answer:I was depressed from my earliest days. Depression did not give me courage. But watching my mother die an agonizingly slow and painful death did. She always said that no matter what, you don’t give up. In case anyone is wondering, I am not depressed now, and I have never taken medication for depression. I have mostly healed from the agony of my past. I am just wrapping up the last odds and ends now. (Yaaay!)