Vent away. I feel sometimes like illness rules our lives and it really shouldn't. :-( Gentle safe hugs from the puma.

thank you, puma. alas, life doesn't seem to have much respect for my should lists. triple so for my shouldn't lists?

it is what it is, whether i understand it or knot.

Big squishy hug sweetie

Sickness sadly often does rule

Well put Leo

sadly so, suncloud. it is all too common for the sickest person in the room to hold the keys to the asylum.

healing hopes for all. no exceptions.

the good news is that both sisters made it home safely.

Aw, sigh indeed, arfie. I get it.

a sigh a day keeps the depression at bay?

life is as life is, whether i approve, or knot.

Hey, arfie, while protecting your anonymity always, of course, your story got passed on again to someone in a way that inspired them to believe recovery is possible even from severe sexual assault.

It's a girl I met in the neighborhood I live in here in Mexico. Believe it or not, it turns out the mafia here approached her family to buy her off for human trafficking purposes to exploit her for sex.

The girl's 15 and she and her mom came to my birthday party July 1st, so they knew me. The gossip got to them about what I used to do as a hospital chaplain and what I do here now, and so they came to me yesterday.

They wanted to talk and asked for a prayer. After both I went on to tell them that I've talked to you here online for years and that you were trafficked as a baby and have used the tools of Alanon and therapy to achieve a remarkable amount of recovery.

Your story really gave them hope to get through this. They're still afraid the girl may be kidnapped, but they did as I said and went to file a police report about it.

Of course, the mafia may buy the same police off. Still, it was a bold step that I'm glad they took in case the police are clean and might actually be some sort of protection for them going forward.

i have been asked more times than i care to count to be a poster child for various mental health/social reform crusaders. i even tried early into my therapy and it was one of the more traumatic experiences of my life with sponsors whose help twisted unmercifully with madams and pimps who wanted me to be grateful for their wisdom in my life. untangling the psycho snot knots of those experiences has been even stickier and ickier than untangling the psycho snot knots of my **victories** in court.

gots to admit, muji, your stories of how you have used my experiences in your work trigger my survival instincts, anonymous or not.

I hope that's not too harmful to you, arfie, I certainly don't want to trigger anything, even anonymously as it is. It's just that in a way our very different childhoods are parallel for me in showing how we can somehow untangle those psycho snot knots you mention in our complex PTSD. Let me know, OK? Gracias, amiga.

one of the greater healing magics i find in peer support is that phenom we discussed recently is learning to deal and heal with my polar opposites. highly educated vs my failure to graduate. bachelors (both genders) vs family folk (both genders). entitlement vs. self-sufficiency (both genders). republicrat (i see republicans and democrats as a single party with two names) vs libertarian. etcetera, etceteri.

i just did let you know you might be able to help with that psycho snot knot, muji. we see what grows.

Thanks, arfie. And also thanks for the Pres. Mujica avatar photo. It's done! Check it OUT! :-)

now THAT is a sexy avatar. with as many children as i have in my life, it is hard for me to get turned on my fantasy figures. jose mujica is an outside-the-box action figure i sincerely admire.

Glad you think so, arfie. A DSPTSD member sent me a hug saying I was handsome. They thought mujica was ME. I get it, but hey, I'm not THAT old. Not yet.

well. . . his ugly enough to be cute visage is not my favorite thing about him, but you could have more insulting comments thrown at you. his great beauty is his dedication to deep philosophy. so what if he never was a candidate for the paris catwalk.