Attention Deficit Disorder-Personal Narrative Analysis

We spent these early married years living simply, but living well. It’s wonderful when you can embrace poverty for the wealth of life experiences. Home was found in each other’s arms and with family we’d discovered in those newly around us, in our church and our neighbors. I loved acting — when I booked the “real” jobs, I got paid to make believe — and the results of booking jobs (or not) had “real” consequences. I wasn’t earning an automatic paycheck every two weeks. And, the few days I worked each year didn’t make me feel like I was really doing something, something tangible, concrete. As a result, by 1991, a not-so-strange thought occurred to me: I didn’t want to just pretend to know how to do something, I wanted to do something, something “real” — and something that would help me hold down my end of the family financial bargain. Without abandoning the hope of steady work as an actor, which I came to understand was an oxymoron (even as I continued to pursue it), I decided that going back to school would be real enough for now, while possibly making myself more financially marketable, and it would be a great way to exercise my Attention Deficit Disorder. With about two college credits under my belt, I – ever the optimist – felt I was well on my way to great scholarly heights. And so, before starting the

We wanted each other selfishly - which was nice. We both wanted what we thought was good, but also what seemed in opposition to the other. This contradiction was difficult to reconcile. Home, Florida, represented stability and a simpler way of life. Acting represented neither. However, with the future unpredictable, and the present uncomfortable, we just did what was right in front of us and marched on. We stayed in California. We marched toward starting a family. But in some other important ways we were also marching in different directions. Emotionally, distance began to creep