Nora is still weird

Welcome New Member Introduction
1

Hi
I’m Nora. I have been different all my life. So different that I now embrace my weird stuff and even the term weird. I am 68 by the calendar. That means I can’t give you the whole picture.

MY ADHD dx was when i was 36 or 7 MY ASD dx was during my 57th year.

My childhood was a mess for many reasons. My young adult years were not much better. I truly think the older I get the better i feel. I found a way that works for me to let most of my childhood stuff go. I had huge raging anger against my mother and I felt we worked through it and when she died I was at peace with her and i believe she was at peace with me. I miss her and I miss my father AND I know They are good somewhere.

In 2003 I moved from the US to Australia and got married. I was married for 7 years. I am still living with him. We make better housemates than marriage partners. I think he also has ADHD. We are both sensitive to rejection and being questioned.

I am active in Al-Anon and have two children in their forties. One lives in Florida and the other California. The California one does not talk to me so his children don’t either. One of his children has an ASD dx. My oldest grandson lives in Washington State. It is really hard to engage him as he was not well treated by his father and stepmother.

I am starting to ramble here. I’ll go take a nap. I’m not usually this sad sounding. How do i find a way to make any sort of decision on what to put in or leave out?

Thanks for reading this
Nora

2

Hey Nora,
I’m Merl. I’m one of the moderator team here on Ben’s Friends and I too am in Oz.
It can be an odd experience obtaining a diagnosis later in life. We can look back at our lives and see how and where those symptoms, even though undiagnosed, have shown before. Often when shown there is a judgement of ‘weird’. But having age on your side can be a good thing, in that, we have a little more insight, a little more understanding. It’s a bit like ‘we knew it before, but now we have a name for it’.

“…what to put in or leave out?” I’d start with how your condition affects you. There maybe others who can relate to exactly the same. They may have suggestions on how they manage day to day. But really if you feel comfortable in posting it online, remembering this is a public forum, then go for it.

And don’t be too worried about rambling nor sounding sad. I think we all do at times.

Merl from the Moderator Support Team