Anniversaries

Today is a special day – many years ago, it was the date I was discharged from the psych hospital.  It was my first (and only) admission during which I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder.  I don’t think I quite understood the implications at that time, but I can still remember vividly the feeling of finally being released from the locked ward – I was practically skipping out the building.  It was only a day later that I realized how much I had missed during the hospitalization – important and exciting events that I had been looking forward to for months.  I’ll never get those opportunities again and I will always be resentful for being involuntarily committed, but unfortunately I can’t turn back time.  There are so many things I wish had turned out differently but I can only reminisce and plan better for the future. So today I’ll have a drink and try to remember the good things.