A Gift

I love my spouse, a person with integrity, faith, family values, intelligence, ... all qualities I hold in high regard. He just happens to be a person who also has an illness, the all too stigmatized mental illness. Before we married I talked with a trusted friend about this fact and my concerns. My wise friend told me - from experience - to look beyond the mental illness to the person who remains and ask yourself if this is this a person whose qualities you value, respect, and trust. Is this person a good person who just happens to have an illness? Because, she said, many people have illnesses. What a wise, loving, and accepting woman she is.  My spouse just happened to come wrapped in some bi-bipolar disorder with ribbons of manic depression and a bow of social anxiety. But I have the whole package, and when unwrapped, what is inside is a beautiful, loving person. My spouse, such a gift.