Dear Gretchen and Calvin,
        Bless you for writing to me! It must be marvelous to be able to be
open about one's illness! To be secretive goes totally against my nature
and if I didn't live where I did I would never hide, I promise you. I am a
staunch Democrat, lean to the left and have no prejudices (except against
prejudicial individuals!). I live in the worst  possible place for someone
like me. Amarillo is highly, highly Republican, highly intolerant of
others' views (unless they are identical to one's own!), a haven for the
"Pro-Life" movement (dear God!!) and for the "good old boy" (one more 'dear
God!!'). Rednecks and Jr. League members abound here, and assertive women?
Unless you've got a lot of money, you're not going to be too popular. If I
lived in one of my former homes, i.e., Bristol, England, New York, NY, or
Los Angeles, I'd have no compunctions whatsoever about speaking up about
being Bipolar because there are scads of like-minded, VOCAL folks in those
cities. Further, those cities are PROGRESSIVE and Amarillo is very quickly
moving in the OPPOSITE direction!! But I grew up here, my 84-yr. old Mother
is here, and here I will stay, at least until she dies. She has been here
for me untold times and I intend to be here for her as often as she needs
me for the remainder of her life.
      Forgive my rambling, but I felt I needed to explain a couple of
things. Hope you are doing well and are deliciously happy!!

                            God Bless, Shelley