I also wonder what person she would have seen if she had accepted. Or maybe what person I would have become.I think alot about the past,and the what if’s.

Loved your story. For a guy with aphasia and this and that, you tell a good tale; especially that last line, where the thread of compassion and money come together (she had your money and the compassion to return it, and you had the money to buy the JP album)

I wonder what sort of person your good Samaritan would have dined with when you were 19, if she had said yes.

That is great! It reminds me of the times(how many?lol)that I have “lost” something, and then have an honest person return it,or call me,and tell me where to come get it.

One time, back about 1980, I left my wallet at Taco Bell. Next day, got a call from the manager,who told me he had it. 180 bucks was ALOT OF MONEY,for a 19-20 yr. old guy back then. When I picked it up..All the money was still in it! A cute young girl, that worked there had found it and she was the one who gave it back to me.

Needless to say, I asked her if I could take her to dinner sometime and show her my apprecition for her honesty. She declined because she knew who I was via of my history in a small town. But I will always remember that day, and how thankfull I was to know someone cared about me….John Prine said it, in his song:”Thats the way the world goes round” which was the song I was listening to that night, because I had the money to buy the album.

I forgot my checkbook at Stop ‘n’ Shop. I discovered this while unloading groceries in the kitchen. And I didn’t panic. I didn’t yell, slam the counter, or even grumble. I put on my coat, retraced my steps, looked over the driveway, checked the car, drove back to the store, scanned the parking lot, the shopping carts, and finally went inside and found it at the customer service desk — all without the usual whirling drumsticks in my head, making it impossible to think straight. I’m feeling pretty good about that.

I realized yesterday why I hate Christmas. During Christmas time, all the decorations come out and appear everywhere in the house…on top of tables and on shelves and on the piano and so on. There are decorations everywhere. And why do I hate this? Because it makes me feel like my A.D.D. mess of piles of things is no longer confined to my (home) office but is now throughout the house. Now THAT adds stress to my life.

We had a record amount of snow here on Christmas eve(Okla.). We live out in the country, so travel was discouraged(to put it mildly). Nobody showed up for our Christmas day dinner. This may sound very selfish..but I was happy to not have to stress about the getting ready for the gathering.

Did I avoid the “Stress”?…Nope. It(ADD)showed up. It did’nt need a chimney,or a road, to get here…it lives here, snowed in with us. The bright side…A WHITE CRISTMAS! Hope everyone had a merry one!!

I’m not sure how long ADHD has been around, or if it’s worse/more prevalent than it used to be, but I’m not surprised that it hasn’t gone away. It seems that humans and life in general are loaded with defective parts (or seemingly defective or outmoded — the appendix was thought to be useless for a good while. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21153898/) Perhaps the maladaption is serving a purpose we can’t perceive, or maybe it’s lingering in the way of other diseases. Or, even more likely, creating a brain from scratch a billion times over has to allow for the occasional imperfection. Nothing can be replicated endlessly without flaw.

Like the stories in the Old Testament. Even though world was much different, the people did and thought about the craziest things….good and bad…alot like me.