TOMORROW WAS YESTERDAY - INTRODUCING THE AUTHORS (2) by Dede Ranahan
Introducing authors of the 65 stories in Tomorrow Was Yesterday - Explosive First-Person Indictments of the US Mental Health System — Mothers Across the Nation Tell It Like It Is. Available on Amazon in December.
FROM CALIFORNIA
Francie VanZandt: “Prepare Myself? How Do I Do That?”
Francie is 62-years-old and the mother of five children. She’s spent many years working at the elementary school in her rural community. “I am a strong woman. Life has not been easy. Like all of us, a few rough times have come my way. Some of those times I didn’t think I could survive. I did. I manage to begin each new day with the hope I can make a difference for someone.”
FROM COLORADO
Darlene Watkins: “Please Don’t Kill My Son”
FROM CONNECTICUT
Kendra Burgos: “The Caregiver’s Sadness”
Kendra’s hope is that others will know there is love and joy despite the many challenges of living with someone with mental illness. “I am grateful to my husband for teaching me how to love unconditionally and to my children for their strength because it is the family’s struggle as well.” Kendra wants others to know that we are not alone, and there is strength in our stories.
FROM FLORIDA
Ronnie Blumenthal: “No One Asks. She’s Been Erased.”
Ronnie is a mother, advocate, writer, daughter, and wife. “It won’t change unless we talk about it.”
Allison Brown: “Fighting for Change”
Allison is a 37-year-old wife and mother of three. “I want a better life for my kids than I had. I hope to be a voice of change for mental health reform.”
Sylvia Charters: “There’s No Help in the USA”
Sylvia is the mother of two sons. Her son, Jason, had bipolar disorder with psychosis. He passed at age 40 with cardiomyopathy. Her youngest son is undiagnosed and living, homeless, on the streets of Phoenix and is addicted to street drugs. He has symptoms of bipolar disorder. “There’s no help whatsoever for the mentally sick in the USA.”
Sandy Turner: “He Has Schizophrenia, Your Honor”
FROM IDAHO
Angela McCandless: “We Don’t Help People Here”
Angela is mother to four children and grandma to four children. She writes:,“Here are four words to describe me: 1. Organized — organize don’t agonize. 2. Determined — I’ll never give up fighting for my son. 3. Spiritual — I don’t believe in miracles — I rely on them. 4. Kind — I love making someone’s day. My hobbies are decorating and cooking. A favorite quote: ‘If you are on the right path, it will always be uphill.’”
FROM ILLINOIS
Jacque Cowger McKinney: “Too many Families Live This Pain”
FROM INDIANA
Kelli Nidey: “Have You Seen My Son?”
Kelli lives in a little river town in the Midwest. “I hope we can find causes and cures for neurological illnesses in my lifetime”
FROM IOWA
Leslie Carpenter: “What Do I Dream Of Now?”
Leslie is an advocate for people with serious brain disorders in Iowa, along with her husband Scott. They advocated on federal policy changes with all the democratic presidential candidates during the 2020 pre-caucus season. Leslie is a board member of NAMI Johnson County and teaches Family-to-Family, NAMI Provider training, and serves on the Advocacy and Outreach Committee. The Carpenters have two adult children, one of whom lives with schizoaffective disorder.
Dawn MacTaggart Connolly: “What Is the Answer?”
FROM KENTUCKY
Harriet B.: “I’m Going to Brag About My Son”
Martha: “Everyone Needs Hope”
Martha is the proud mother to her son who lives heroically with SMI (or neurological brain disorder). Along with advocacy and prayer, “I long for the day when our loved ones who are suffering will have the opportunity to receive effective, compassionate care like all others.”
Joann Strunk: “Finding Sarah”
Joann is the mother of a smart, beautiful young woman of 33 who has been seriously mentally ill since age 16. “The battle to get her the care that she needs has been horrendous. Our mental health system is beyond broken.”
COMING UP: Mothers from Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Hampshire, New Jersey, and New York.
Leslie Carpenter
TOMORROW WAS YESTERDAY - INTRODUCING THE AUTHORS by Dede Ranahan
Over the next few weeks, it will be my privilege to introduce the authors of the 65 stories in Tomorrow Was Yesterday - Explosive First-Person Indictments of the US Mental Health System — Mothers Across the Nation Tell It Like It Is. Available on Amazon in December.
From Alabama
Margie Annis: “Losing My Child Barbarically”
Margie sees herself as a mother first in what is important in life. She has nothing but unconditional love for her children (sons). The youngest was difficult and different. “We are all learning as we live life to understand it. When this son was a man the sky fell in and, now, he is gone forever. Our love for him will never die.”
GG Burns: “Anosognosia — #1 Enemy”
George Burns writes: “My late wife, GG Burns, was an incredible advocate for those who suffer from SMI. Gina, as I call her, was a wonderful, loving mother and unbelievable artist — with no boundaries to her creativity. I will always love you, Gina Burns.”
From Arizona
Cheri VanSant: “We Need Holistic Healthcare for People with SMI”
Cheri is a 65-year-old retired RN and the mother of a 43-year-old son with serious mental illness. She used to teach NAMI’s Family-to-Family classes and advocated for family members and those who struggle with the illness. As a healthcare professional at the time of her story, “I was unaware of how dismissive doctors and nurses were to this dear woman’s illness and was curious how often this occurs.”
Christi Weeks: “Please Help Find Ryan”
From California
Anonymous: “I Just Want My Beautiful Boy Back”
”I’m still new at having a son diagnosed with mental illness and with navigating the system for help. Any system requires a herculean effort. I hope and pray for a better future for those who have mental illnesses.”
Kathy Baker: “Letter From Solitary Confinement”
Judy Waldo Bracken: “Between Now and the Next Full Moon”
Judy is the mother of three sons, and is a writer and a swimming coach living in the East Bay, California. In 2010, her husband was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer and her middle son with serious mental illness while a senior in college. The following years were full of cancer treatments, clinical trials, police calls, psych wards, and 5150s. Since then her husband has passed away and her son has been placed under LPS conservatorship.
Sonia Fletcher Dinger: “Our Family Tragedy”
Sonia lives in Mount Shasta, California with her second husband, a dog, a cat, and 15 chickens. She works part-time at a rural hospital and has served on the County Behavioral Health Board. Her daughter Christina is on conditional release from Napa State Hospital. She lives in a group home, has a part-time job, and continues to work hard toward recovery. “I am so proud of her. We speak on the phone almost every day.”
Deborah Fabos: “What Are Your Family’s Numbers?”
Deborah is the mother and caregiver of an adult son with a neurobiological disorder more commonly known as schizophrenia. She’s an advocate for family members/caregivers and those w ho suffer with the consequences of untreated and treatment-resistant anosognosia (lack of insight into their condition). Deborah created a Facebook support page and has been its administrator for six years. “I passionately support the reclassification of schizophrenia under neurology.”
Val Greenoak: “Jesse and Me”
Val is the mother of five. Jesse was her fourth son. All her children are grown. “I live quietly on a couple of acres in the redwoods.”
CJ Hanson: “Beyond My Understanding of What Being Human Means”
Catherine J. Rippee-Hanson is Linda Rippee Privatte’s twin sister and Mark Hanson’s sister. They’ve been seeking help and services for Mark for 33 years. “It’s not gotten any easier. I can no longer go out looking for him and have to rely on Linda’s accounts of losing and finding him over and over again. Local, regional, state, and federal laws impede our path every step of the way.”
Rhonda Meth: “We Received the Worst Call of Our Lives”
Rhonda is more of a spiritual person than religious. She’s grateful for her husband, daughters Monica and Amanda, and her family and good friends. Usually, she’s a calm person and strong mentally. She enjoys yoga, reading books, and painting. “The loss of our Monica was devastating. It left a hole in our hearts that will never be filled.”
Teresa Pasquini: “Teresa and Danny”
Teresa advocates for reforming the nation’s mental health system. As a family member of a son and brother living with SMI, her 45-year personal experience drives her passion. She’s provided testimony in forums including the Institute of Healthcare Improvement, the National Quality Forum, and an event on Capitol Hill advocating for “The Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act.” The Bay Area Newsgroup recognized Theresa for her local advocacy during the 2017 Women’s History Month.
Linda Rippee Privatte: “Rewind and Erase”
Linda advocates, along with her twin sister CJ Hanson, for their traumatic brain-injured, blind, SMI, homeless brother. She seeks legislative changes that would allow him to receive treatment for the brain disease that is his serious mental illness. “The mental health system has collapsed on the backs of the families of SMI loved ones, while tying their hands legally.”
Dede Ranahan: “Looking for Joy”
Dede is the editor of Tomorrow Was Yesterday and the author of Sooner Than Tomorrow — A Mother’s Diary About Mental Illness, Family, And Everyday Life. She dedicates her mental illness advocacy to her son Patrick (1968 - 2014). She has three daughters and six grandchildren. “I love them lots.”
Rebecca Reinig: “I’m Prepared for Joey’s Death”
”I am a mother, advocate for my son, pacifist, and trying to be one of the voices for those who cannot speak for themselves.”
Ellie Shukert: “Dorothea Dix Reborn”
Ellie volunteered during the 1960s at the Worcester State hospital in Massachusetts. It was established in 1830 and expanded during the 1840s, largely through the efforts of Dorothea Dix. This hospital, now Worcester Recovery, still serves SMI patients in a modern facility. Dorothea had a “breakdown” herself and was cared for in England by a practitioner of “moral treatment.” She wanted others to have a chance to become well again. “That lady ran right over stigma.”
Kat Shultz: “A Mother’s Request in Court”
Kat is the 51-year-old mother of five children. Her eldest child passed away in 2013. She’s been a teacher since 1991 and currently teaches fourth grade.
Maggie Willis: “This Is My Beloved Grandson and I Fear for his Future”
Maggie was raised in the Santa Clara Silicon Valley in the 50s and 60s. She became a mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother. “My first grandchild helped me understand that people do not consider brain problems the same as other medical problems; and the caretaker not only suffers from watching her loved one suffer from a tortured brain, but from the ignorance of friends and family.”
COMING UP: Authors from Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, and Kentucky.
Gina (GG) Burns: In Memoriam
TOMORROW WAS YESTERDAY PUBLISHING UPDATE by Dede Ranahan & 64 Co-Authors
Dear Readers,
Here’s an update on Tomorrow Was Yesterday — Explosive First-Person Indictments of the US Mental Health System —Mothers Across the Nation Tell It Like It Is.
The book is moving through production. I’ll receive the printer’s proof in the next couple of weeks. There are some delays in publishing due to COVDI-19, but with luck, Tomorrow Was Yesterday will be available on Amazon by the second week of December. Hopefully in time for Christmas ordering. It will also be available through special order at Barnes & Noble and other IngramSparks outlets.
From the back cover:
In these snapshots from on-going sagas, you’ll read about grim realities — terrible group homes, suicides, adult children killed by police, incarcerations, solitary confinement, lack of beds, family chaos, substance abuse, ineffective medications, heart-breaking HIPAA restrictions, hallucinations, homelessness, sorrow, hurt, and anger. Simultaneously, you’ll read about profound love, caregiving, gratitude, forgiveness, hope, strength, persistence, resilience, generosity, leadership, courage, pursuing dreams, understanding, and heroism.
Please read our stories. Set aside any conscious biases about serious mental illnesses (SMI) and the people and families who struggle with them. Imagine us as relatives or friends — people you care deeply about. We mothers, in Tomorrow Was Yesterday, are counting on you to help us use outrage and compassion to reach a tipping point for change. We’re relying on your word of mouth support to get these stories out to the broader, unknowing public. It has no idea how abysmal things are.
—Dede Ranahan
“I am confident these stories will cause the world to wake up, take notice,
and implement the change we so badly need.”
—Miriam Feldman, painter and author of
He Came In with It: A Portrait of Motherhood and Madness
“Reading these intimate accounts will change you. It changed me.”
—Steve Goldbloom, Emmy-nominated writer, producer, director, and creator of the
Brief But Spectacular series for PBS NEWsHour. The show’s mission is to
invite viewers to walk in someone else’s shoes.
“If these stories can't convince policy makers, I don't know what will.”
—Mindy Greiling, Minnesota legislator for 20 years, and author of
Fix What You Can: Schizophrenia and a Lawmaker's Fight for Her Son.
TOMORROW WAS YESTERDAY (MASSACHUSETTS) - COMING SOON by Dede Ranahan
Jared
Deborah Harper - I FEARED HE’D BE BLOWN TO PIECES (MASSACHUSETTS)
January 19, 2019: Jared was just released from a 40-day imprisonment at a house of correction followed by a 35-day inpatient hospitalization at a state hospital. He had a psychotic break in late October while visiting me for a few days. He believed I was part of the KKK and pulled a kitchen knife out of the knife rack. He didn’t hold the knife up to me and I never saw what kind of knife he pulled. I called for help, reluctantly, because we had just had a three-year case dismissed for assault and battery on a police officer because he resisted them the last time I called them.
The local police called in what is a called a STOP team, which I would classify as a SWAT team. Heavily armed men unloaded from vans and surrounded our house. They appointed me the negotiator and hooked me up to a speaker inside the house while a robot took photos inside the house. My small dog was inside with Jared. It was cold and raining. Every 45 minutes I had to stand three feet away from two men holding automatic weapons and one holding a shield and a taser. I was shaking like a leaf. I was luring my son into a trap. If he did anything threatening, I feared he’d be blown to pieces. Team members were in the woods, too. I could see little red lights coming from their weapons and helmets — a scene from Star Wars. The Ewoks in the woods. They evacuated my neighbors. It was insane.
After an eight-hour stand off, the police smashed a battering ram through Jared’s particle-board bedroom door that didn't have a lock, destroyed his room, stepped on his guitar, and arrested him. They charged him with attempted murder among three other trumped-up charges.
Read more of Deborah’s story in the upcoming book, TOMORROW WAS YESTERDAY - Explosive First-Person Indictments of the US Mental Health System -- Mothers Across the Nation Tell It Like It Is. It will be available on Amazon.
Watch my Nautilus Book Awards Author Spotlight video: https://vimeo.com/422993030
WHO COULD HAVE KNOWN. WE ALL DID by Linda Rippee Privatte
Mark
Linda’s posts about her brother Mark have appeared several times in this blog. A snapshot from Mark’s story is included in my upcoming book, Tomorrow Was Yesterday: Explosive First-Person Accounts of the US Mental Health System — Mothers Across the Nation Tell It Like It Is. Today’s post is an update on Mark’s situation that Linda wrote last week.
Last September, I was sitting in California Senator Bill Dodd’s office for a meeting. We were discussing my brother Mark’s situation and upcoming legislation concerning the seriously mentally ill (SMI). I’d invited Dede Ranahan, author of Sooner Than Tomorrow: A Mothers Diary about Mental Illness, Family, and Everyday Life, and an SMI advocate, to attend with me. The senator’s staff informed us they were doing research on proposals for the next session and we talked about the pros and cons of AB 1572 and SB 640.
In the end, Dede and I couldn’t support the bills as written. We discussed the Grassroots 2020 5-Part SMI Plan that had been compiled by Dede and 90 advocates from across the nation, including myself and my sister, CJ Hanson. This plan to bring serious mental illness into campaign discussions was hand-delivered to each presidential candidate in Iowa by SMI advocates Leslie and Scott Carpenter. I thought bringing one of the co-authors of this plan with me was a good move and I was very excited about the meeting.
I was feeling confident and proud to be in Senator Dodd’s office along with Dede that day. Over the summer, I felt we had made some advancement in our advocacy for Mark and for many SMI issues. We felt we were part of a strong movement for change. We talked about the hundreds of citizens who had contacted us about Mark, concerned about his being in traffic. We spoke about how anosognosia is a condition that impacts close to 50% of the SMI population, and complicates the decisions that SMI individuals can make for themselves if they have no insight into their illness I expressed that it was a miracle that Mark has survived being 100% blind — along with traumatic brain injuries and SMI with anosognosia for 13 years — untreated. I spoke of the many robberies, beatings, falls, infections, injuries, and near traffic accidents that could have killed him. I said I believed he would die on the streets of Vacaville.
I left our meeting disappointed in the two bills that were discussed, but felt proud to help anyone researching new SMI legislation, and I was grateful to Dede for speaking about the 2020 Grassroots 5-Part SMI Plan. I left Senator Dodd’s office and walked the streets of Vacaville looking for Mark, but I couldn’t find him. In our last few visits, he’d been in poor condition and delusional.
The next day opened my eyes to the irony of that meeting. As I sat there asking legislators to address SMI and talking about the horror of Mark’s story, our family’s worst fears had already happened and we just didn’t know. Mark had been hit by a car but hadn’t been transported to the ER. He’d been lying on a Vacaville sidewalk in pain for days. My sister and I were tagged on Facebook and notified of his accident. Finally, he was admitted to a hospital needing surgery. I no longer felt confident. I no longer felt hopeful for Mark’s future or for others with SMI. Defeat replaced pride. I felt naïve to think that we are close to any real change for the seriously mentally ill.
So much has happened since last September. Our advocacy has continued and we’ve received support and advice from national SMI advocates along the way. We took our community on a real time journey with us seeking the treatment and care for our brother that keeps eluding us. The Vacaville Reporter announced, “Vacaville officials are doing plenty on the homeless front.” Then they used a picture of Mark on the front page. CJ and I were interviewed by Jocelyn Wiener of Cal Matters and for other local articles. CJ started her own blog, “Am I Not My Brother's Keeper?" I wrote a blog. Ron Powers, author of No One Cares About Crazy People, wrote blogs. Dede Ranahan published Mark’s story on her blog, “Sooner than Tomorrow.” We circulated a petition to Governor Newsom about Mark’s case.
A few days after being hit by the car, Mark declared, “I’m not homeless. My home is the United States of America.” If only he understood that the country he loves has abandoned him.
Nevertheless, support for Mark continued. Advocates sent numerous emails to the hospital and the Solano County Board of Supervisors about Mark’s case. Our family attempted to get a referral for Laura’s Law (Assisted Out-Patient Treatment) that was denied. CJ visited Mark in the hospital for the first time in 14 years due to medical conditions that keep her homebound.
After that September 2019 meeting in Senator Bill Dodd’s office, everyone realized my predictions had come to pass, but no one knew what was coming next. On February 12, 2020, and again living on Vacaville streets, a second car hit Mark when he walked into traffic. He sustained extensive injuries and was transported to the ICU and admitted for more surgeries. His recovery would be lengthy and Covid-19 concerns were just rising. He was transferred to a post-acute hospital on March 1, 2020.
Mark remains hospitalized seven-and-a-half months later and is still recovering.
No one saw these accidents coming. Except we did. We all did.
TOMORROW WAS YESTERDAY (FLORIDA) - COMING SOON by Dede Ranahan
Sandy Turner — HE HAS SCHIZOPHRENIA, YOUR HONOR (FLORIDA)
Once upon a time, when Casey was very sick and demonstrating symptoms of his illness in the courtroom, his overwhelmed public defender started defending Casey by speaking out on an entirely different case. I raised my hand and said, "He has the wrong file, Your Honor."
A large bailiff came near to me so I apologized and slunk down. When his defender began speaking again, it was as if he was speaking from a routine script with no sense of what was happening to this beautiful young man's life. My son was disappearing right before our eyes.
I raised my hand again and said, "He has schizophrenia, Your Honor."
The large bailiff came and stood in front of me again, this time with his arms crossed in front of him. I apologized a second time and watched as this amazing judge got it. The prosecutor finally got it, too, and came to speak with me. I asked, "Why do they prosecute patients for displaying symptoms of their illness?" He put his head down and shook it.
One day in our trip down behavioral lane. I remember every one of them.
Read more of Sandy’s story in the upcoming book, TOMORROW WAS YESTERDAY - Explosive First-Person Indictments of the US Mental Health System -- Mothers Across the Nation Tell It Like It Is. It will be available on Amazon.
Watch my Nautilus Book Awards Author Spotlight video: https://vimeo.com/422993030
Casey Alan Campbell (1985-2009
TOMORROW WAS YESTERDAY (IOWA) - COMING SOON by Dede Ranahan
Dawn with her daughter.
Dawn MacTaggart Connolly — WHAT IS THE ANSWER? (IOWA)
Things I know about SMI:
Taking a very sick loved one to a hospital, only to have them leave with an appointment card and more meds, is not the answer.
Putting a sick loved one in an apartment, with all new furniture and staff who pop in once a day, is not the answer.
A doctor’s 10 or 15-minute med check meeting is not the answer.
A short, cute little visit with a therapist that doesn’t address real issues is not the answer.
A natural consequence is not the answer.
A state hospital — if the state even has one — is not the answer.
A psych unit in a hospital that houses and medicates is not the answer.
Encouraging, positive talk from family is good, but it is not the answer.
Posted house rules — with expectations and consequences — is not the answer.
A list of social activities is not the answer.
Buying new clothes and stuff is not the answer.
Refusing to buy anything is not the answer.
Giving money is not the answer.
Buying cigarettes is not the answer.
A group home with 24-hour supervision is not the answer.
Answering what seems like 50 calls a day is not the answer.
Family time is not the answer.
Life-skills training is not the answer.
A seventy-two-hour evaluation is not the answer.
Probation is not the answer.
Jail is not the answer
Setting your children up, with everything you can think of to give them a sort of quality of life while allowing them to maintain some kind of independence, is not the answer.
Will someone please tell me, “What is the answer?”
Read more of Dawn’s story in the upcoming book, TOMORROW WAS YESTERDAY - Explosive First-Person Indictments of the US Mental Health System -- Mothers Across the Nation Tell It Like It Is. It will be available on Amazon.
Watch my Nautilus Book Awards Author Spotlight video: https://vimeo.com/422993030
TOMOROW WAS YESTERDAY (NEW HAMPSHIRE) - COMING SOON by Dede Ranahan
Ashley
Ashley Doonan & Cathie Curtis - I AM ASHLEY. I DEFINE ME. (New Hampshire)
My daughter finally succumbed to her personal struggle with mental illness and took her life four months ago at age 26. As parents, we cannot let go of our children and need to find comfort in knowing that their lives will forever matter. Here are a few of Ashley’s reflections written shortly before she passed:
I value education. Perhaps I’m a bit compulsive in nature. But I am ALIVE. I look at that picture of a girl on her high school graduation day that could hardly fake a smile. Sometimes, I still do that because I know that my ambitions have not exceeded my talents and I will exhibit that explicitly. I conquered something that almost killed me and lost everything I worked for.
But there are still sunflowers. And I still open my blinds to let the sun in. Yes, it’s degrading. But I force a smile and remember that I have always given 100%, and that helps me sleep at night.
More from Ashley that I recently found on her cell phone:
You are electricity, you are synaptic connections, you are a beautiful creation of science, you are human — and some part of you wants to stay here, on this good earth where the grass is still green, and the sun still makes freckles on the faces of the people who turn to her, and the moon still makes sure you are tucked in sleeping, and the cities are still full of people kissing, and you are still capable of dreaming.
I seldom use this platform anymore so it’s all the more difficult to be vulnerable, but I’ve discovered this wonderful organization called “Project I Define Me.” If you know me, you know that I’m committed to destigmatization and promoting awareness surrounding mental health.
Recently, I have overcome some of the most difficult things in my life and I’m proud to be where I am today. I want to empower and inspire others to do the same. Person-first language is so important and during this ongoing journey. I’ve really learned how grossly misunderstood mental health is. I am more than a label or a diagnosis — I am a daughter, friend, sister, girlfriend, and Ph.D. student. I am Ashley, and I’m here to tell you that I define me.
Read more of Ashley’s reflections in the upcoming book, TOMORROW WAS YESTERDAY - Explosive First-Person Indictments of the US Mental Health System -- Mothers Across the Nation Tell It Like It Is. It will be available on Amazon.
Watch my Nautilus Book Awards Author Spotlight video: https://vimeo.com/422993030
TOMORROW WAS YESTERDAY (CALIFORNIA) -- COMING SOON by Dede Ranahan
Mark
CJ Hanson — BEYOND MY UNDERSTANDING OF WHAT BEING HUMAN MEANS (California)
Is there such a thing as survivor's guilt without having actually lost someone? I can't describe the pain I feel any other way, so I’m at a loss. I’m at a loss at the pain and suffering Mark endures every day on the streets, knowing that we have no legal right to force him to live with the few of us left, nor is it even possible. Knowing that we have fought for 32 years trying to help him and make his life better, and knowing that he blames us for allowing him to live as the doctors didn't believe that he would. Knowing that the laws in this county, state, and nation are against families of loved ones who suffer from traumatic brain injury and serious mental illness. Knowing that, no matter how hard we’ve fought every day to change minds, hearts, rules, and laws, so far we have failed. We have failed.
I can’t stop crying — for Mark, and how he lives and suffers; for my twin, Linda, being the last one in our family to be able to go out and find him; for myself, for being so helpless in my own infirm condition and disability; for Mom, who will leave this earth knowing her youngest child will most likely die on the streets; for all the ignorant and uninformed people who find such joy in blaming our family; for those in the community who do care and have tried to help Mark and us for so long; for our society; for this very world.
My despair and tears are beyond my ability to explain anymore. Beyond my understanding of what being human means.
Read more of CJ’s story in the upcoming book, TOMORROW WAS YESTERDAY - Explosive First-Person Indictments of the US Mental Health System -- Mothers Across the Nation Tell It Like It Is. It will be available on Amazon.
Watch my Nautilus Book Awards Author Spotlight video: https://vimeo.com/422993030