A Time of Darkness and Despair

I knew my husband suffered from mental illness before I married him. That was 9 years ago.  Since then, we have been together through many ups and downs.
For twenty-five years, most before I knew him, he worked a high profile, demanding and stressful job that he loved. And he was loyal to his employer - they had supported him through two hospitalizations years ago. Looking back, this was possibly brought on by the ugly break up of a first marriage. He had several co-workers who recognized the signs and understood the symptoms of his mental health issues. More importantly, they were there for him during the hospital stays and upon his return to work. His family, parents and siblings, were there for him too. When he came home from the hospital to find his belongings in the driveway they helped him find an apartment and a bed and the basics to live on. He was stripped of his earthly possessions, though  devastating at the time he found it to be a freeing and life-changing moment. A blessing in  disguise. He talks of his road to recovery, I wasn't in his life for that, but from the stories, it wasn't an easy time. His depression remained, thoughts of suicide staved off by medication, support of friends and family, and the care of a highly-qualified psychiatrist. Raised a faithful man in a large Catholic family, he found it difficult to believe while in the depths of darkness and despair. But he remained habitual in his attendance to church, changing towns to worship apart from his "former life." He embraced the rituals of his religion, hoping that through the familiarity of custom and belief his faith would return. He believed in God, he remembered that, but he just didn't feel God in his life and needed more than anything the light of hope to shine again in his life.

"Rest in the Lord, wait patiently, have faith in providence and God's love." Norman Vincent Peale