Five years

It's that day again, the anniversary of that horrible day when Henry died. And, just as we've done every year since then, we will be going to the bridge - with flowers and pictures this time around. L's sister and her husband will meet us again, we'll tie flowers to the rail, take a picture or two and, in my case, marvel again at how Henry could have had enough courage to do what he did (because, believe me, when you stand at that rail and look down, it's a long, long way down and I, for one, think it takes courage to make that move.). And wonder yet again why he did what he did.
I had a message from a friend on Facebook that made me cry already today and I'm not much of a crier. Nice words about the things I've done over the years, the education, the attempts to make people aware and it feels that maybe it was the right thing to do.
I've been struggling the last few weeks trying to decide how to find the right balance between honoring Henry's memory and not overdoing it. What's right? What's too much? I still don't know. This year, there are no slide shows, no lengthy posts (except for this one). Doesn't mean I don't still miss him, that I don't still wonder and that I don't still have many, many questions.
Miss you so much, Henry. ♥Mum♥

First suicide from Hoover Dam bridge

It's bound to happen. Those barriers really do make a difference.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nation/nationnow/la-na-nn-hoover-bridge-suicide-20120410,0,3917188.story

Means matter

An article from the Harvard School of Public Health talks about suicide, how means make a huge difference (e.g. availability of a firearm in a household, lack of barriers etc.).
Haven't we said that all along?

http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/means-matter/

37 in 2011

I posted earlier what I thought was a report about deaths in 2011 which turned out to be the one for 2010.
So, here is the new one, the numbers are higher than the year before:

http://www.mercurynews.com/bay-area-news/ci_20130054/increase-suicides-from-golden-gate-bridge

A suicide barrier for the Cold Spring Bridge

Just saw a link to this on Facebook, it's nice to see that there are people with compassion and common sense:

http://www.noozhawk.com/article/030112_cold_spring_bridge_suicide_barrier_complete/

Let's just hope it'll happen here soon, too, because it's definitely time.

Photoshopping and soldering

I've talked a couple of times about the online class I am taking and I've shown a picture of what I had made so far.
Well, I've actually moved right along (at a snail's pace) and finally figured out how to solder bezels last week. And than I got stuck again. I knew I wanted at least one bezel to have a picture of Henry and I was dragging my feet hard, that just wasn't something I wanted to work on.
But, this morning I buckled down and opened PSE and played. It took me a while but I finally found how to add special effects to photos (and I'll be lucky if I'll ever find that again, I'm not a whiz when it comes to computers and/or software) and I played with a few photos. I'm quite pleased with the results and will, hopefully, use one of them in a bezel.

















I'm leaning towards the last one - with the light effect - rather than the vintage effect photos.

Fiction and suicide barriers

I like reading (murder) mysteries, not the gory, violent, scary ones, but the somewhat more subdued ones. Although, just about anything dealing with murder is kind of violent.
Anyway, I'm reading V is for Vengeance by Sue Grafton and one of the victims is found dead under the Cold Spring Bridge near Santa Barbara. It's meant to look like a suicide because quite a few people have jumped from that bridge to their deaths, but it is actually a murder.
I'm familiar with that particular bridge. There's a group wanting a barrier on that bridge and they have been in touch with our group, the Bridge Rail Foundation.
What I found especially interesting is a paragraph on page 216 of this novel (it's supposed to be a newspaper article): "Vance is the eighteenth Santa Teresa County resident to plunge to her death. Caltrans representative Wilson Carter called the loss of lives resulting from individuals jumping from the 400-foot-high bridge a "regrettable and entirely preventable tragedy." Statistical studies show that barriers erected on comparable structures contribute significantly to the reduction of suicide attempts. Carter further stated, "The long-term emotional and financial toll as a direct result of suicide offers a compelling argument for the construction of such a barrier, which has long been under discussion by state and county officials."
I've done some googling and can't find a Wilson Carter or this particular quote, but it's not that different from quotes about other structures needing a suicide barrier.
Oh, and the novel is set in 1988, so this particular discussion has been going on for a while there, too.