Just before her first wedding anniversary and just after a Yankee game in July 2008 Angela Leigh Tucker's life changed forever: a jackknifed tractor-trailer hit the car in which Angela and her husband were driving.

Angela survived but with a traumatic brain injury that would change her life forever. How she found strength, resilience and the courage to rebuild her life after trauma was the subject of today's episode of Changing Direction radio.

During our interview Angela and I discussed:

how to balance grieving and healing
how to access and develop courage
the role of purpose in recovery
using spirituality to access resilience
how to answer the question, "What am I going to do now?"
how to bridge the gap between who you were before trauma and who you are afterward

We also had a surprise guest join us: Bill Ramsey, Angela's co-author for her book, Me Now -- Who Next?. Together they spoke about the power and challenges of telling a trauma story.

My fave quote by Angela:
The greatest gift of the crash is the present moment.

Angela Leigh Tucker survived a car crash in July 2008 that killed her husband.  She sustained a traumatic brain injury, and has been growing, healing, and learning ever since.  Angela coauthored a book about her healing journey called Me Now---Who Next?  She is an advocate for brain injury awareness and is currently the chairwoman for the NYC chapter of the Brain Injury Association of NY State (BIANYS.)  For more from Angela, go to angelaleightucker.com.