Rueben’s Story

Hi!  My name is Rueben.  I was born, September 30, 1979, in Portsmouth Hospital, Virginia. My dad was in the Navy. We lived in a house by the beach near the Navy base in Norfolk, VA.  The three of us were happy.  Mom and I went to see my grandparents in New York. When we came back home, my dad was studying.  Out of the blue, he hit me in the head. 

They rushed me to the hospital.  My mom told me, I passed away two times. I was in foster care until I was one year old.  My grandpa and grandma fought to get me back to my mom.  We lived in a small town in Nebraska. I went to school and played.  School was hard for me.  Friends were hard, too. 

I have a brain injury and had ups and downs until I was a teenager. I was in special ed class and hung out with new and old friends.  I was in Special Olympics in 1990-2003: powerlifting, swimming, all the events.  I met my girlfriend in Special Olympics.  We went everywhere together. We were great together. We have a son.  He is now 15 years old.

Now, I have new friends at the VFW where I volunteer and at the Brain Injury Support Group. At the Nighthawks football games, I met Eric Crouch, Ahman Green, Irving Fryar, Rex Burkhead, Jeff Garcia and John Schneider (Bo on Dukes of Hazzard). 

On September 8th, 2019, my friends at VFW, the Support Group and Brain Injury Alliance of Nebraska helped me with one of my goals.  I wanted to have a spaghetti dinner fundraiser to help the Support Group.  The commander let us use the VFW.  People from the VFW, BIA-NE and the Support Group volunteered.  We had 84 people and made $1,122 for the support group.  Everybody wants to do it again next year.

Another one of my goals is to write my story.  I just need someone to help me.