This, that and the other one title diaries "... suicide..." Have any of you lost someone you love to suicide? Do you have any clue what that means and how it feels? I can answer "yes" to both questions. Can you? If not, stop with the suicide meme. Please, if for no other reason than out of courtesy. Since it appears necessary, I'll try to explain below the fold. Please note, this won't be for the faint of heart or the queasy.
My only sibling, my brother Matt, was seven years younger than me. When he was born, after my Mom lost two pregnancies, my folks hung a little sign on the door to his nursery... "sshhh... baby is sleeping."
Matt was a totally good and upright little guy... his dream was to attend West Point, and his GPA supported that dream. The problem was, Matt tilted at windmills... he felt things too strongly... he cared beyond his capacity to fix things...he suffered more than he could eventually deal with. He went into social work, trying to right wrongs. He encountered "the system", tried to fight it, lost, and lost his way. And then we lost Matt.
You can stop reading here, it's not a happy thing to read, no last minute rescue of justice done, but, dammit, it cost me my brother, it cost my parents their son.
As I read Kos's interpretation of politics of the day, as I read the many diaries supporting this that and the other candidate, I find myself wondering... what in the hell is going on? Is anyone really aware of life outside of this website, outside the beltway?? I sure as hell am. And I suspect many like me are as well, but they aren't here writing, they're trying to survive their losses, their lacks, and their lives. Those folks are simply trying to live, while we here dissect and pronounce this week's "candidate".
Shame on all of us. We don't walk in the shoes of so many who have suffered such terrible losses. Obama, Clinton, Edwards, Dodd.... make your arguments honest, make them in honor of so many who have cared so deeply.
I can speak to what John and Elizabeth Edwards have suffered... they are still standing as am I, my folks and my husband.
I am not intending to sound preachy, but, enough already with your pat and rapid answers, enough with why Hillary is inevitable, enough with why Barack is the "hero" of today. Who is actually going to help those who need it?? My brother needed it, and outside his family, no one was home.
Were he alive today, John and Elizabeth Edwards would be home, and knowing Matt, he'd know and feel it, and he'd have hope.
It will sound weird to most, but as I support John Edwards, I feel my little brother Matt approving. Smiling down, actually.
You will never understand the peace that gives me.
Hugs and kisses Elizabeth!
Nan