I liked him.

He is an older man.  A psychologist (PhD).  And has over 30 years of experience.  He has a very relaxed energy, seemed very confident in what he does and was very personable.   He seemed to be of the ‘been there, done that’ variety and displayed an ease of the soul that comes only with experience.  I feel confident that he will be able to match Rye’s wit and yet challenge him as well.  But I guess we’ll see.  He had some good tales of intrigue regarding family members and colleagues being raised by less than stellar parents and coming from less than stellar genetic lines and then going on to make good life choices for themselves, choosing the right thing, and leading healthy, productive, successful lives.  These stories will be well received by Rye as he is really grappling with his identity right now including, but not limited to, how that relates to bio-dad and the choices he made and continues to make (amazingly, despite the fact that Rye has not seen him since he was 6 and Don and I are Steady-Eddie as all get out .  Filed in:  never underestimate the power of the absent bio-parent).

And the best thing of all…I asked him how he felt about bipolar disorder.

His reply?

‘Bipolar disorder is interesting.  It is often an affliction of the most intelligent and most creative people.  Some of the most interesting people of our society have bipolar disorder.’

And to that I say, let the festivities begin!

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note: the above photo is of the Bob Newhart Statue in Chicago