Unmasking the spectre of suicide

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James Whitford of Goodfish Lake couldn't have had a life that had dealt him a more cruel hand. His father died from cancer when he was a boy and his mother committed suicide before his eyes. His brother hanged himself at age 17, and another froze to death just three years ago after a night of drinking.

But Whitford wants people to know that he embraces the life he's been given. His community, his faith, his wife and children help him deal with the memories of those painful times. Life is worth living no matter what the hardships.

That's why Whitford is organizing an event called Uplifting the Silence of Suicide. It will be held in the community hall at Goodfish Lake on Feb. 17, with a service to remember those people who have taken their own lives, and to help the survivors to cope with their loss.

He's organized gospel singers and expert speakers to address the community. The suicide crisis intervention worker wants to unmask the spectre of suicide, discuss loss and heartbreak and encourage a more optimistic look at the future.

"I can't sit back and be quiet about it," Whitford said.

On the agenda is a counsellor familiar to the community, Caroline Yewchin, who will talk about coping with loss after suicide and suggest healthy ways to acknowledge the loss. She wants to discuss myths surrounding how people grieve and how long it takes for people to recover from a death, particularly a death from suicide.

Also on the agenda is psychologist Debra Jackson.

Whitford has invited Treaty 6 chiefs to the day's events that will begin at 10 a.m. and run to 4 p.m. He's hoping that the commemoration will become an annual event and will move from community to community from year to year.