I know it's been a while since I've written; please forgive me.
Ryan Lance here. I had been writing about my wife's struggle with bi-polar disorder. It's been hard, but lately, things seem to have calmed down considerably: Karen is a lot more pleasant to live with.
I am still unemployed, but Karen's returned to work. She works at Starbucks as a cashier; she's been back at work now for the past several months. It's done wonders for her morale, as have the medications and continuing counsuling sessions she attends twice a week.
The kids' attitudes have improved, too, as have their grades. Felicia (our almost-11-year-old daughter) is no longer failing all of her classes; PJ (Parker Joseph, who is our six-year-old son) no longer antagonizes the other kids at his school.
It was hard living with Karen when she was having her "down days". Some days she didn't get out of bed; she also didn't take care of herself: she'd go weeks without taking a bath, brushing her hair (or teeth), or wouldn't make supper: she expected me to do everything, even though I was working (at the time) 12-to-14 hour shifts at General Motors. It was awful!!
I finally had enough; I got Karen into treatment; while at first she resisted, eventually my pleas won out, and now Karen's health/attitude about life has done a complete 360 degree turnaround.
It's been nothing short af a miracle.
I am no longer married to the "Grinch". I am now married to the most wonderful person in the world!
Not only does Karen go to the counseling sessions: I do too, as a way of supporting her; it's done me a lot of good, too. I have found ways to help her whenever she gets the demons of depression lurking in her mind, and I have learned so much about bi-polar disorder.
I pray that things continue to improve, not only for Karen, but for me. I am still looking for work (haven't found anything yet, but I have hope). On weekends, we go to church; we've found a wonderful church family who have embraced us with open arms. We go to church every Sunday as well as Wednesday.
God has been instrumental in bringing Karen back. I give Him all the credit; I couldn't have done it without His help!
I will write in here again soon; PJ is calling me. (He's home; he has a mild case of the swine flu. He's feeling better, but he's not quite there yet.) Until later, this is Ryan Lance saying so long and God bless!
~Ryan. :)
