Red's Wrap
Happiness. It's relative.
Tag: mental illness
Exploded Moment 1
We had spent the night sitting on the linoleum floor in the hallway just outside the ICU. They didn’t allow either of us in but every half hour or so would come out to report to us. My friend, he was my friend but… Continue Reading “Exploded Moment 1”
The Girl in the Stairwell
The R.A. told us to go to our rooms and lock our doors. She wouldn’t answer questions but we got the buzz that the first floor R.A. had been found tied and gagged in the stairwell leading to the dorm basement. “Go to bed,”… Continue Reading “The Girl in the Stairwell”
Secrets
Long ago, when I was a young woman and my boyfriend tried to end his life and ended up in intensive care after surgery to repair five stab wounds to his abdomen, my mother gave him rocks she’d found at the beach and a… Continue Reading “Secrets”
Who Is Helping Mom?
The phone rang just as I was about to put dinner on the table. It was Lou, my ex-boyfriend’s mother. She had the same hushed, hurried, worried tone that I’d heard every time her mentally ill son went missing or threatened her or holed… Continue Reading “Who Is Helping Mom?”
You Need to See a Shrink
Every time I drive this patch of road, which is almost everyday, I remember being told right at this exact spot, “You need to see a shrink.” I was the passenger in the car. The driver was my friend who was also my boss… Continue Reading “You Need to See a Shrink”
Unhappy Here, Unhappy Anywhere
Chronic Crisis in this week’s Milwaukee Journal Sentinel tells the story of a mother and her 25-year old son with mental illness. He is not so severely ill that involuntary commitment is appropriate but cannot function well in the community even with a case… Continue Reading “Unhappy Here, Unhappy Anywhere”
Jane
I don’t know why but all day I’ve been thinking about Jane. Two memories collide — the pungent, overpowering body odor wafting down the hallway that announced her arrival minutes before she appeared in my office and the matter of fact way she cinched… Continue Reading “Jane”
I Don’t Agree: My Response to Liza Long’s “I Am Adam Lanza’s Mother”
There are many things that make me uncomfortable about Liza Long’s piece, “I am Adam Lanza’s Mother: A Mom’s Perspective on the Mental Illness Conversation in America,” republished by the Huffington Post. I’m not normally one to second guess or criticize other mothers since there… Continue Reading “I Don’t Agree: My Response to Liza Long’s “I Am Adam Lanza’s Mother””
Snow Door | wisconsinacademy.org
Listen to Jan read her essay “Billy” presented on WUWM’s Lake Effect
Jan’s essay “At the Breakfast Bar” on WUWM Lake Effect
Jan’s essay “The Parish Hall,” on WUWM Lake Effect
“Fury Cannot Touch Me,” Modern Love, NYT, 9/29/11
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