What can I say? It was transformative. It will always be transformative. This is why I pay homage every year. A fourteen year old girl was plucked from terror and confusion and placed in a time out. Not as punishment or penalty but as an opportunity to mentally breathe.
Generally, we don’t think of mental hospitals or psych wards this way. Used well, they can be a place where we take stock, adjust our thinking, and make a better plan. I was one such lucky person, able to reorient the trajectory of my life.
So, I say thank you to that fourteen year old, the mental health staff, and my grandparents. We don’t need to abolish the things that scare us. We need support to find a way through them.
May 19, 1972, will always be as important to me as my birthday, though obviously, not as highly regarded. I was lucky to be born and then given an opportunity to improve my lot. I know many don’t get such opportunities and when given are unable to embrace them. There are two parts: luck and fortitude. I am grateful I had both.
To Life.
Joceile
5/17/21
[Picture of my counselor, Jerry, and I. 1972]
No comments:
Post a Comment