Useful, Strong, and Beautiful

People with mental illnesses are a little like dandelions.  Nobody wants to see them, blame is laid on the people that allow them to grow, and they're everywhere. But dandelions aren't just weeds.  These bright yellow flowers are actually very useful, beautiful in their own way, and very strong.  Remember when you were a child and would pick a handful of dandelions for your mom?  A beautiful bouquet offered up with a big smile.  If your mom was like mine, she treated them as a precious gift, putting them in water and displaying them on the table.  Dandelions are a nutritional powerhouse, being one of the top six herbs in the Chinese herbal medicine chest, and ranked 9th  overall by "Gardening for Better Nutrition."  They survive and thrive where other plants fail.

I have a mental illness.  I was diagnosed with bipolar II disorder in 1999.  I have learned to manage my condition with proper treatment and it doesn't control my life.  Nor does it define me.  I am a useful, beautiful, resilient person; I am a dandelion.

All three of my children have also lived with mental illness.  My oldest son, Eliott, developed schizophrenia in his late teens, and died by suicide at age twenty-five.  My middle child, Joe, has battled chronic depression since the death of his big brother, but is showing strength by seeking treatment and forming new coping skills.  He is a special person, who enriches the lives of his family and friends.  My daughter, Natasha, developed anorexia when she was in eighth grade.  After a year of treatment, she regained her health.  Though she relapsed a few years later, she again overcame the illness, proving her strength and becoming a person well equipped to deal with the challenges of life.  I love my children, support my children, care for my children.  I recognize their uniqueness, their purposefulness, their beauty, and their strength.  I am the dandelion gardener.