Blessings

Bless this house,

my heart and home,

bless all who enter in,

who don't come in sin.

Bless my friends,

on whom I depend,

bless all I love,

and God above.

I was born in Melbourne Australia on march 4th 1957. My mother worked in a pie van at Victoria market. My father drank. My brother, sister and I used to take time off school, go to the museum, sneak into the zoo. When I was 9 we moved to a country town not far from the city. I enjoyed roaming around the paddocks. I didn't do well at school, I dropped out to pursue a career in retail. I managed an aquarium successfully. In 1985 I was diagnosed with schizophrenia, with this came heavy cannabis use. I was in and out of hospital for a long time. New medications have made me stable, I haven't been hospitalised since 2000. I have a generous disability pension. I am polite and courteous which makes me friends and with my childhood poverty and mental illness I have been treated well by government workers. It's like wading in a lake of TLC.