It was great to see Martin and how well he is doing in sorting himself out. Here is a man who could quite easily go under with all the problems he has (had), but he is getting on with his life and he is verbalising. He talked the whole time he was here and then left us to it. He would go bonkers if he didn’t talk. Verbalisation. He told me that he could not have had a better lodger than me. That was nice. How far he has come since I lived there. His words from three years ago which he wrote in the book he gave me (Siddhartha by Herman Hesse), are being realised:
| ‘Geschrieben von einem, der gefunden hat Für einen, der sucht Von einem, der nie aufgibt’ |
(Written by one who has found For one who is searching From one who never gives up) |
He is getting on with his life and doing a damn good job of it too. Later, Francis and I talked about what we have contributed to each other: empowerment to be, verbalisation, support and some great times together. Here is what Francis wrote:
The freedom to express myself and talk openly and honestly with Jonathan is exhilarating at times and is certainly one of the components of our friendship that has helped to elevate it to a higher level and is, for me, one of the most noteworthy absentees when I am speaking with others. We have learnt a lot from each other by simply speaking of our experiences.