There are several articles on the internet about what not to say to a person in crisis, such as in the death of their loved one.  Unfortunately I read those too late. I have a tendency to put my foot in my mouth. I am not a malicious person, I just don’t always think things through well before saying them.

Inevitably, this was the case with me after my stroke.  Several well meaning people said things that just weren’t helpful and sometimes rude.  They are not mean, vindictive people, they just didn’t know what to say. These same people would do wonderfully helpful things for me and my family. Even though it was sometimes painful and the words stuck with me for a long time, I needed to believe that they were good people who just said the wrong thing.  It is what I hope that people would do for me.