As some of you may be aware, the month of May is Mental Health Awareness Month. If I have been seen wearing more than my fair share of green, that's the awareness color for mental health and suicide prevention. May and June are full of occasions for everyone, but particularly for my family: My sister's birthday, Mother's Day, my birthday, Father's Day, and my wedding Anniversary.
In the interest of continuing the hope and prayer that someday, mental health issues will be recognized as physical ailments and not a reason for stigma--this Introvert is coming out of the closet. I have clinical depression, and there are things that send me on a spiral during this time of year.
Now don't get me wrong...this time of year is wonderful! But it does send me on a hormonal/chemical/emotional roller-coaster. I'm up! I'm down. I'm up! I'm down. I'm up up up! Neither my sister, nor I, have a "normal" family structure. We didn't
grow up with a normal family structure (bi-coastal parents, reblended into a SuperFamily), and as adults I am married into a
SuperBlend and my sister is going through the wringer in the mission to
have a child.
I have had, and I continue to have, some of the same medical issues that my sister has been facing for years. Although I talk about making the conscious decision not to procreate (which I still think was totally the right call for me, for other reasons), the reality is that my thirty-something body was not fertility-friendly. I didn't want to face the issue and fight it. My sister was much, much, much stronger than me in this regard. I'm cheerleading for her to find her FutureBaby (she's going through the adoption process, which is full of its own harrowing perseverances).
This time of year makes me think deeply about the meaning of family. This is also the most sought-after visitation time for all members of my DoubleWhammoSuperBlend. As an Introvert, the perception of pressure (real or imagined) makes me want to curl up with my cats and a book. It makes me want to ignore my phone and simply exist. In short, it makes me anti-technology (sorry, husband!).
In the past I certainly haven't been shy about the difficulties I face every year, on or about this time of year. But I think that it's best just to come out in full technicolor and say it: Hallmark, get your act together and come up with more realistic cards, celebrating the full range of The American Family. Come up with a name for family members who are thus far unnamed but exist semi-ubiquitously. Down with "We Wish You a Neuro-Typical Occasion!" and up with "We Wish You a Great Occasion!"
You're missing out on a great market for the non-typicals, if you can even call us that! :)
