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Article in Florida Times Union
Article in Florida Times Union
Full text below. Click here to see the article at jacksonville.com
Middleburg quadriplegic woman puts creativity to work on children's books
She wrote the first two months ago and plans more.
Posted: January 6, 2011 - 12:00am
By Bridget Murphy
"All me," Jewels Rogers says. "All me. All me."
Someone has asked the nursing assistant who helps care for the 31-year-old quadriplegic how much of the writing in her patient's new children's books actually comes from the patient.
Jewels has overheard the question. And the Middleburg woman insists on handling it herself.
In other matters, there is little else she can do in this regard. With some motion in her right arm, Jewels can feed herself finger food or lift a bottle to her lips and sip. She also can move her head, and sometimes, her feet.
But after 12 years spent mostly still in a bed or wheelchair, finding a way to project your ideas into the outside world is something special. And Jewels wants people to know it.
"I had an idea about writing a book," she explained, as her mother Mary Lou Rogers translated some of her words. "It was all me."
A 1998 drunken-driving accident in Jacksonville left Jewels in this condition. She and her mother say it is faith in God that helped inspire last year's new effort. That helped Jewels reach beyond her brain injury and outside the walls of the bedroom where she spends most of her time.
Pictures of dolphins decorate them. A parakeet and a rabbit take up perches in cages on different sides of her room. And a handful of Chihuahuas, the top dog going by the name Ava, can come by for visits. Sometimes Ava even gets a cuddle in bed, because the progress Jewels has made moving one arm since the crash means she can pet her favorite dog.
The animals are the stars of the self-published book series Jewels and her mother created last year. They paid to have a few copies of the first two children's books, called "The Princess and the Dolphin" and "The Princess and the Puppy," printed a few months ago. They plan to publish more books and sell them online to raise money for the added therapy Rogers needs. A friend of Mary Lou's has inked the illustrations.
Just about every day, mother and daughter collaborate in a writing session. Mary Lou is a 66-year-old former California schoolteacher who sold her house and gave up her tutoring business to come east after her daughter's accident.
A crash on way from work
She says Jewels was a troubled teenager who'd left the West Coast in a beat-up Chevy pickup and with a head full of bad ideas before she landed in Jacksonville. The then-19-year-old lived in that truck for a while before someone helped her find a job at a Denny's restaurant. The accident happened on her way home one night. The man who caused it went to prison.
In the crash's aftermath, Jewels was in a coma for more than four months. Doctors believe she had a stroke even after she awoke. Her voice became guttural and garbled. You must listen closely to understand.
Nursing assistant Delores Neubert works with her on pronunciation five days a week.
"She can, if you just make her slow down, and she really wants to, pronounce it," Neubert, 72, says of Jewels' words.
When it comes to creating book characters and scripts, Mary Lou says she sometimes makes suggestions but leaves the decisions up to her daughter. She takes dictation, and understands most of what her daughter says. They have a system for when she doesn't.
First, Jewels repeats her sentence. If that is not enough, she tracks back and repeats it word by word. If her mother still doesn't get it, Jewels spells each word. Then, if she must, she suggests another word that starts with the singular letter she is trying to communicate.
She is determined, the type of drive that if you ask Jewels about the reason behind it, she'll simply say:
"I just am."
bridget.murphy@jacksonville.com, (904) 359-4161
Full text below. Click here to see the article at jacksonville.com
Middleburg quadriplegic woman puts creativity to work on children's books
She wrote the first two months ago and plans more.
Posted: January 6, 2011 - 12:00am
By Bridget Murphy
"All me," Jewels Rogers says. "All me. All me."
Someone has asked the nursing assistant who helps care for the 31-year-old quadriplegic how much of the writing in her patient's new children's books actually comes from the patient.
Jewels has overheard the question. And the Middleburg woman insists on handling it herself.
In other matters, there is little else she can do in this regard. With some motion in her right arm, Jewels can feed herself finger food or lift a bottle to her lips and sip. She also can move her head, and sometimes, her feet.
But after 12 years spent mostly still in a bed or wheelchair, finding a way to project your ideas into the outside world is something special. And Jewels wants people to know it.
"I had an idea about writing a book," she explained, as her mother Mary Lou Rogers translated some of her words. "It was all me."
A 1998 drunken-driving accident in Jacksonville left Jewels in this condition. She and her mother say it is faith in God that helped inspire last year's new effort. That helped Jewels reach beyond her brain injury and outside the walls of the bedroom where she spends most of her time.
Pictures of dolphins decorate them. A parakeet and a rabbit take up perches in cages on different sides of her room. And a handful of Chihuahuas, the top dog going by the name Ava, can come by for visits. Sometimes Ava even gets a cuddle in bed, because the progress Jewels has made moving one arm since the crash means she can pet her favorite dog.
The animals are the stars of the self-published book series Jewels and her mother created last year. They paid to have a few copies of the first two children's books, called "The Princess and the Dolphin" and "The Princess and the Puppy," printed a few months ago. They plan to publish more books and sell them online to raise money for the added therapy Rogers needs. A friend of Mary Lou's has inked the illustrations.
Just about every day, mother and daughter collaborate in a writing session. Mary Lou is a 66-year-old former California schoolteacher who sold her house and gave up her tutoring business to come east after her daughter's accident.
A crash on way from work
She says Jewels was a troubled teenager who'd left the West Coast in a beat-up Chevy pickup and with a head full of bad ideas before she landed in Jacksonville. The then-19-year-old lived in that truck for a while before someone helped her find a job at a Denny's restaurant. The accident happened on her way home one night. The man who caused it went to prison.
In the crash's aftermath, Jewels was in a coma for more than four months. Doctors believe she had a stroke even after she awoke. Her voice became guttural and garbled. You must listen closely to understand.
Nursing assistant Delores Neubert works with her on pronunciation five days a week.
"She can, if you just make her slow down, and she really wants to, pronounce it," Neubert, 72, says of Jewels' words.
When it comes to creating book characters and scripts, Mary Lou says she sometimes makes suggestions but leaves the decisions up to her daughter. She takes dictation, and understands most of what her daughter says. They have a system for when she doesn't.
First, Jewels repeats her sentence. If that is not enough, she tracks back and repeats it word by word. If her mother still doesn't get it, Jewels spells each word. Then, if she must, she suggests another word that starts with the singular letter she is trying to communicate.
She is determined, the type of drive that if you ask Jewels about the reason behind it, she'll simply say:
"I just am."
bridget.murphy@jacksonville.com, (904) 359-4161
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
HVAC Insider Newspaper
The Following was published in the Florida November 2010 Edition of the HVAC Insider Newspaper. It was written by the Associate Director, Walter Arnett.
“On December 8, 1999 in the mornings' early hours, a young man that was driving while drunk hit another car. The 19 year old young lady driving the second vehicle was seriously injured with very little chance of surviving. A miracle happened and she lived, but remained in a coma for 4 months. When she finally regained consciousness she was permanently paralyzed. Her name is Jewels Rogers and she lives in the Jacksonville area with her loving and caring mother, Mary Lou.
In late spring of 2000, I received a call from Coke Rosebro, then of Gemaire Distributors, advising me of Jewels' situation. A local building contractor, that I regretfully can't remember the name of, was donating some remodeling on Mary Lou' house to make caring for Jewels' needs easier, and Sonnys' Service Co. was donating the heating & air conditioning installation. Gemaire added to the cause with the donation of a new Rheem system.
I went to Jacksonville and met with Coke and Sonny to do a story on Jewels and how the community businesses and her church were helping this family in their time of need. That was 10 years ago, but I still remember the radiant glow of Jewels' smile when Mary Lou introduced me to her.
Last week, the week of Thanksgiving, my phone rang and to my happy surprise, it was Mary Lou. I could tell by her voice that she was still as upbeat and caring as she was in 2000 when I first met her. The news is, Jewels is a happy and productive young lady. She is still paralyzed and has a very hard time talking, but enjoys her visits with everyone.
She, working through Mary Lou, has written several children’s books and is presently working on another. Following what seems to be becoming a family tradition, Mary Lou is also writing a book about her life with Jewels. Knowing these two delightful ladies, I am sure it will be very upbeat and positive, as well as a tremendous literary success. I look forward to getting a copy when it is finished.
I ask each of you to give thoughts and thanks for having super people like Jewels and Mary Lou in this world to be friends with. Jewels has only friends, no strangers, in her life, and Coke, Sonny, Gemaire and I appreciate being considered among them. "
“On December 8, 1999 in the mornings' early hours, a young man that was driving while drunk hit another car. The 19 year old young lady driving the second vehicle was seriously injured with very little chance of surviving. A miracle happened and she lived, but remained in a coma for 4 months. When she finally regained consciousness she was permanently paralyzed. Her name is Jewels Rogers and she lives in the Jacksonville area with her loving and caring mother, Mary Lou.
In late spring of 2000, I received a call from Coke Rosebro, then of Gemaire Distributors, advising me of Jewels' situation. A local building contractor, that I regretfully can't remember the name of, was donating some remodeling on Mary Lou' house to make caring for Jewels' needs easier, and Sonnys' Service Co. was donating the heating & air conditioning installation. Gemaire added to the cause with the donation of a new Rheem system.
I went to Jacksonville and met with Coke and Sonny to do a story on Jewels and how the community businesses and her church were helping this family in their time of need. That was 10 years ago, but I still remember the radiant glow of Jewels' smile when Mary Lou introduced me to her.
Last week, the week of Thanksgiving, my phone rang and to my happy surprise, it was Mary Lou. I could tell by her voice that she was still as upbeat and caring as she was in 2000 when I first met her. The news is, Jewels is a happy and productive young lady. She is still paralyzed and has a very hard time talking, but enjoys her visits with everyone.
She, working through Mary Lou, has written several children’s books and is presently working on another. Following what seems to be becoming a family tradition, Mary Lou is also writing a book about her life with Jewels. Knowing these two delightful ladies, I am sure it will be very upbeat and positive, as well as a tremendous literary success. I look forward to getting a copy when it is finished.
I ask each of you to give thoughts and thanks for having super people like Jewels and Mary Lou in this world to be friends with. Jewels has only friends, no strangers, in her life, and Coke, Sonny, Gemaire and I appreciate being considered among them. "
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