Suicide by Bag: Paper or Plastic?

The following story is one I just received from a friend.

I am back working at the suicide prevention hotlines and admissions to the psychiatric unit at our local facility. Although it is often a sad endeavor trying to keep the humblest of God's human creatures alive from day to day, there are some occasional bright spots.

The other night a couple of guys in their mid to late 50s came in. They were brothers, and one of them was bringing in the other for admission.

I asked the potential client/patient why he was there. He told me he had been thinking about killing himself and had planned, and even rehearsed, his method of suicide. This is very sad but true that suicidal people will rehearse killing themselves.

I asked the client what his plan was. After some elaborate detail during which he evaded my question, I finally asked, “How were you going to kill yourself? What were you going to do?”

He replied, “I planned to put a bag over my head.”

I responded with the only thing I could at that moment: “Was it going to be paper or plastic?”

Go ahead, you can laugh. Even the client and his brother laughed.

Sometimes in the tunnel of darkness, there are small lights and great lights. They can either be a train thundering in your direction or lightning bugs sent to amuse. I prefer the lightning bugs.

The man was admitted and is alive to this day.

copyright © 2009 by Auntie Eartha. All rights reserved.

If you like it, link it!
http://auntieeartha.blogspot.com/2009/08/paper-or-plastic.html

You Are Not Alone

In this big world of 6.76 billion people,* my dad taught me not to be dependent on anyone. (The population at that time was around 3.6 billion.**)

He also used to say, “Take care of your things, and they’ll last longer.” I’ve always taken that concept a step further: Take care of your friendships, and they’ll last longer. But it takes two.

Late last year I was diagnosed as having precancerous cells. The prospect of having the same type of cancer as my mother had, scared me.

Concurrently, I was ghostwriting a biography for a person I thought to be a friend and who had become my client. Less than one month after receiving my adverse-health news, my client-friend withdrew his friendship and, using registered, certified mail, “demanded” his advance money be returned to him. This unfortunate event was strange on two accounts: First, he said he sincerely liked and respected my work and intuition on his book; second, friends don’t dump friends when they’re down.

Fortunately, God has blessed me with the best friends on earth, on whom I can and do depend. All who knew about my condition rallied for and supported me through a short, but dark hour.

But what if I had few friends? What if all my friends were like the former client? Would I, in my distraught state, have taken my life quicker than cancer could have?


One of my former client’s “friends,” an energetic, handsome, perpetually smiling man, recently took his own life. His memorial celebration was attended by hundreds of prominent people.

Why would such an attractive personality draw death upon himself? Did he subtly reach out to one of his friends, who couldn’t hear him? Did he present a weaker side that a friend humorously brushed off? Or, as with many men, did he feel he couldn’t ask for help?

We’ll never know.

But I will be a better friend and listen with my heart, because I want my friends to live full lives…
and die naturally.

copyright © 2009 by Auntie Eartha. All rights reserved.

If you like it, link it!
http://auntieeartha.blogspot.com/2009/03/you-are-not-alone.html

* U.S. Census Bureau via Wikipedia
** http://www.infoplease.com/year/1968.html