Hope Takes Flight: Suicide Awareness and Prevention

“We’re baking a cake for Daddy to show him that we love him.”

“Otherwise, he won’t know we love him?”

“That’s right.”

A film about suicide, The Hours, could be checked out of Samuels Public Library by a young person without taking it from a restricted shelf or presenting a card that waives parental permission. With cutting-edge cinematographic techniques, the film explores the urgency of the human condition, and, yes, tax dollars would have once paid for that viewing experience. That love requires a demonstration is the philosophical message that vivifies every frame of that movie.

Hope takes flight at a suicide awareness and prevention event, where community leaders and interested citizens gather in front of a balloon donated by Bell Aviation and facilitated by the Hike Kidz Foundation, all under the direction of Northwestern Community Services. Royal Examiner Photo Credits: Brenden McHugh.

On Saturday, September 20, the Royal Examiner witnessed a linear progression of love being demonstrated in two locations on opposite ends of town. At the Warren County health complex, community leaders like Mayor Lori Cockrell and Delegate Delores Oates were at the forefront of a sizable crowd with a heavy preoccupation: suicide awareness and prevention. Meanwhile, privately funded Samuels Public Library hosted its annual SamiCon event, a day for dressing up colorfully and exploring a wide variety of crafts, arguably creating habits in people of any age that then become reasons for them to live.

Front Royal Mayor Lori Cockrell makes opening remarks before comments from other community leaders.

Whether posing in front of a balloon with the theme of “Hope Takes Flight” and cheering the departure of motorcyclists who opted for a joy ride over a one-mile walk at the awareness event, or maneuvering between shelves of books to capture moments with legos, Star Wars enthusiasm, and hand-crafted items, the citizens of Front Royal and the wider area who attended these events had every reason to feel loved. The message from Northwestern Community Services is clear: we’re here for you. And even after a two-year existential crisis, the message of the library is the same.

Parson Brown delivers a flooring rendition of the Star-Spangled Banner, backed by the Color Guard, with representatives from police and fire and rescue services, respectively.

Although there may be cases in which there is a hole in the bottom of somebody’s heart and no amount of love demonstrated will keep him from attempting, successfully or unsuccessfully, to terminate his earthly presence, the importance of bringing people out of isolation was clear at both events. Even a simple smile coupled with a greeting can furnish a struggling soul with a reason to live. Or, to at least live for one more day, a day on which he could get help. Granted, the library has done far more than smile and say hello. They have provided a social hub and a repository of the brightest minds in history. A child could discover The Dream of the Rood, wherein the unknown author sanctifies the purpose of English literature with a confession of the animate wood on which Christ is crucified, celebrating its sense of usefulness in the enterprise of salvation.

In a gymnasium adjacent to the Warren County health complex, abundant resources were available for people who may urgently need them or who are helping someone who is facing a mental health emergency.

The stakes are life and death. The Bible was a book, in the first place. It is no accident that the powers of darkness would align themselves against something so critical, then and now. Ted Hughes continued his literary conversation with his wife, Sylvia Plath, after her suicide, saying, in his Birthday Letters, a book largely preoccupied with describing her passion: “But the jewel you lost was blue.” This was a reference to her peace of mind. And the stakes were indeed life and death, in a way that may go beyond this temporary existence. If the persecutors were addressed directly, the words might be that there is very little to say, except that the jewel you lost was blue.

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