Mom suffered throughout her life with mental health conditions of varying degrees. As a baby Jean was born with a mastoid on her inner ear and told she probably would not live. And as a child her dress caught fire and she was severely burned and hospitalized at about age 10.

Mostly undiagnosed as an adult she was institutionalized at least on two occasions for several months and up to one year. At one point labeled a paranoid schizophrenic with psychotic episodes. And when I was in third grade she was kidnapped by the mob for 10 days thinking she was the wife of Paul “needle nose” Labriola and taken to St Louis and interrogated only to realize they had the wrong person. After forced on medication and treated with electro shock therapy she ultimately refused to live in this state of mind and turned to Jesus. It became her medication and allowed her to function, for the most part in a healthy and stable state. She was known for her “Where two or more are Gathered” Prayer sessions for people suffering. She had a terrific sense of humor and was a very loving grandmother. But occasionally might lose it for short periods of time. She meant well and had a wonderful heart but could get consumed by delusions and hallucinations thinking they were real and reacting to this in negative ways. I hope our culture can someday learn to better help our mental health community and assist people with severe difficulties.