The Wordsmith: Suicide Prevention Day

As many of you now know, I struggle with depression, anxiety and bipolar disorder. I felt a lot of pride in knowing to day is Suicide Prevention Day. Many people do not understand the struggles of living with mental illness but there is always someone to talk to. As I have stated before in my post last month, please reach out and ask for help. I am always available to talk to someone about their feelings and NEVER feel ashamed for having suicidal thoughts. They have come to more people than you think.

With that said here are the pictures from the day my brother swore in! I do not have the video yet because my computer is being a jerk but I will try to get it up as soon as possible.

Hope you guys enjoy my stories and pictures!

8 September 2014

Goodbye For Now

Mom's tight embrace,

Sister's proud hug,

Girlfriend's sweet kiss,

Along with many kind words,

We say our goodbyes

As we wait to send you off.

For 13 weeks we will be without,

No phone calls or texts,

No tweets or snaps,

Just letters and many sleepless nights.

You carry many titles,

Son, brother, boyfriend,

Grandson, nephew, friend

But so another title shall soon follow,

When we get you back

You will be a Marine.

We are so proud

Yet our hearts do break.

We love our buddy

And miss your dear face.

We can't wait to see you again

And party our sorrow away

In San Diego!

9 September 2014

The Bank Robbery

Under normal circumstances he would speak his mind, but, with a gun to his head, Jack said nothing that would put him in danger. The day had really started out like normal. He kissed his wife and kids goodbye and headed to the bank where he worked. The morning was slow as usual, a few loans needed to be approved and he had helped make a few people's lives easier. As lunch time rolled around, Jack walked around and asked a few co-workers if they wanted to head to the sub shop. As he walked up to the tellers he heard a scream and a click behind his head.

“Don't say a word! Walk to the back and load up this bag from each teller. EVERYONE BUT THE TELLERS GET ON THE GROUND AND HAND OVER ALL YOUR PHONES, PURSES AND WALLETS! Do it now!” yelled an armed robber.

Jack did exactly as he was told. He knew one man was behind him with a gun and there were four others casing the bank, picking up the phones, wallets and purses the patrons had given up. Normally he was a boisterous, talkative, even opinionated man but right now he had no words. He could just feel the robbers hot breath and shaky hands. Each teller filled his bag and when they were done they were told to lay down on the floor and not look up. That's when one of the men saw police outside.

“Who called the police? WHO CALLED THE POLICE?” he screamed as he pointed the gun from patron to patron. After seeing some hesitation and just wanting to get the men out of his bank, Jack made a suggestion.

“Let's finish getting this money and then you guys can go. There is a back door you can exit,” explained Jack.

“FINE! Come on let's finish and go!” they collected the rest of the money and headed for the back. Once they got to the back door they decided to exit with Jack. When they got outside they were surrounded.

“Put your hands up!” it was chaos! The men were yelling at the cops and the cops were yelling back.

“Back off! I will shoot him! Back off!” yelled the man behind Jack.

Suddenly, through all the screaming, there were five pops and cops rushing towards him. He couldn't move he was too afraid. One officer grabbed Jack and threw him to the ground. He asked Jack is he was armed then when he confirmed he wasn't he asked if he was okay and told hi to stay on the ground for a moment. Jack looked around. All five of the armed men were on the ground. He assumed snipers had hit them. So many thoughts of his family and life were racing through his head but when a medic came over to him no words could come out. He just shook his head to answer questions and waited for his family to show up. There was no longer anything normal about this day.