LY #110 More local tragedy

Next year my replacement might have a student who talks about losing his friend in last Friday's suicide at Bend High.  Certainly there will be more students in all of the speech classes giving presentations about suicide prevention.  Like these kids in a Mayo Clinic video on Teen Suicide.

Like many of the lost, I too made suicide attempts in high school but fortunately was spared from success by God and my own incompetence.  Kristin Tone has written a beautiful blog post on the ineffability of this recent tragedy.

My friend Lilli Ann posted her daughter Kit Foreman's thoughts on Facebook and Kit has given me permission to quote her:

"I've been thinking a lot about last week's tragedy.

I'm hurting. Along with many, many other people. Because that "doesn't happen here." This is Bend. That kind of thing doesn't happen here.

But obviously it does. It does happen here. And I think that shakes our community's foundation. And I think that's good.

I think this is a chance to have a positive, open dialogue about suicide. And about the things that lead people to it. About the warning signs, and how sometimes it's impossible to know who is at risk.

Asking for help is the hardest, bravest thing you can do.

I intern with the local Medical Examiner. The sheer amount of suicides that happen in Bend is astonishing. The media doesn't usually report on suicides, because they're generally a quiet, private affair. The only evidence that they occurred is a human-sized hole in the hearts of the people who knew them.

1-800-273-8255 is the number for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline.

You are loved. You are loved. You are loved."

 
Kit's final words above were put into visual rhetoric at COCC  on Tuesday as some staff participated in Blue/Gold Day in support of Bend High.