Gum on My Shoe

The following is excerpted from High Tide, Low Tide: The Caring Friend’s Guide to Bipolar Disorder , by Martin Baker and Fran Houston (Nordland Publishing, 2016). I’m Never Giving up on You In late November, Fran took a short trip with a friend to the Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. They left on Thanksgiving Day, and Fran thanked me for making such a difference in her life. We both had tears in our eyes. I reprised my “angel in the car” role by helping them navigate to their hotel. I had just come off the computer when Fran messaged me “HELP!” because they were getting close to Kripalu and weren’t sure of the route. So I turned the PC back on, found and messaged her the directions, and then went to bed! The workshop was challenging, but Fran connected well with the people she met. I wrote in my diary, “She’s found some real insights on this trip. It is so good to see how much she is growing.” It was a brief respite. Within days of returning th...