As someone who has lived with depression on and off since I was a kid, I want my 12-year-old daughter to inherit my values and my fashion sense – not my rocky relationship with mental health.
In the 1970s, Weissman commenced a three-generation study of depression. She found that the children of parents who live with severe and/or recurrent depression wereI began looking for protective factors to create a buffer between my child and the “black dog”. I came across the work ofMiller defines spirituality as a close personal relationship to God or nature or the universe or whatever term people use to refer to something bigger than themselves.
At her age, I had my Catholic confirmation, a rite of passage in which I declared my faith in God and the church. Without religion, there doesn’t seem to be a formal way to initiate my child. So we’ve come up with our own ritual. Ellie wears a ruffly dress which she has chosen for the occasion and reads out her vows. The women hold Ellie’s hands and offer her a blessing, which is something that they have reflected on and now wish for her in her life. We gather for high tea at a table the godmothers have decorated with wildflowers, cake stands, and a lot of cheese, as per Ellie’s request.