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Show Volume XIII THE Issue V OGDEN VALLEY NEWS Page 9 December 15, 2005 Thanks, from Appalachia... Letters to the Editor Oo get you decide to put out rine where you think the tame should go for the high suicide rate in Utah. Suicide is not a disconnection problem; it’s a fitting in problem with kids. It’s a broken heart to them, but only puppy love to adults; its people being ignorant and not understanding. It’s people making light ofa young adult’s feelings and struggles instead of remembering what those struggles were like. It’s trying to put blame on someone or something when it boils down to Just paying attention to what’s going on around you in every walk of life and in every area your family spends sie, Your letter was very shameful because you basically told everyone who has lost a child to suicide that if you would have paid attention and been there, it wouldn’t have happened. My sonin-law was in his early 20’s and had a new baby of three months. I knew of the struggles he was having and he and I talked a lot. I helped him in every way I could, he had family and son who helped him, but in the end, it was' ough. When my daughter got a phone bill with stan she didn’t recognize, we called 1 and they were to a suicide hotline and a seyehie chat line. So check all your facts and stats before you decide to tread in such high waters as suicide. Sandra Knowlton Wife, mother, grandmother, and suicide survivor (Anyone who has lived through a loved one committing suicide is called a survivor.) Eden Writer Mistaken About Cause of Suicide All I can say is “wow” in response to the letter in your December | issue from Laura Warburton. She is terribly misguided, and if she is actually certified to be answering calls on a suicide hotline, ey someone had better pull 7 off ef the phones. It is people like her that create © Hiesueentien that suicide is solely, steed by family me sen ds not paying attention to their lo ved one! On a cold January morning in 1999, L the age of 19, became a “suicide survivor,’ “ihe name given to anyone who survives the loss of By Drienie Hattingh e years now, Pablo Diaz, the Vice President of Guideposts’ Outreach program, has helped box up the small sweaters that have been pouring into the Guideposts building for the last ten years. As he readied the boxes to send them off to relief organizations who would take them with them to needy children all over the world, he wondered how it would be to see the faces of the little children first hand when they choose a ter. The Knit Wits of Eden, Utah also wondered about this and just like Pablo, they too would love to meet the kids who wear them. But the Knit Wits do not really mind if they don’t have the opportunity to do so—they just do what is needed along with hundreds of other American women. They do not need to be thanked first hand; they just keep on knitting because they know one sure thing—when winter arrives, there will always be a child who needs a warm sweater. And the Knit Wits knit, and knit, and knit turning out one beautiful, colorful little sweater after another. In their mind’s eye, they see the pictures in the Guideposts and the faces of the little children full of wonder and gratitude and that is more than enough. eCuid iit lab rat a loved one to suicide. And unless you’ ve been through a suicide before, or are educatedi mental health issues, then the fact is that not many people/families recognize the warning signs even when they are right there in front of them. I spent day and night with my husband from the time we were 12 years old until his death. He had a strong support group with his family, and we had open communication and spoke often. Ms. Warburton is terribly misguided when saying that a tragedy like this can be avoided if we only “connect” with our children. I have been a Survivors of Suicide Support Group leader in two states and have met ee wonderful families that continue to deal with the guilt a suicide leaves behind es of misguided people like Laura Warbu: ston —families that spend hours together in church and at home and still endure the terrible tragedy of suicide. Suicide is a fact within families on many levels including the rich, the poor, and even (believe it or not Laura) families with strong religious and family backgrounds. It also has no age restrictions; suicide can happen to the old as well as to the young. What about girls? Girls hold part of those statistics that Ms. Warburton spoke of, and I would love to see this protected Valley that Laura War oa gp speaks of as well oe there just is not one. Suicide can happento anyone, at am time; and in any town, state, or province. My mother lives up in the Huntsville area and she has been touched by suicide twice. Let’s not forget that she lost her son-in-law on that cold January morning as well as brother-in-law last December. There are many facets to suicide and before people like Ms. Warburton choose to speak out about it, I suggest they seek further education on a subject that is surrounded by such stigma as a result of people like her ave spend many hours paar about suicide within the communities and the schools where I have resided, and what these families need to know is that they are not to blame for the loss of their loved ones and that not everyone is as ignorant as Ms. Warburton! Ms. Warburton not only solely places the blame on the families of those lost to suicide, but shows her ignorance on the subject by doing so. I suggest she receive some real type of formal training before allowing an ignorant woman like this on a Suicide Hotline! a area that doesn’t have what the city has that it won’t happen. Don’t tell people who do spend time with their families and kids that your child ‘on’t be one of the stats you hold so dear because I’m here to say you’re wrong! It can happen to anyone from any walk of life. Death doesn’t care Where you live orce you know. What helps i is the 10th anniversary of the Knit for Kids program, one of the Knit Wits loads the fifth box of twenty little sweaters into her truck and drives it over to the Eden Post Office. Jeannie and Krista at the post office know the familiar scene as a Knit Wit struggles through the door while balancing a heavy box of sweaters. And, as usual, the post office staff can’t help themselves—their oohs and aahs echo through the post office as they pick up soft, colorful little sweaters and admire the fine workmanship. A few months ago, in the Guideposts’ New York office, Pablo Diaz got a call from World Vision, an eerie that has distributed thousands of eaters. They asked Pablo, “Would you “like to accompany a shipment of sweaters going to the small mountain town of Philippi, West Virginia? “I'd love to!” Pablo replied. And there, in the heart of Appalachia, in c area of few jobs and much poverty, Pablo walked into an after-school program for kids with oan McKeon, one of the knitters, carrying several boxes of sweaters. ablo wasn’t sure what to expect but soon Heather Ada Survivors = Sik Support group leader and ‘survivor.’ Sandy, there were oohs and aahs when ihe children saw the stacks of multicolored sweate! “Each sweater is different,” Pablo told the children, “and made just foryou.’ Pablo says that they, the workers at Guideposts, always get requests from knitters, “Can I see what the kids look like in their sweaters?” So Pablo saw to it that lots of picken. In one picture from the Guideposts, Pablo is holding a little boy named Christopher. Pablo says, “Of all the children Christopher was the most attentive. When I asked the children if they had any questions, Christopher’s hand shot up. “Can I take a sweater home for Katie, my new baby sister?” he asked. I almost melted on the spot. This little boy didn’t need my explanation of the program. He already had the spirit of it in his heart.” The children then lined up to get their sweaters. Pablo writes, “When it was Christopher’s turn, | helped him into the sweater he’d chosen (he had to put it on right away). When his head popped through the neck hole, he was beaming. He jumped into my arms and gave me a bear hug that toppled us both to the floor. I’m writing this to pass along that hug. It was meant for you ae of you knitters. Pablo says that he could tell many stories about that incredible day—tike the little girl who couldn’t get over the fact that she could pick any sweater she wanted, but he remembers Christopher’s hug the most. “It’s a great example of the power of our readers,” Pablo said. “These sweaters bring joy, comfort and meaning to the kids.” The Knit for Kids program was started ten years ago with a simple pattern mentioned in a Daily Guideposts devotional sweaters knitted by Guideposts readers have reached nearly 300,000 kids all over the world. And the Knit Wits of re Utah are responsible for 100 of those sweater “Of course,” as Pablo, “our program is about giving sweaters to the world’s neediest children in places like tsunami-battered Asia, drought stricken Africa, or even the depressed areas of our own country, but it’s also much more than that. It’s about spreading love, God’s love, from your knitting needles to children like Christopher. Whenever you give love, it’s bound to come back. 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