The Book of Joy

anything wrong. The year before our dialogues, my father fell down a
flight of stairs and suffered a traumatic brain injury. The doctors
explained that with a broken bone, we know exactly how long it will take
to heal, but with the brain we never know how it will heal and if it will
heal completely. For more than a month he was in the intensive care unit
and neuro rehab, in varying states of delirium, as we worried whether he
would ever return to his former self, to his great mind and heart. I will
never forget the first telephone call I received from him from the
hospital, since we did not know if he would ever be able to communicate
consciously again. When my brother was visiting with my dad, he said,
“I’m so sorry you’ve had this terrible experience.” My father replied,
“Oh, no, not at all. It’s all part of my curriculum.”