FORGETTING TO REMEMBER
A memoir by Evan Folan - Co-Founder of Toro & Tides
A traumatic brain injury ended one life and forced another to begin.
Forgetting to Remember is a raw memoir about memory loss, chronic pain, fractured identity, and the long aftermath no one prepares you for. It is honest and deeply personal, written for anyone who wants to understand what life after brain injury can actually look like.
Available in paperback and Kindle
What is the memoir about?
A single violent impact changed everything. Through hospital rooms, seizures, neurological testing, chronic pain, memory loss, failed relationships, and cognitive decline, Evan Folan documents what it means to keep living when your mind, body, and sense of self no longer feel dependable.
This is a book about survival, but not in the polished, inspirational way people often expect. It is about what happens when memory fades, pain lingers, identity fractures, and "starting over" is not a choice, but the only option left.
Why this memoir is different
There are plenty of stories about overcoming adversity. This is not one of those. Forgetting to Remember does not try to make brain injury feel neat, uplifting, or easy to package. It stays with the harder truth: sometimes survival looks like learning how to live with what remains.
No tidy recovery arc
No finish line. No clean return to normal. No polished miracle ending.
Written from the inside
Not theory. Not observation. A lived account of the aftermath as it unfolds.
Honest over inspirational
The book chooses truth over comfort, and that is what gives it weight
What readers will find inside
This book explores:
The reality of traumatic brain injury
Not just the diagnosis, but the day-to-day aftermath, memory problems, cognitive changes, pain, instability, and the invisible symptoms people often do not see.
Identity loss
What happens when the person you were no longer feels accessible in the same way, and how disorienting it is to live with that gap.
The grief no one talks about
The grief of losing certainty, losing normalcy, losing trust in your own mind, and losing parts of life that used to feel effortless.
Survival without sentimentality
Not a polished success story. Not a pity story. Just an honest account of what it takes to keep going.
A deeper understanding of invisible injury
For readers who have never experienced brain injury directly, this memoir offers a clearer, more human understanding of what the aftermath can really involve.
Who this book is for
Forgetting to Remember will resonate with:
Survivors of brain injury
Especially those who are tired of simplified narratives and want language for the parts of the experience that are hard to explain.
Caregivers, partners, family, and friends
People who want a more honest understanding of what their loved one may be carrying internally.
Readers drawn to memoirs that tell the truth
Those who value writing that is raw, vulnerable, and not overly polished for comfort.
Medical professionals, therapists, and advocates
Anyone who works around brain injury and wants a stronger sense of the lived experience behind the clinical language.
About the author, Evan Folan
Evan Folan writes from lived experience.
After sustaining a traumatic brain injury, he found himself navigating a reality defined by pain, memory loss, neurological complications, uncertainty, and the slow dismantling of the life he thought he knew. Forgetting to Remember is his account of that aftermath, written not to ask for sympathy, but to tell the truth.
His perspective matters because it comes from the inside.
Not from theory. Not from observation. From living it.
What readers are saying
"One thing that will never be lost from Evan is his passionate heart, and his gift of writing. This book truly is a journey. It’s heartbreaking, heartwarming and inspiring all at once.
It is so important to read, because as he highlights, so many more people suffer with a TBI, but their lived experiences are often hidden. One of the biggest takeaways from this book is to live without fear. Evan truly embodies that and is living his life with a purpose every day."
Britt - Amazon review
"This was truly one of the most important things I’ve ever read. Evan is one of the best people that I know and he should be the owner of a Fortune 500 company or the #1 anchor on the national news at this point. However, a terrible accident changed all that. If there was ever a doubt, though, that he was going to let anything get in his way of making a difference in the world, this book and his life now are proof that nothing can stop him. None of us can understand what he goes through but these 276 pages are a great start in helping us empathize with what he & everyone experiencing TBI’s hide on a daily basis. A must read. We must cherish the work of the very best of us in a time that glorifies the very worst of us. This book is a good start."
Lexi - Amazon review
"This is an incredible read and stellar addition to the TBI aftermath literature. I read a ton of brain injury related books for work and Evan’s writing is a stand out! This is a powerful and unvarnished account of survival, loss, pain, and hope. Evan’s use of journal entries during his recovery gives the reader a rare front row seat to the realities of surviving a horrible accident and rebuilding a life one piece at a time. This is a must read for anyone in the rehabilitation landscape!"
Jennifer - Amazon review