ICYMI: Smithtown Woman Aims To Inspire Fellow Veterans Who Have PTSD

SMITHTOWN, NY — "'Gratitude is my attitude.'"

Those have become words to live by for Mary Flatley, a veteran of the United States Marine Corps Reserve, who discovered the phrase in one of the many self-help books she has read.

Flatley, 54, of Smithtown, served as an administrative clerk before her honorable discharge in 1990. She was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder at the Northport Veterans Affairs Hospital. While Flatley has had her struggles in life, working a variety of jobs because of her disability, she has found joy as a poet, volunteer and caretaker to her 91-year-old mother.

In life and in poetry, Flatley has focused on the good in her life.

"I'm grateful that I'm not a homeless veteran, that I have a roof over my head, that I have a car, that I have my mom," Flatley told Patch.

Her goal is to take what she's grateful for in life and use it to inspire fellow veterans diagnosed with PTSD.

"I want veterans to know there's a lot of hope out there," Flatley said. "Even with a diagnosis of PTSD, you can achieve something. There's hope. You don't have to be in despair. There are great days ahead of you."

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