I will always remember the woman sitting on the floor in front of one of the stores near where I live. I was appalled. I said "oh you poor thing, what's the matter" and she said "I'm hungry".

Now I was about to go into the little coffee shop and get my grilled chicken for lunch. But how the heck could I do that WITH A WOMAN SITTING ON THE FLOOR OUTSIDE IN THE STREET!!!!

So I took $5.00, went into the coffee shop and got a burger, fries and a soda (I had asked her what she wanted).

I then told the guy who it was for. The guy thought I was absolutely out of my mind for buying her anything. He said "you are nuts".

I said 'he thinks I'm nuts??"

So I went over to her and gave her the food. People came out and saw what I was doing "honestly, it was not a big thing for me to do this, and I have no idea why people were looking at me but they were".

Then she said "I need fifty cents to get on the bus, I only have a dollar fifty.

So I gave her fifty cents. I asked her what was wrong with her and she said "I have bi-polar".

Now I immediately said to myself "Mel Gibson is bi-polar, Sally Field is Bi-polar, Cher is Bi-polar and Patty Duke is Bi-polar".

Now I have no idea why some bi-polar people sit on the floor and others work in Hollywood, but who am I to question life, right?

Well. the next day, I go for my daily walk on the avenue and who do I see sitting on the street in front OF YET ANOTHER STORE, but the exact same lady. I said "oh my god, what are you doing on the floor again"? And she looks at me and says "I'm hungry, will you buy me something".

I had no idea she did this all the time. I see her all the time now. Everybody feeds her. She lives in a facility for the mentally challenged. She is on SSI. She told me this.

Why is she sitting on the floor in the street? Because obviously her family gave up or she has no family.

I remember (when Alan and I used to go to the NAMI meetings). Every month we would go to two meetings. One was a support group for families, and the other meeting was to meet with professionals who answered all the questions of family members and friends. There were lawyers, there were case managers, and there were also the people who had Shitzo-affective disorders, Shitzophrenia, and bi-polar. They also attended these meetings.

Now this is where it gets interesting. I would be sitting talking and having a perfectly fine conversation with someone and right in the middle of the conversation someone would tap her on the shoulder and politely inquire "did you take your pill?" .

You see, I thought I was speaking to a family member of the mentally ill person, but I was speaking to the bi-polar person herself. I said 'you're bi-polar?" and she laughed and said: "yeah, but I work and I've been working for 20 years".

I learned so much from the NAMI meetings. There is so many resources out there because of NAMI.

It's a sad shame when people either can't get resources, don't know how to access them or are simply alone.

I have no family to speak of. I take care of Alan. He does not take care of me. My family distanced themselves from me when they learned about my son.

Alan and I would be going to support group meetings and one day a friend (at least I thought she was a friend), said to me "where are you going tonight? and I said to her "oh Alan and I are going to a NAMI meeting".

She said nothing (she knew what it was).

But the best was when I went to an Aspergers Support group meeting, and a week later I went to a Gamanon Meeting. My son is aspergers and a compulsive gambler.

It used to be that my life was filled with support group meetings.

So one day my friend and I were having a conversation and I could not remember what I was doing the previous Tuesday and she blurted out "Oh you went to that stupid support group meeting of yours".

Now believe me, I never talk about my son TO ANYBODY. They don't ask and I don't tell. When all this went down (6 years ago), and they saw my face one night when we sat outside, I told them the whole story, and I never mentioned it again. They were not comfortable, and I knew this.

So now she blurts out "Oh I remember where you were, you were at that stupid support group that you attend".

Believe me, once she said that to me, I knew exactly where her head was at. She calls people wackos.

I try to conduct my life with dignity and not be judgemental but when I hit a brick of a mentality like that, well, I wanted to choke her.

She distanced herself from me also. It's like it's contagious, or something, being the parent of a mentally ill young man who gambles.

It's like I'm persona non grata so to speak.

You see, I believe there isn't a soul on this earth who DOESN'T HAVE SOMETHING GOING ON IN THEIR LIVES. Some just cope better than others.

I believe it's better to reach out and touch someone than never to reach out at all.

One night when Alan and I had gone to the Aspergers Support Group in NYC, we came upon a young guy in the freezing cold. He was homeless. He was no more than 20 years old. I immediately went to buy him some hot chocolate. He was grateful.

I'm always doing stuff like that. Can't help myself.

But the funny one was when this young woman approached me in broad daylight and asked me for money. She was very well kept, but she smelled of liquor. It was 8 a.m. . I looked at her and said 'are you an alcoholic?" and she just looked at me and said: "why yes I am". I then said "if I give you money, will you drink with it?" and she sadly nodded and said: "Absolutely".

I then said "I can't give you money but I'll buy you breakfast".

She walked away.

See, we do what we can.