i have been so blessed with this project of meeting my facebook friends–and i have been working with facebook friend #306 oj dorson in creating an ebook about the experience! this weekend i headed for michigan and landed in coldwater. my facebook friends molly and jeff parshall live in coldwater and i’ve visited with both of them before. molly has agoraphobia and finds it difficult to leave the house. she’s made a lot of progress working on herself in the past few months. she even sent me a picture of herself at the nearby playground with her son blake!
but every personal transformation has some setbacks. jeez, i’m a six setbacks a day and eight victories person myself. sunday, we were thinking of going to the park as a quartet–blake, molly, jeff and me–but it didn’t work out. molly had to return home, to her “safe” place.
having any sort of disability, illness, quirk puts pressure on everybody else in the family. jeff is a strong, taciturn, family protective man who puts his energies into his work as a machinist and he went back to working around the house. molly sent me and blake off to the park. blake is a boy with a strong, generous heart and he asked if he could make a video for my blog.
we went home and he picked out eight more books! i know that i won’t see the parshalls at the party in winnetka but i know that they are part of the creation of this special day! and molly has no greater cheerleader than her son blake–he understands sometimes his mom can’t do things she wants to do, that he wants to do. he loves trains and has an ambition to take a train ride. i can’t wait for the day when i walk down to the winnetka train station and pick up the parshall family!
i am facebook friends with the parshalls. it’s important sometimes to come out from behind our technology and spend a day together. . . .
by the way, the invitation to the party–it benefits reach out and read illinois and the guest list is quite exclusive. . . it includes YOU!!!!
arlynnpresser 
April 3rd, 2012 at 2:24 pm
This is one amazing and adorable young man! And a nice piece of writing, Arlynn! Also “hats off!” to mom for attempting to go out. I know those feelings myself. You’re a wonderful person to help her to take baby steps forward. Happy travels! You’re a blessing to us all! xoxoxo
April 3rd, 2012 at 4:25 pm
GoodMorning Arlynn,…..
I recognized the cleaver and invisible thief in this article…..
I too have had this sinister charactor rob me of many everyday experiences. Activities such as going to a local park seem to be taken for granted by many in the general population that are unaffected directly by a Mental-Illness such as Agoraphobia.
However, this article also points out the potential collateral damage experienced by other family members who get robbed of the experience to be in the park with Mom & Dad in this instance.
This article has me wondering if this concept of potential “collateral damage” plays a small or large part in why I’ve been single for so long,…why I get rejected as potential “relationship-material” so often eventhough I’m a Handsome-Man-Hunk.
Who wants to volunteer to be “robbed” so often by an invisible thief just because they’re in a relationship with the other person,…???
I get “helled-up” everyday unfortunately,…..eventhough,….I have nothing remaining for the “robber” to take and it’s no fun……
Molly appears to have a Fantastic, Supportive and extremely Accepting Husband (Jeff).
For now,….I can only dream of attracting a Wonderful Female version of Jeff into my life,….that is to say,….a very supportive, understanding, fantastic and accepting woman.
Because I am a student of the Law-Of-Attraction, Power-Of-Intention,…etc.,…and have had it work in other ways in my life,….I will continue to dream & visualize.
Life experience has taught me that a Mental Illness is a type of “spot-light” that will illuminate the charactor of everyone around me for better or worse.
Oddly,…this last personal fact makes it a really useful tool in a weird way.
Howard Lovely, Jr.
April 4th, 2012 at 2:28 am
Thank you for sharing. It is always great to hear from you! 😀
Pink.