Lucy & Ethel & ADHD

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For those of you who aren’t old enough to remember Lucille Ball and I Love Lucy, here’s a little overview: Lucy was a crazy redhead who was always getting herself and her best friend Ethel in trouble.

Lucy would have one of her “screwball ideas” and Ethel would go along with it each time. Invariably, they would end up in one hilarious situation after another, often needing their husbands, Ricky and Fred, to get them out.

In the picture below, Lucy is on the left and Ethel is on the right. Looks like they’ve just found themselves in hot water again.

lucyethel_i_love_lucy

When I was first married, I had a friend who played Ethel to my Lucy. My husband gave us those nicknames.

I would get a bright, creative idea to do something, and my friend Ethel would help me out. We rarely ended up in trouble, although our husbands always had their doubts.

When we moved to a new house, a sofa I wanted to put in the basement wouldn’t fit. So said my husband. A quick call to Ethel, a little elbow grease, and hard work – and hubby came home to a sofa – in the basement.

That same house had a laundry chute that deposited the dirty laundry on the finished side of the basement, rather than the laundry area.

We scrounged around our garages and came up with a old cupboard and some odds and ends of lumber. Add a few power tools and a couple of days of work and I had an extended laundry chute that routed clothes over to the laundry side and kept them hidden behind cupboard doors until laundry day.

Why am I telling you this?

A couple of reasons. First, as a person with ADHD, you have a highly creative brain. You come up with connections and ideas that no one else does. Don’t let anyone tell you that it can’t be done, or it’s impossible, or that it’s just one more of your nutty ideas.

Where would we be if Thomas Edison, or Henry Ford, or the Wright Brothers had believed that? Unless you give it a try, how will you know it works or doesn’t? And if it doesn’t, so what?

The other reason I tell you my Lucy & Ethel stories is to show you that sometimes you need an Ethel to go with your Lucy.

You come up with the brilliant ideas and she’s the one who helps you execute them and keeps you on track. She would have never thought of what you did, but maybe she can help you make it happen.

Lacy Estelle

Lacy Estelle

Lacy Estelle is the writer of Lacyestelle.com and the Podcast host for An ADD Woman.

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3 Responses

  1. Thanks so much for putting this on paper. I too am Lucy and it is true, we are creative, which sometimes takes up too much of our time. Back to the creative process again!

  2. I love lucy. and completely agree with what your saying, everyone needs an Ethel to go with there Lucy. I truly do love Lucy and Ethel is my favorite character on the show. Me and my best friend are definetly the Lucy and Ethel type. I am of course the Lucy though 🙂