For the month of November I’m participating in a daily gratitude challenge posted by the journaling app that I use, Day One, and here’s today’s prompt:

Who has supported me during difficult times?

There have been a lot of people who have helped me along the way. It doesn’t seem fair to only mention a few, but I will mention two situations…

You know that saying about how someone can be so smart but lacking in practical intelligence? Been there/done that, in a way that took me way too long to extricate myself from the situation, seemingly unable to learn how unhealthy and damaging my persistence in fighting for a very wrong relationship was… and in the middle of all this, when I finally opened up to my family, my two sisters, Mich and Kats, were there for me and just sat with me when I needed it. I was afraid of their judgment and justified lectures, but that never happened. I was really messed up and they gave me a place to go and get away from it all. They helped me see that while my problem(s) were of my own making, I wasn’t never alone and would always have them to turn to. 

Then during my sojourn in Florida I was stricken with something called CIDP, an autoimmune illness that took away my ability to walk or stand-up. My girlfriend at the time, Tricia Gamber and her family, came to my rescue and let me stay with them when I couldn’t stay at my own place, as I began looking for medical help and as I began my rehabilitation and treatments. I had a lot of pride in my self-sufficiency and independence. It was hard losing all of that over the course of less than six-weeks and faced my very real mortality. I doubt that I would have recovered as quickly as I did without their help, support and love. I’m still here almost ten-years later because they were there when I needed help and whatever it was that I was planning for my life came to a sudden and definitive stop. I might literally not still be here if it hadn’t been for their unquestioning support. My journey has taken far from my balmy days in Orlando, but I have not forgotten the help I got when I could not do it for myself. Thank you.