God is Kind, For He Gave Us Each Other

God is Kind, For He Gave Us Each Other!

I, quite naturally started falling in love with the mentally ill, in mental hospitals. Having never seen such a disheveled collection of characters before, I approached them all as I would a Charles Dickens, (a notable bipolar) novel; and wanted to read each and everyone of them.

The fact that they had no clothes, or well kept hair, held little interest for me; as it was the "essence" of these folks, that I really wanted to feel. So from 1977, until today, I have had the joy of talking and relating to dozens, and dozens of "the forgotten ones", in hospitals and clinics, all over the state of California.

If you start a conversation, for example, by asking a mentally ill person, how do you feel? You will receive a most curt response. But if you ask a young man, (who wished they gave out belts in mental hospitals), why didn't he have any teeth in his face; you better prepare yourself for a complete and totally accurate lesson in dentistry.

In the 1960's Philippines, while a student, just about everyone carried a gun. As a foreigner, (who liked traveling alone), I quickly learned that I better size-up my hosts by something other than the bulge in their vest pockets. I chose their eyes to do this. By looking into the eyes of anyone, especially a lowly, mental patient, you will receive such an explosion of life, and gratitude , (acceptance); that the rags they are wearing, the toothless comb they are clutching, and the hope, that they know will never come, become very meaningful, adjectives of a person's existence, rather than simply, distorted props of a mental patient on Ward 4.

Regards, Tom Barresi.

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