I talked to a lady today who shocked me. I have more or less known this lady for ten years, but I never really talked with her. I knew her son in high school and became friends with her (far too beautiful) daughter a few years later, but that's about it. She showed me something that I have been searching for since, well, always.
Knowing my history with her kids, she asked what I've been up to. We talked about work, photography, and a few other things. We talked about how talented her son is (best pianist I've ever seen!) and the behavior of the artist which morphed into my writing. When I talk about my blog, inevitably the question of what it's about arises. I'm really good at avoiding this because I'm still uncomfortable talking about all this. For some strange reason, I told her the name of it. Call it uncontrollable anxiety, social overload, or vocal vomit; fact is, I said it.
What she did next threw me for a serious loop. She asked if I had Bipolar. An understandable question at this point, but then she started telling me how she understood because she has this and other things that run in her family. At this point, I'm on auto-pilot with nodding, smiling, and interjections of "yeah" because I couldn't believe that she neither looked at me funny nor stepped back in self-protection.
She didn't assume anything, she understands what I'm going through, and she wasn't afraid to tell me about how she understands. She talked about these things running in her family like you'd talk about how red hair runs in yours. No fear, no judgment, no stigma. I'm still in awe. This woman is my new hero!
"What If"~ Five For Fighting (I know I use it a lot, but I like it)
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