Everyone has a story—whether they choose to tell people is their decision. I’d like to tell the story of three brothers. They grew up in a drug and alcohol infested household with no real support, let alone love. The boys practically raised themselves. They were very protective of one another and took care of each other in times of distress or pain. Well, one day on a cold, blizzard-like day in February, there was a phone call made about the loss of the youngest boy to suicide. According to Merriam-Webster’s dictionary, suicide is defined as being “the act of killing yourself because you do not want to continue living.” Unfortunately, he asked for help, but no one heard his cries. He was only 15 years old.
This is the story of my three cousins. It was three years this past February that I lost my cousin to suicide. Suicide is a hard topic in my family as there have been six recorded deaths in account. His older brother committed and completed suicide the June after the younger one’s passing. My family and I attended CNIA’s 32nd Annual Powwow this past Saturday. It was splendid, the flashes of bright colors from the regalia to the various drum groups and of course, the frybread. It was a great day to celebrate my culture as whole with students from here at Morris and various spectators from the area. Later that evening, we received a phone call about the middle brother of the two…he had taken his own life.
In the span of three years, I lost three family members to whom I was the closest. Just imagine having a major part of you ripped out of your hands and you could not do anything to help. That is how I felt then and now. Suicide digs its hooks into you so deep that eventually you have to give in and free yourself. It’s essentially the answer to a temporary problem if you look at it out of context. You feel depressed or as though you have no purpose in life, but you were put on this beautiful earth for a reason. It’s almost like this idea of “The truth lies with the seeker, yet the seeker knows nothing of the truth” mentality (Anonymous). You must go out and explore and find yourself, you’d be amazed what you are able to find and create. Sometimes, that isn’t always the case, but there are others who want to help.
There are various resources that are quite helpful in times like these. There is a National Suicide Prevention Lifeline available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. Their phone number is 1 (800) 273-8255. I would recommend talking to them if you have questions about suicide prevention or if you are struggling with personal issues and need a different perspective. Otherwise, if you prefer text messaging rather that a voice call, you can contact txt4life. You just simply text the word LIFE to 61222, and they respond in a matter of minutes. This a Minnesota-based support line that has been very helpful to many people.
Looking back at the story of those young boys, we need to reflect. Life is so very precious and yours for the taking. Losing family is one of the hardest things to lose. I believe that if we take an extra second to be kind to one another, there would be less lives lost to suicide. I challenge all of you to say hello to five random strangers, and you will be amazed at how a small act of kindness could brighten someone’s day. It may not stop suicide completely, but it will give that person hope. With this in mind, this kindness could stop another person from walking away from their life.
