Tim was struggling with his voices last week.  Last Monday he got agitated over something seemingly small, and put his hands around a therapist’s neck as if to strangle them.  He was about to grip when they said he crumpled to the floor, sobbing, hands on his head, complaining that they won’t go away.  His new caseworker (the one he’s had for a few months now) was just as shocked as the last caseworker to see him struggling with hallucinations.  I get alternately frustrated and amused when these young pups, fresh out of school or with very little experience witness the psychotic symptoms they’ve only read about in textbooks before.  They invariably call and ask if what they describe is “normal”.  I always have the same answer, and I try not to be sarcastic.  Of course it is.  Did you think we were kidding?

So after his rough week, we decided to go have a day of sheer fun.  We went to the Milwaukee Public Market and shopped around for cheese, bread, bacon, flowers.  If you get a chance to go to the Public Market, do.  It is a fun spot.  It seemed tiny to me, after having been in the Seattle Public Market a dozen times or so when my parents lived there, but that doesn’t take away from its charm and the quality of the vendors inside.  Our friends Nanci and David joined us – they are parents of children with childhood onset mental health conditions too.  Tim made a new friend while we were there: