I heard from an old friend yesterday and it was a wonderful surprise. My first blessing of the day.
L and I go back to 1991 when I had first started dating Michael. It was her wedding. She was so excited, she was marrying the man of her dreams or so she thought. Over the years I learned that L was always in a state of excitement. It was part of her nature. When she wasn't excited about something she fell into severe depressions. There was never any in-between times for her.
L didn't have much of a childhood and apparently, physical abuse was a big part of the picture. Both her parents were alcoholics and by the time L turned 15 she was staying out all night and getting drunk. She never had a chance. By the time she turned 18, she was a full-blown alcoholic. It was the only way she knew to deal with her problems.
When I met her at the wedding she thought this partnership was going to be what saved her. It was going to make her life normal. Unfortunately, L didn't know what normal was. The marriage lasted a little over ten years but it started to fall apart long before that. As her depressions got worse she saw doctors who kept trying different drugs but she never stayed on any of them long enough to make a difference. She was diagnosed with various mental disorders but they never really could pinpoint the problem. When the marriage finally ended it brought her whole world crashing down on her and she felt she had failed again. That was the beginning of the end for L.
Over the next few years, L drank heavily and mixed it all with a cocktail of medications. It got to the point where she could no longer take care of herself and she was placed in an assisted-living residence. She was then diagnosed with early onset dementia. I was told she barely knew her own name. She withdrew and stopped all communication with the outside world. It wasn't long after that I lost touch with her. I thought of my friend often but I lived so far away and there was nothing I could do from here. I never expected to hear from her again.
Yesterday while on facebook I got a friend request from L. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. I had to contact her family to make sure it was her. This was the lady who couldn't even figure out how to send an email let alone join facebook. L was back.
As soon as I accepted her friendship she messaged me and we spoke for some time. She's been clean from alcohol for 21 months now. She's living in a home but they figure she will be able to go back to assisted-living by the end of the year. They have her on new meds and it has done wonders for her. She understands what is happening to her. She says some days she refuses to believe she has dementia but other days she knows it's there. She's come a long way from the darkness back into the light of day and I'm so happy for her.
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