Street Level

Those of you who read KTW may have seen my story in the April 16 edition, the one where I give the truly short and succinct thank-you speech I was unable to give on April 12.

That was the night that, while doing my job and trying very discreetly to return to my seat at Sagebrush Theatre, Doug Sage of the local branch of the Canadian Mental Health Association pulled a fast one and had a public education award presented to me.

Lack of space in our paper precluded me actually saying what I wanted to, as did the need for the boss to edit my remarks. But here, I'm in control, so here's the whole thing:

Going public with the fact I have bipolar disorder was something I did on my own, without consulting my husband or children. In fact, my beloved said after he had read the column that he might have tried to dissuade me from doing it. After all, once you've waved that red flag, some people want to put you down.

But it was important for me to try to put another face on the image of mental illness. I figure if I can raise five kids, stay married to the most wonderful -- and patient -- man in the universe for all these years, hold down a job, give something back to my community and maintain some semblance of a normal (whatever that is) life, it's gotta be good and might even convince some of those out there that mental illness can actually affect the person next door just as much as the marginalized out there wandering the streets.

To be recognized for doing this is way beyond anything I would have anticipated or desired. Indeed, receiving this award was truly humbling, embarrassing and surprising.

And I have to say that, after receiving plenty of awards for my writing, this one is perhaps the most special because, unlike the others, which were given for telling other people's stories, in essence, this one is for telling my story, and that of others like me.

And that's kinda cool.

Posted by Dale at 3:15 p.m. Comments