Mental Illness Killed Both my Father and Son by Lark Dean Galley When I made the decision to write about my son’s suicide, I had no intention of including my childhood stories in the book. How could they possibly have impacted his decision to end his life? Turns out, my childhood played a bigger role in my son’s suicide than I could ever have imagined. Starting the book with his death was like entering the play in the third scene. It was only after my friend encouraged me to write about the instability of my early years that I begin to see how my childhood impacted my parenting and in turn my son’s choices. As I examined my father’s life through adult eyes, I felt an even deeper understanding of his choices. My father’s mother spent her entire life with undiagnosed depression, something she inherited from her mother. Grandma Dean would experience bipolar mood swings which even she could not understand or explain. I can remember as a teenager coming into the room as she spoke
Is there any “Happy” in your Deceased Child’s Birthday? A Promise Fulfilled by Lark Dean Galley Today is my son’s 21st birthday. Or maybe I should more accurately say, it would have been his 21 st birthday if he had not chosen a different path. You see, 19 months ago he ended his life. His was not a sad or tragic life but a life filled with promise and opportunity. A life that was meant to make a difference in the world, but maybe it’s not too late. You see, shortly after my son’s suicide, I made a promise to share his story so that others might be inspired to stay on this planet even when things were hard. While the mental pain and anguish can feel very real, it does not go away when the hurting person ends their life. The pain is just transferred to those left behind – loved ones who are filled with so many questions. “Why would he do this?” “Why didn’t I know?” “Why wasn’t I enough to stop him?” Sharing my son’s story has not always been easy or convenient, but it has bee