The 14th Day of Community: Janet Oberholtzer

Five years ago, Janet Oberholtzer was on vacation with her family. She was sleeping as they drove, and then she woke up – in the hospital, after a 10-day coma. And her life had irrevocably changed. She learned that she had almost died, and that she night never walk again. Her legs and hips were a mass of fractures and wounds, and she had fractured three vertebrae. Two have healed well; the third is out of line.

And Janet had been a runner, and participated in races.

The August after her accident, months later, Janet walked. Today, Janet runs again. (She has three posts on her blog about the accident, coming to terms with her injuries, and how she starting running again -- see them beneath her profile on the right. The third one includes a link at the bottom to a TV report from last March, when she was interviewed prior to participating in a four-person relay for a marathon.)

And Janet writes. In December, Janet learned she had been accepted into the Dream Year program, directed by Ben Arment. Ben will be her coach for a year. Janet’s dream: to finish and publish her memoir and then become a speaker – around the world.

I should also say that at Christmas, Janet posted photographs of her family – and it was only then that I realized that she was a mother of three boys – and not their sister (and not from the photographs – but from the text accompanying them.)

So check out Janet’s blog. Follow her on Twitter. And watch her dream unfold and come true.


(Last month, a number of us participating in the “Twelve Days of Community” - see the button at the top right - sponsored by The High Calling Blogs. The purpose was to highlight the blog or web site of someone other than ourselves during the season of Advent and Christmas. I liked the idea so much that I’m going to continue to do that -- highlight a blog or web site of a person whose thoughts and writing have had an impact on me and others.)