The Gift of Giving

The true story of Barbara Ann Day West's life as told by her mother, Mary Day Schaefer. Barbara was born in Brooklyn, NY; the first of 4 children for Jerome and Mary Day. Barbara was the light of her parent's life. She was very giving to others and was an honors student before attending Arizona State's Law School where her life would take a tragic turn for the worst. Barbara's dreams of becoming a legal advocate for the poor and donating her time to provide them legal support would be lost in a quick spiral of declining mental health that left Barbara a paranoid schizophrenic and more vulnerable than the people she had hoped to help. Mary's struggles to be Barbara's advocate and navigate the harsh realities of an under-funded Arizona state mental health system are chronicled in detail. In one of Barbara's rare lucid moments after decades of being mentally ill, she stated that the hardest thing was that she was seldom treated with any dignity or respect.