Instead of.....

Rewired by Kristin Garemani

This post is written by a friend in the neighborhood that I met a few years ago - she humbly writes below about her courage to rewrite her story after a big life event. I think she is very brave to completely start a new career and well, I hope that you are inspired like I am….Carla

In 2005 I was a Senior Vice President at a Large Investment Bank. I loved my life and my career. I had been in the investment business for over 18 years, and I had enjoyed every part of it.

Then I had a stroke. I did not have a TIA, or a mini stroke. I had a full stroke and lost the right half of my vision. After a week in the hospital, I was able to see enough to watch television or drive a car, but not enough to read more than 5-20 minutes. If I read for too long, I started seeing double. I suffered terrible migraines and sometimes complete loss of vision, ending up back in ambulances off to the hospital again.

I decided to take a leave of absence, thinking it would be for a few weeks. When I was still having double vision a few years later, I decided to retire. One day, about 3 years after my stroke, I woke up and could read perfectly. I could have gone back into managing money, but I thought that maybe God had another plan for me.

I had always loved wine and decided to delve into wine education. After years of research, wine tasting, and hard work, I started Garemani Wines. My wines have won over 50 international wine awards and are served in Michelin-starred restaurants and hotels such as the Peninsula, Waldorf Astoria, and Rosewoods, just to name a few.

Many people give up after a life changing medical event. For some people, it is not possible to work again due to the severity of their illness. Some, however, do have the ability to regroup, reroute, and to move forward in a different way and on a different path than the one they walked before that event.

For those that have that ability, I know that keeping positive and embracing life’s changes, even though they may be difficult, can be rewarding. My outlook post-stroke is that I have decided that in fact I am not retired but rewired.

Cheers! 🥂 Kristin

www.GaremaniWines.com