dogs and a cat), because I had to learn how to walk them. I learned that I could walk them because another girl learned to walk from her stroke with her dogs. And if she could do this, then I could do this. But it was hard.
With aphasia, I didn’t have anyone to look to because I didn’t even know there were other people with aphasia. I didn’t know anybody, only what I learned on my own. At first, I would say a couple little words, just very few words. So I learned everything since my stroke basically on my own. I learned I couldn't read, but I could do audiobooks. At first, the television really bothered me a lot. It made me fatigued a lot because of the noise. Then I could watch television, little bits at a time.
<img src="/static/img/sherry/1000016765.jpg" alt="x">
Caption here
It wasn’t until the pandemic that I got an email from Lingraphica telling me they were offering a couple little classes on Zoom. But I didn’t know how to use Zoom. My husband never used Zoom either, but he knew that I had to get online and figure it out. So I did. And I logged into Virtual Connections, one of the classes jointly organized by Lingraphica and ARC. This was in March 2020, about a week after they started Virtual Connections.The first Zoom call I had was a coffee chat with Dr. Katie Strong. Katie is a speech language pathologist (SLP) at Central Michigan University.
At this time, there were only three of us in Virtual Connections. We didn’t have planned activities. Instead, we were all in our pajamas with coffee trying our best to chat. But we would meet up every week and the group slowly grew. In September, Katie asked if she could help me share my story with others. She encouraged me to speak up and learn my story. I’m glad that happened. Because it showed me the value of my words.
I was one of six that got to share my story. I was assigned one of Katie’s students as a partner, and I worked with them from September to spring of the next year. They wrote down what I had to say and recorded what I had to say. I wrote down what I wanted to say if I could, and I would
email it to my partner. They would then adjust it. And I saw how they did it online. And then Katie would jump in or Bri or Avi, two other members of the Virtual Connections team. They would put their revisions up on a board and share it. And then I would read from it.
So I did my story. I had over 130 people who sat in on the day I spoke.
And then my story had to change, because the next year my sister had a stroke.
My sister and I were close – we would talk every day during my stroke. She would call me every morning and talk – talk like crazy. I wouldn’t say anything because I couldn't talk. And then one day I said, I’m going to speak. And then I started trying to talk.
I was two years in on my stroke at this time when my sister had hers. Katie was a real good encouragement during this time because she called me one day and we talked on Zoom and she made a list of things I needed to ask the doctor. She helped me get the courage to tell the doctors, “Listen, give my sister a chance, because I’ve had a stroke and I’m still here. She has a stroke, and she can still be here.”
And I think that if I did not speak up, my sister wouldn't be here today. It was hard for me to speak too, because I was just learning to speak. And I would watch her on the video screen. Whatever they were doing to her, I could watch through Zoom. And I think that during that time frame, with her having a stroke and me recovering from my stroke, I learned a lot of independence.
My journey would also be incomplete without mentioning Jackie Hinckley. Jackie has worked across the board for Voices of Hope, an aphasia support group. I met her through Nova Southeastern University, when I wanted to go to school to be a speech therapist. She invited me to the Florida Speech Association conference. But it’s harder for me with school now after my stroke, and I realized I would be 99 years old before I could finish my SLP degree. Jackie showed me that there were other ways that I could get involved.
As I recovered from my stroke, I began to work on my own community of aphasia with Lingraphica, Voices of Hope, and Nova with Tambi Braun. I started an in-person stroke group called Aphasia Gatherings that meets at the community center, and also a Zoom book club that is in session every Monday, like clockwork. I made my friend Rebecca my co-host. I have several friends in the book club that are really getting better.
The book club is really into mysteries right now. Mysteries and mysteries. Everyone learns differently. Some learn with their device. They tap in the device, and some have a different form of aphasia. I think for Wernicke’s it is really hard, but we give them each a chance to read out loud. For instance, Larry reads small passages but his reading comes out like numbers instead of words. But I can understand his numbers. We give everyone a chance to read.
When I first met Larry over 2 years ago, he was having a real hard time speaking. I met him when he was 6 months into his aphasia. And now his speech has gotten a lot better. It’s not in his reading – all his reading is really just all numbers. But when he’s speaking, some words come out where they didn’t before. So I think he’s getting better.
Ronlyn had a stroke before me. She has gotten a lot better, but her thing is, she loves songs. So I learned that if I asked her to sing it out loud, it’s easier for her to explain while singing it than saying it. So I say, “Use your song voice, Ronlyn, sing it out loud.” So I give them options.
Some people also have a hard time with jokes. Some of them do not understand at all. Like a very simple joke, something that’s like black and white. “What does that mean? I don’t get it.” So Rebecca and I try to throw in a joke one session, every time. Little jokes, and we also learned
that if we do more, we have questions. But we also learned to get them talking. “So when were you in high school? What was your favorite sport?” Some open-ended questions to get them more active. All of them have gotten better, and I am like, “I knew you could do it!”
Since my stroke, my life has gone through even more changes. For instance, Tambi Braun’s aphasia support group is rebranding to “TOGETHER we are BETTER Brain injury support group,” a suggestion that I made. Some of us have brain injuries, some of us have had strokes, and some have cancer, and I’ve tried to move them all along and help them get better. Because I feel like I’m in a boat and there’s a bunch of sinking people, so I have to fish them all in instead of letting them flounder in the water. If I’m going to get Better, they’re going to get Better too.
Recently, I found out that my sister is getting better too. Her husband took a picture of her eating a sandwich. She had it in her hands. She was actually feeding herself instead of him feeding her.
I don’t know exactly what’s going to happen next in life but I want to get my daughter graduated, but I want her to grow as well. I don’t want her to just graduate the home not knowing what she’s doing. So once I get that done, I would like to get an RV and drive. Drive all my sewing machines and do a sewing show.