The only people who truly know what I went though are my parents. If you want to know more ask them or ask me. For some reason a lot of people don’t ask me, they just assume maybe they know.
My parents saw firsthand what I went through and my parents did everything with me during the worst of my illness because I had no friends. They took me to the movies, to dinner, to exercise, to golf and for nice drives. The love that they gave me was stronger than anything I have ever seen or known and my gratitude to them and their gratitude to me developed into an amazing friendship.
When you go through something like this, you share an experience that some people will never understand until they go through it. I wish what I went through upon no one, but I also sometimes wish people would understand how I felt and still feel. The only people that truly get it are the people who have gone through an illness or have been really close to someone with an illness, it’s sad, but those are the ones that truly understand your pain and suffering and truly show compassion and empathy.
When I was struggling a CARSTAR Franchise Partner that was ill gave my father a rosary to give to me. He was ill and he has passed away since. When I looked at that rosary the moment my father gave it to me, I knew what it meant. To this day, that rosary lies with the same angel it has for years. That angel and that rosary has stayed in my life and will stay with me forever. And every time I look at that angel with that rosary it reminds me of him, his life, and what giving me that rosary meant to both of us.
And just so you know, since my illness began my mother has bought me an angel at Christmas every year. The rosary sits with one of her angels.
There are several people, whether family, friends, colleagues, or complete strangers that truly understand what I went through. And in some ways, those are the only people I care about and value in my life, my recovery, and my journey.
samantha mercanti 
Samantha, another great post and thank you. We love you unconditionally and I agree that we were part of your illness. You were also a very strong person and with Gods help you have become an amazing daughter that does a lot for us and helping a lot of people with mental health issues. Very proud of you and love you very much
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You’re very lucky Samantha that you have such a loving and caring family. I think I mentioned to you before when I was suffering from extreme anxiety and depression in my early 20s I wasn’t able to conceptualize to my family what I was going through and when I did one of my siblings was not that supportive, and I had trouble opening up after that. I was one who suffered in silence for about four years until I sought out proper help. I’ve said it before you’re a very brave young lady and it’s wonderful that you share your thoughts and your experiences with other people because most people suffer alone and think this is something that nobody else will understand. I just finished watching a great television show on Netflix called This is us. It was such an endearing and enlightening show that it really opened my eyes, but it shows that family is there through good times and bad times and they’re the ones that you can really rely on. If you haven’t seen it or anyone else who is reading this I highly recommend the show because they All have different struggles throughout their life with their relationships and problems with work, But the one thing they can count on is their family is always there for them and can always be depended on. most people think that anyone if they’re attractive and come from a successful family that they must have everything in order and their life is a breeze and unfortunately what I found in life is that is not always the case. And for the record I’m not putting myself in that category that I think I’m this successful good looking guy, i’m using it as a metaphor from things I’ve seen and experienced through my many years here on earth. Anyways thank you again Samantha for sharing and God bless you and your family.
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