Jon Crispin's Notebook

I had the chance to walk around Waco a bit this morning before I started working on tonight’s talk.

There was a public ceremony today in the park across from my hotel memorializing fallen police officers.  I am always drawn to a crowd (which were behind me when I took this photo).

I learned that Dr Pepper was invented in Waco, and the amazing Cynthia Cunningham from NAMI Waco gave me a bag with some gifts, including these two bottles of Dr Pepper (made with real cane sugar!).  I am drinking one now and it is wonderful.

 My talk tonight went pretty well; I was nervous at first, but seemed to do ok.  I’d give myself a B, but I am still learning.  Lots of folks came up to me afterwards and were so nice and complimentary.  If you are looking to do a bit of good in this world, send NAMI Waco some money through their site, or if you live in an area with a local NAMI group, think about volunteering.  They are doing amazing and important work.  /  I also met some great folks from the Meadows Mental Health Policy Institute.  Coby Chase was familiar with the suitcases project and drove up from Austin where he works lobbying the state on mental health issues. He mentioned their site okaytosay.org which is really interesting and inspiring.  So much of the work NAMI, Meadows, and like minded organizations do is related to reducing the stigma of mental illness.  I am so grateful to Cynthia for connecting the suitcases to her work, and for giving me the chance to meet so many wonderful people who work so hard to improve the lives of families who struggle with mental health issues .

That’s it for tonight.  Back home tomorrow.  Thanks, as usual, for following.