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I wanted to share this note I received from a former student. He was one of the high school students that helped with Sunship Earth at McKeever. — Nancy Bires
Hello Mrs. Bires,
I wanted to thank you for a book that you and Fran gave me years ago. My dad committed suicide back in August. He battled drug and alcohol addiction for years and from going through withdrawal/detox so many times in his life, I think he was too tired.
What bothers me the most is when I try and think about the pain my Dad was in. All those months of pain leading up to his last day, it must have been unreal how much pain he felt. It is a pain I could not begin to fathom, and hope I never can. But with that there is great solace in knowing he is at peace.
I say all of that, to tell you how much, The Earth Speaks, helped me over the past few months. That is one of the books I have carried through every move and transition I’ve made.
My Dad was also a huge sportsman. He fished, he hunted, and when he was not doing either he was making deer plots. He spent more time in the woods than I think I will ever spend. There is so much of my Dad I find in those poems that when it starts to hit that he is gone I read a few and he feels closer to me.
The other night I read Abbey’s poem that ends “Enjoy yourselves, keep your brain in your head and your head firmly attached to the body, the body active and alive, and I promise you this much: I promise you this one sweet victory over our enemies, over those desk- bound people with their hearts in a safe deposit box, and their eyes hypnotized by desk calculators. I promise you this: you will outlive the bastards.” That is so quintessential to my father that it is like I am talking to him.
Now I have shared this book with my Mom and close friends. I think it has helped us all. In short, thank you so much for the lessons you taught and the wisdom you shared.
Matthew
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