Things have been pretty rough for me and my partner lately. I won’t lie. I’ve taken up the role of supportive partner as Joel goes through some pretty traumatic work related issues. I can’t go too much into it publicly because it’s an ongoing investigation. Let me just say, though, that the world needs to take Mental Illness more seriously and start treating it as such. It is a cancer to the brain and so many people struggle day to day with it. It cannot be ignored. It cannot be treated like a common cold.

But I digress. Due to the above role I’ve taken, my writing has slipped slightly. I’m not progressing as I normally would and that’s okay. It’s important. He’s important. I miss the writing though. I miss the time. I won’t lie. It’s not selfish of me. I’ve been enjoying the fan art and the reviews and the feedback of He Was A Boy Who Smiled.

In fact, next week, I’m attending a Men’s Conference about Mental Health for Men’s Health week next week. I’m bringing my book along and going to be talking about my own mental health and surviving decades of domestic violence, bullying and a world that just didn’t seem to want me. It will be a celebration of survival and hope.

But I digress again. I woke up this morning feeling absolutely wiped out. Drained. My partner lay next to me and just held me. He thanked me for being his support person at an investigative hearing the day prior. I was a good good boy and mostly stayed silent. To be fair, I was given permission by the investigator to mention anything Joel might have overlooked. The travel to get there was an ‘adventure day’ (code for a complete and utter disaster) thanks to the quality of Sydney Trains.

I could tell that Joel was struggling already as we lay there and talked. I made jokes. It’s what I do. I’m the boy who smiles and makes others do the same. It’s a way to survive, I tell you. I kiss him on the forehead and I tell him some options we have for the day. I avoid mentioning chores or things we had to do. I just mentioned the positive things. He seemed pleased but asked if we could just stay in each other’s arms longer.

Then I got an alert on my phone. I reached over and saw the notification. It was a direct message from Sharon Clark. It simply said, “So I did a thing today.” I read it out to Joel and he broke a little smiled and was like, “Ut oh. What did she do?” So, I welcomed the distraction and opened it. It was an image with the tagline: So I did a thing today.

Joel and I sat up in bed and grinned at each other and then down at the phone. I took a moment to appreciate the smile that spread across Joel’s face. I can make it smile, but it’s rare when something outside our own world does, as well. “That’s so nice,” Joel grinned, tears filling his eyes, “See, the world can be a great place.” And I cry with him. The world hasn’t been kind to us for quite some time. It’s only been this year we’ve really been seeing the good, but more about that in My Open Letter: Part Three.

The thing is, Sharon, and I know you’re reading this because you’re that supportive…almost a stranger but certainly a friend…the thing is, that was more than a thing you did today. No one asked you to do that and yes you shrugged it off and said you do it often with other books. But what you don’t get is, you’re a reminder, that act you did, that THING you did, was a reminder to us that outside of our door, there’s love and safety and acceptance. Outside of that door a woman believed in a THING that I wrote and put it out for more to see and asked them to write a review because you know…you know that THINGS aren’t going well for us right now…

Sharon, that thing you did today. It was a big thing. It was a wonderful thing. And from the bottom of my heart, as I type this and Joel is out of bed and cheerful and optimistic, we thank you.

Sharon can be found here:

Her talented husband can be found here:

https://abclark.com/