Ms. Demaris Tisdale

As a young girl is Pittsburgh, I saw people around me being unhappy, confused, not knowing what to do. I wanted to understand why they got themselves in trouble, and why they were troubled. I was curious, and sad. Over the years I learned what those unhappy people could have done. My education began as a teacher of young children. Then I became a caseworker helping people with parenting, adoptions, and the miseries of poverty. Finally, I trained to be a therapist, and treated troubled teenagers, adults with illness, and the old and dying.

Today, for over a quarter-century, I've had the inestimable privilege of treating young people, who dreaded life, and old people, who dreaded death. As I've treated them they have taught me.

Marty, the crafty orphan, taught me to listen and watch. Eleanor, the desperate housewife, taught me the agony of mental illness, and Mr. S., as he bravely faced his final days alone, taught me authenticity. And all taught me that anyone, by learning who they are, can grow and thrive.