well , I thought you'd just moved town, so aren't all the people you around new - didn't know the old you, and so how would they know how they, or others, used to act?

i would also say that we evolve over time and periods in our life, there is no true definite self, so approach it that all your experiences have built you, including the time when you were happier and bubblier. I don't really know what I'm trying to say, except I suppose I can understand the problem, I've felt like needing to be something else and the of course my mum has had this exact same situation and felt even worse when she couldnt force it to happen straight away, she didnt like feeling like a phantom of her former self. but then I think that's where we can't go back, we can only evolve. and it's a journey, you can't force yourself to be different overnight. so relax and spend time developing friendships and having small fun and I think what you are looking for will start to shine through. i can see it starting to work with my mum. (however here maybe slightly different as she developed a deep fear of socialising, it would drain her of energy). and she is beginning to get happier and strength. she's definitely back to being recognisable as my mum, that happened months ago. just more and more is starting to shine through as goes a long her journey. but, I'm also ridiculously glad she is keeping what she has learnt through this ordeal too, wouldn't want a repeat or how she could go overboard on absolutely anything .

celia

Thanks Celia! I am definitely looking forward to meeting new people, including a couple of people from GA who live in the area. I think I'm going to like it here.

I'm glad!!! let us know how it goes...

is it a big town?

There are about 21.5 k people here. That's a lot larger than places I've lived before. It's also a suburb of Dallas, which is about 30 minutes away.