The first thing I grabbed was the lifestyle section. In it could be found pics of couples who had plans to be married over the summer (to think, they're not even newlyweds any longer). I carefully looked at the last names and found one that I recognized: Stokes. There was only one person I've ever known that has that name; a guy by the name of Ted who was a social worker of sorts for me in 1993. Well, wouldn't you know it. It WAS him. Getting married in his late 30's was somewhat unconventional, but who am I to judge?
Back in '93, I was seeing a psychiatrist who monitored the meds I was taking, a psychologist who I relied on for therapy, and Ted. I forget what his official title was, but his job was to meet with me every couple of weeks and take me somewhere for an hour where we might chat (it differed from traditional therapy in that it was less formal and we actually went outside of the mental health building).
Many times I would opt to go to a fast food joint to have lunch. He didn't always order food for himself as many of his clients throughout the day chose to go to restaurants. It's good he didn't have a problem with people eating in front of him. I recall that he was a big fan of the band Live and Hootie and the Blowfish. It was great to socialize a bit with someone my age (though he was actually getting paid to do so).
One afternoon, I arrived at his office a bit early, so waited out in the hall. I looked up and saw that all of the counselors had their names listed in white letters on a black board (similar to the one pictured below):
I got a wicked idea as I looked at Ted's name. I adjusted a few letters so that his name was listed as "Ted Strokes". I chuckled as he called me in. I did this again a couple weeks later when I saw that his name had been put back to normal. A week after that, as I sat with him, I mentioned that I'd recently seen his name listed on the board as Ted Strokes. He laughed a bit and said that he was aware of the issue.
A few months later, I was well on the road to recovery and no longer needed his services, but seeing his pic sure brought back some memories and for that, I thank you, Master Strokes.
3 comments:
I spend no more than about 10 minutes each day reading the news paper. I read whatever catches my interest but it never seems to hold that interest for more than about 10 minutes.
However, give me a newspaper from last year, 5 years ago or even (heaven on earth) 10 or more years ago and I can not put the thing down!
I agree with you on the value of looking through a paper that is a good five to ten years old. A few weeks ago, I was in the basement and found a section of the local paper that was from 1997.
First, I was struck by how much bigger, that is by how much more width the paper had back then.
Next, as I looked at the movie listings, I checked off the films that I'd seen on their initial release. We had four different theatres back then and the places where various movies were showing matched my memories.
I have a strange talent in that
virtually every movie I saw in the late 90's, I can recall which theatre I saw it at and sometimes even the part of the theatre I was sitting in.
For example, if someone says "American Beauty", I'm instantly taken back ten years to the fall day that I caught the film at the Galleria and sat in one of the very back rows.
lol, sweet trip down memory lane! fun to do silly stuff once in a while, proves we still have a child within us, underneath that depressing adult look eh....:)
guess Tod was your occupational therapist, been treated by a team of psychiatrist, psychotherapist and an occupational whatever not to mention the meds for last 5/6 years.....
yet I feel the same......
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