Adult Children of Mentally ill Parents

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Adult Children of Mentally ill Parents
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Introducing Myself to the Group

Hi, Everyone.

I grew up with a mother who was paranoid schizophrenic. She divorced my father when I was seven and she had a restraining order filed against him so I did not see him again for 13 years. I have two 8-year olders sisters (twins) who "escaped" to college leaving me alone with Mom from about 10-years-old to 20. When I was 20, she had a "major episode" in which it appeared she had tried to hurt herself. That allowed the authorities to step in. She is now in an assisted living situation in Georgia.

I am nearly 44 now and it has taken the last 24 years of my life to "recover" from growing up with my mom. However, having read some of the stories here, I was probably "lucky" that she got to a critical point early enough for the authorities to step in and for me to be able to "let go" and start my life over, pretty much from scratch. I still feel about 20 years behind, but I'm trying to make the most of it.

To that end, I am actually turning to stand-up comedy to try to find the humor in my experiences growing up with my "crazy" mother and to help others as well. I will be doing my "opening" show at a nearby hotel/lounge in Washington, DC, February 26th. By "chance" the program will actually be video-taped by Comcast, so that should be interesting. There will be lots of other comedians there and I will only be doing three minutes, but I am "beginning with the end in mind" and hope to actually make a career of this in another five years or so.

In the mean time, I have a steady "day job" working for the National Eye Institute at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, MD.

As I was doing some last minute research before my "show", I found this site. I really am hoping that what I bring to the stage will help to connect with others who have dealt with or are still dealing with similar situations to my own. I'm glad to say, I am not angry or bitter, so the humor will not be sarcastic or ironic, but my "story" will come through and I hope it helps others find hope for their lives and their life "stories" as well.

I'll be in touch.

Peace,

Lori