Feeing Alive and Friendship

 

I went to walk back towards the center and I saw Denise running towards me, Julia’s son, and I saw her sitting and having lunch. Gyumri really is that small of a town. We sat and had tea and some conversations about mental health. She had a horrible time with postpardum depression and she was sharing that experience with me.

For 10 years, she shared that her Mental health felt like it was shattered. She thought she was never going to feel better, but with psychotherapy she was able to identify her trauma, her illness, and lead a road to recovery. I could relate to that 10 year period…the 10 years of struggling with something that you never asked for except we were leading different lives. She was a parent who had to get up and live for her children. I had to get up and live for a beautiful life alone with a huge lack of family support. Her husband did support her through everything, but it made them grow apart. Having mental illness has a huge impact on others especially on your spouse/partner. It can push them away, bring them closer, or it can make them just watch your suffering and have absolutely no empathy.  

After that deep conversation, it was time to have some fun together. She said that she finally feels like she can laugh and smile again and she was so grateful for life. We went to the same park I went to yesterday where the leaves were falling and piling up all over. I took some fun photos of her and the kids and Denise wanted to go on the kids rides.

She went on the bumper cars with her son and she was smiling as bright as the sun…it was like I could feel her living….and I took some photos of her shining moments. I also hoped that she would reunite with her husband who she called “the perfect love of her life.”

We stopped for tea at Herbs and Honey, which had a variety of teas and also mixed herbs. The story is that the owner gets these herbs from local villages and helps provide jobs for villagers.

We ordered a vitamin fusion tea with cinnamon, lavender, rose hip, cardamon, and all kinds of herbs I would never think of mixing all of that together, but Georgia/Armenia knew how to make great teas and good for your immune system and body.

Something about that tea just made me feel so relaxed kind of like the cognac or maybe that was just the feeling of good friendship and good conversation.  


Mental Illness is real and it happens to everyone. Noone is immune to being sick and it is okay to reach out to friends and ask for help. I am always your friend. 

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