TheBanyanTree: A Story

[Monique Colver]

We are here for stories, for stories big and stories small, for stories of
love and friendship and anything at all you want to be a story.

So here's one:

One day I met someone who showed me that my life could change, that I didn't
have to live a life of isolation with a man who spent so much time looking
inward he couldn't see anything else. Most of you know this story. It's an
old story, relatively speaking, but there you go.

It is not a happily ever after sort of story, but more of a what really
happens, sometimes. The man I met is no longer with us, but he wanted us to
know what it's like for people with mental illness, and he wanted to share
what happened to him with others. His website is www.stewyoungmemorial.com.
I've started posting excerpts from the work he and I did while he was alive,
and I'll keep posting them until everything I have is there. Unless I decide
not to.

If you know someone who's dealing with mental illness or who's dealing with
someone with mental illness, it's good to know the kinds of obstacles they
face. And we want people to know they're not alone. If you know of any good
links for mental illness, please forward them to me, and I'll post them. I'd
like to start a dialogue.

Thank you for reading my story.

Monique
Ode To My Belly <http://open.salon.com/blog/moniquec>