Skip to main content

Have I Really Learned Anything?

I often publicly post my thoughts regarding my brother's death on social media. For most part, it's something inspirational - and it's honest... I have been lucky to be surrounded by great people who helped me through a tough time many years ago. However, on very rare occasions, I have my shit days too. This morning is shit.
One of the most painful aspects of Jason's death is not that he's gone - everyone dies. What hurts is knowing the pain he was going through. He opened up to me once, and I didn't know what to say. I knew he was serious when he said he wanted to kill himself, so I reacted with anger. This was the wrong response. He closed up , and I never really was able to have a good conversation after that.
Jason wrote some pretty hateful things in his suicide note. He died thinking I, and everyone else that loved him, was against him. I've had people tell me, "Inside, your brother knew how much you cared." But if you think that, you probably don't understand his mental illness. His paranoid schizophrenia caused him to actually believe everyone was the enemy. It was his reality that we were all plotting against him.
The pain I deal with is knowing the torment he dealt with daily. I can't imagine not knowing that there are people out there that truly care about me. I hope that you know that I truly love and care about you all as well.
This is rearing it's ugly head because of what I'm going through with my mom. Although she's never been diagnosed, I feel fairly confident she is bi-polar, and she most definitely suffers from paranoia. Her whole life, she has cast people out of her life that cared about her - while at the same time, constantly trusting complete strangers.
I wasn't close to her after she left my dad when I was 16, but as an adult, I've tried to keep in contact with her... especially since I have children. I try to let her see them often, but not too often because I don't enjoy hanging around her due to her illness.
She occasionally goes on these tangents where she accuses me of treating her bad, even though I truly care about her. In fact, I might be the only person in her life that actually does care about her well being...but she can't see it. She sees the opposite.
She's currently not speaking to me. She hasn't returned my calls or texts in almost two weeks. The other day, she posted a meme on social media that said "Walk away from people that put you down. Walk away from fights that will never be resolved. Walk away from trying to please those who will never see your worth. The more you walk away from things that poison your soul, the healthier you will be."
I know it's a mental illness, so I'm not offended when she says mean things about me...but it still pains me to know that she feels that way. It pains me that I can't have a normal relationship with my own mom.
She has diabetes, and she doesn't take care of herself - so I feel she may not be around too much longer. I feel guilty that I think I'll find relief that I won't have to deal with this anymore then. I also know that when she does leave us, I'll feel the same way that I do about Jason...that I should have handled everything differently.

Popular posts from this blog

Why Didn't I?

“There’s nothing you could have done” If I had a dollar for every time I’ve heard this since January of 2006, I’d have a lot of dollars. The phrase is referring to the guilt that comes when a loved one commits suicide. It is normal to feel that way, for it is one of the several stages of grief. I don’t feel this way however, because I know that my family and I did everything we could to try to get my brother Jason help with his depression. I do ask myself, “Why didn’t I…” often, but for a slightly different reason. In the year before Jason’s death, I was able to spend a lot of time with him. He even lived with me for several months. During this time, he would sometimes share with me the pain he was going through. He would tell me about the voices he would often hear in his head. He would tell me that the only way to get rid of the agony was to sleep all day. Even this wasn’t always successful because of the horrific nightmares. He would tell me sometimes that he just wanted to kil...

Four Keys to Fatherhood

November 22, 2012, was the best day of my life; I became a father.  My son is now the most important thing in my life, and I want to be the best parent I can possibly be.  Last year, this led me to do some research online.  I wanted to find something with a title to the tune of “Four Keys to Fatherhood.”   I found no such thing. Every article that I came across had an extensive list of characteristics and traits of being a good father.  My favorite one was titled,  “12 Traits of a Great Father.”     Everything listed was spot on, but my ADD made me feel like maybe there could be 3-5 things that are the  most  important…or at least a few things to focus on for now.  I figured that I could touch on the others along the way.  I sent a link to the article to my dad, and asked him to pick out the traits that his father possessed.  I figured this was a good place to start, because he has much respect for my grandfather, ...

A Time to Heal

We’ve all heard the saying, “Time heals all wounds” when referring to emotional wounds. It’s most commonly heard after the death of a loved one, but there are many other ways one can suffer an emotional wound. You could have gone through a bitter divorce, been fired from a good job, or you could have been the victim of an abusive relationship. But what is time? Five seconds is time. Five hundred years is time. Saying “time heals all wounds” doesn’t really tell us anything. Yes, I’ll agree that it does take time for a wound to heal, but I’ll argue that time itself is not the actual healer. Much like a physical wound, in order for an emotional wound to heal properly, you must receive some sort of treatment. If untreated, an open wound can actually get worse with time. I remember when I was 10 years old, walking through the living room of our house. I saw my parents sitting on the couch as I continued towards to front door on my way out. Once outside I saw him – the neighborhood cat....