I had decided last Sunday morning to stay home from church, and
watch the Seahawks play the Minnesota Vikings at 10:05 a.m. PST. (Okay, I have
missed church a number of times this fall.) Waking up with overnight bed head,
smelling like Chinese balm and wearing the worst looking yet most comfortable
sweats with mismatch socks, I turned on the computer and logged onto Facebook.
I sometimes glance at the copy and paste items friends post. I read this one.
The first paragraph was written by him, and the remaining the copy and paste.
“I rarely do these because, at times, it seems futile. It is
taboo to talk about mental illness in good company, but this can't wait any
longer. My family has lost too many people to suicide and my children have been
greatly impacted by it. I was diagnosed with depression over 25 years ago, so:
We can't talk about it enough...Many people think that a suicide
attempt is a selfish move because the person just does not care about the
people left behind. I can tell you that when a person gets to that point,
they truly believe that their loved ones will be much better off with them gone.
This is mental illness not selfishness. TRUTH: Depression is a terrible disease
and is relentless. A lot of us have been close to that edge, or dealt with
family members in a crisis, and some have lost friends and loved ones. Let's
look out for each other and stop sweeping mental illness under the rug. If I
don't see your name, I'll understand. May I ask my family and friends wherever
you might be, too kindly copy and paste this status for one hour to give a
moment of support to all those who have family problems, health struggles, job
issues, worries of any kind and just need to know that someone cares. Do it for
all of us, for nobody is immune. Hope to see this on the walls of all my family
and friends just for moral support. I know some will!!! I did it for a friend
and you can too. You have to copy and paste this one, no sharing. To copy
simply hold your finger on the text and the copy option will appear. Click on
it. Then click on your status and paste will appear or hold down where empty
screen is and paste will appear.”
This post touched me. I cleaned up and headed to a church in my
neighborhood. I visited with members of the congregation during coffee time. A number
of them live in the neighborhood, and others I met when I first moved to
Seattle.
On my walk home from the church, I suddenly heard cheers
coming from the apartments and condos through their shut windows. The Seahawks
won. I won, too from a post that has stayed with me throughout the
week, and it has generated much conversation. Keep the conversations going!
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