Feeling Sick Today

Feeling sick today. I asked my husband to find me Deborah's blue stone ring, and placed it on my ring finger closest to my heart. It still hasn't been polished or restored, but I miss  seeing it. There wasn't a day she did not wear it, except for the day that she took her life on the bridge. Four little diamonds adorn the corners, on a white gold clasp. My stomach hurts today, so does my back and my knees. It is a combination of everything, I'm afraid. I miss Deborah.
I observed a very sick boy who my daughter gave respid care to during spring break. He was blind, had major hearing aids, and was non verbal. However, his smile lit up the room. He is tube fed, yet his parents went on to have 2 more healthy children. They love this boy so much. Love unconditional. That is what we are called to have with our children who suffer from mental health, and we don't even realize it. Their acting out may not be simply teen years, something passing. They may have bipolar or suffer from depression and we think they are just having a bad day. They may struggle even to move, or talk or associate, yet we cannot see it. They hide their pain. They carry it in silence. A person with autism for instance has obvious social obscurities, limited eye contact, unable to related to the abstract, can't get jokes, and to the wise observer it is visible. Yet, to the one suffering from pain and on the verge of suicide, we cannot penetrate or see their need for help. To the contrary very often, they will have just come home from a holiday, or some joyous occasion was observed with friends or family, and then................the unthinkable happens. While we are carrying our own crosses, we can't see our brother crumbling under theirs. In the next few blogs I will bring to remembrance some of the successful facilities and interventions that have helped families overcome the grips of mental illness.