Mr. Mike Allred
When in the process of creating The Divided Twin, I often had to reflect on the emotional and physical traumas that I had experienced with my battle of mental illness. Throughout my life, I have had many people help me through these issues, but someone who has remained etched in my mind was my 5th grade teacher in Etna, Wyoming—Mr. Mike Allred.
When I was in his class, he taught me many things that have stuck with me throughout my life, but the most prominent of these lessons was that everything was going to be okay. At the time that I was in his class, I had already been experiencing many symptoms of my illness, and as a teacher, he picked up on these tendencies almost immediately.
I will never forget the words he told me as I was taking a math test during his class. He would notice that whenever I was in a stressful situation, I would cough every couple of seconds. During this test, I was coughing quite frequently, and he came over to my desk, put his hand on my shoulder, and whispered in my ear, “You are okay, and I promise you that there is nothing to fear in my class.” Those simple words of encouragement have carried quite a weight throughout my life, and I will never forget the man who inspired me to get through the day and remember that everything is okay.
This book is an escape for all that I have been through with mental illness. However, it remains a work of fiction. Writing allows me to share the emotions of mental illness. The actions that these characters take are not from personal experience; many of the emotions, though, are.
I dedicate The Divided Twin in its entirety to a man who helped me feel safe through troubling times. Thank you, Mr. Allred.
-Kyle Thomas
