It Takes a Team

Since my diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia, I’ve tried to keep up with speaking engagements and other activities
critical to my self-esteem. My husband, Jean-Claude, does everything he can to encourage and support me in my
endeavors.

On the day of my presentation at a writers’ festival, my husband woke up early. He made coffee, prepared breakfast and lined up my medications for me. After I ate, he began preparing steamed vegetables to pack in a handheld cooler along with other food I could eat. He knows that hunger can increase my anxiety and wanted to have plenty of snacks available.

“Do you have emergency medication?” he asked, along with a checklist of other questions. Jean-Claude has learned from years of experience to anticipate all the things that can go wrong and plan for those things so we can avoid my needing to cancel at the last minute.

My events are successful with the help of my husband. I could not do these things by myself. I know how much effort he puts in to help me do what I love, and only God and I know how much work it is.