Recovery Tools and a Path to Healing in Ordinary People

Chapter 1

This boy had a lot on his mind. His parent sends him to a mental hospital. At the mental hospital, he was supervised 24/7. Well, he was supposed to be. Every morning he has a schedule to follow, that’s why I think he has OCD. Also before going to the mental hospital I think that he started to feel alone and sad. Maybe that's why he maybe tried to end his life because when his grand-mother when to see him and she saw he had a scissor she told him “ They shouldn’t have given you scissors”. That he was feeling sad had a rough childhood with his parents. He said that they were really organized, synchronizing schedules from on to the other end of the hall. For me that means that his parents were not there for him, maybe that’s why he tried to commit suicide. Maybe that’s why he doesn’t like a bumper sticker, it doesn't have a purpose. He spoke about Mayflies at some point in the chapter. He told us that the Mayflies had it easy. The Mayflies knew what they were and what they needed to do without any question. That they were born for one purpose and one purpose only, to make babies. To make the next generation in the 18hours of they’re life. He was scared, he had no clue what his purpose was. what to do? Where to go? What he was born to do? and so goes on, and what his the purpose of living if you don’t know what to do. Also, his parents never help him, they never had the time of need.

Chapter 2

This chapter is the point of view of the father's. The father’s name was Calvin, the mother’s name was Beth and the son’s name was Conrad. mother had put him in an orphanage since he was eleven. His mom had so little money that she lived in a bad neighborhood, that’s why didn’t want to raise her son there. His mom came from time to time, but he ever saw his father. Maybe that’s why he said, “I had no example to follow”. That means that if someone ever said he didn’t raise his son right, he can tell them he never had a father figure to look up too. Now, Calvin, have a lot of money, his a lower and his wife does golf. They also said they have a golden plate and that the mother has a body of a god-like she never had kids. Calvin was very proud of who he was today. Also, we also saw that he had trouble talking with his son. It’s sad, to see Calvin trying his best to try helping son. The only thing he want’s from him is to be happy. Also, the mother expected that the father would speak with Conrad. She's pushing him t talk with him like she's scared to come close to her son. Beth just told Calvin what to tell Conrad things that he had done wrong or should do better. Calving his trying his best to help his son in the way he thinks it’s right. Calvin doesn't know what to talk about or how to help Conrad. He really wanted to help Conrad but didn’t know how to other than sent him to doctors. That's what the family and Calvin wanted to have the old Conrad back, even when the doctors told him that he will be different.

Chapter 3

Conrad went to school. Now that was eventful! Al of Conrad's friend is in a higher grade than him, he has to restart because he was at a hospital for a while. Meaning that he had missed a lot of schools and couldn’t pass the year. Conrad is a very smart kid if he put his head in to it. He had all the advanced courses and was on the swimming team. Now Conrad has problems, being suicidal and having anxiety, didn’t help with how people treated him. His being treated like a kid, like when you’re around him its like walking on glass. That made Conrad nervous and a bit angry too. If he changes course to go lower it's going to prove that his not ok and that his not strong that he was not the old him again. It’s the same thing in his swimming team. His coach suggested him to quite to recover. Conrad didn’t want to stop it’s what he likes to do. It’s the place where he can come back to himself to see that his not broken like everyone think he is. Conrad tried to talk with his mom, to tell her what happened in the swimming team. He tried to open up to his mother hoping she would be proud. Beth, the mother, only brushed it off and walks away. This made Conrad sad, his own mother wasn’t trying to talk to him. I think that Beth doesn't realize how cal wants to make her proud, to make her like him and to have a normal conversation between soon and mother.

Chapter 4

The father blamed himself. He blamed himself for his elder son, Jordan, death and Conrad's depression. This seemed to all have started last Christmas at their trip in Florida. Beth tried to go somewhere else this year Christmas, but Calvin didn’t want to. For good reasons too. He wanted to stay so that they could help and supported Conrad the best as they can. Beth only thinking for herself still wanted to go. Trying to push Calvin to go, events with his reasons not too good. This upset Beth when she realized that he was not changing his mind. Calvin was getting more anxiety and sadness. He was trying his best to help his son, coop with what happened last Christmas and please his wife. Having a lot on his plate, he didn’t know how to fix everything. Why so sad about all of this was that he blamed himself. For his elder son's death, his younger son's depression and his wife's unhappiness. The family was crumbling and the only people who seemed to try and fixed it were Calvin and Conrad. They were trying to help each other the best they can with the situation. Beth just made it seem like nothing changed that life was perfect. Her determination to doing this was making the foundation of the family relation crumbling more.

Chapter 5

Therapy is one of the many recovery tools Conrad has not yet tried. Perhaps unsurprisingly, it marks yet another situation in which he has little control. Berger's dynamic appearance and casual mood, which represents a kind of openness Conrad can't experience when he's with family or friends, affect him in much the same way as Jeannine does.