Farland “Ed” Fansher, 97, of Newtown died March 17. He was the beloved husband of Nancy Northridge Fansher. Born October 12, 1917, in Edmond, Okla., he was the son of Bernice (Brown) Fansher and Raymo...
Linda M. (Haitsch) Schwartz, 67, of Bethel died March 23 at the Saint John Paul II Center, Danbury, following a two-year battle with cancer. She was born January 7, 1948, in Evansville, Ind., and was ...
Marilyn E. (Lasky) Ball, 86, formerly of Danbury and Newtown, died at Danbury Health Care Center March 19. She was the daughter of the late Dorothy (Hills) Lasky and Frank Lasky. She grew up in Westpo...
William J. Wood, 86, of Newtown, died peacefully in his home March 22. He was born February 6, 1929, in Norwalk, and was the son of the late Hannah McGrath Wood and William Ambrose Wood.
He graduated ...
Jennifer Skemp O’Grady, 72, of Sandy Hook died March 22 surrounded by her family, after a long and well-fought battle with lung disease. She was born March 2, 1943, in Chicago to Mrs and Mr Robert Oli...
Cecile Thuotte Labrecque, 91, a resident at Pomperaug Woods in Southbury, and formerly of Venice, Fla., and Stratford, died peacefully March 18 with her son Ronald at her side, after a brief illness. ...
Lawrence “Larry” J. Penna, 61, of New Fairfield died unexpectedly March 18. He was the husband of 41 years to Erika (Shepherd) Penna. He was born in Danbury, July 13, 1953, to Lucille (Curti) and Anth...
Norann “Kookie” Feli, 66, of Newtown, beloved wife of the late George Feli, died at Waterbury Hospital March 15. She was born in Danbury, August 29, 1948, and was the daughter of the late Anna (Germin...
Michelle I applaud and support you for focusing on the issues that impact everyone in the town. The next priority has to be on CT's out of control electricity rates. Your opponent and his supporters are quick to blame the other side of the aisle and have given up on trying to accomplish anything. You need to be the voice at the Capitol that the town needs and has missed for so long.
After your short sighted decisions on bussing, something parents are still feeling the repercussions of, I would not want you making any decisions on traffic.
With all due respect Lynn, while no one's property should be damaged, it is demonstrably false to suggest this issue only happens to Democrat signs. If these comments allowed for photos I could show you some pretty abhorrent examples of what has been done to Republican candidate's signs for years in the past few elections (including local races.) Just today we had a supporter message the RTC that their signs were stolen.
Indeed suicide awareness is important as is asking young people these tough questions. That said, saying that "every suicide is preventable" is not only incorrect, it is overly simplistic at best and downright harmful at worst.
The Alliance of Hope for Suicide Loss Survivors - an online support resource with over 25,000 members worldwide writes frequently about the ramifications of such slogans. Many family members say that prevention messages leave them feeling guilty, upset and fearful of being judged – as if they “dropped the ball.". A few of the many sentiments on their webpage from bereaved family members include:
-“I believe suicide is preventable ONLY if someone shows a sign. …My daughter did not show any signs."
-“As a newly bereaved mother, I find the campaign offensive & repulsive. It places the responsibility on family members and those who are about to take their lives. We obviously would have done something if our loved ones expressed their intentions." -"Awareness yes. Preventable no. There was nothing to prevent what happened to my son. Nothing. And I am so sick of the saying it is preventable."
-"I lost my husband to suicide four months ago. It makes me feel cold and sick in the pit of my stomach when I read ‘suicide is preventable’ because I think: ‘It’s my fault, I let him down.'"
Suicide - especially youth suicide - is a complex problem with no easy answers. It’s possible to prevent sometimes — but not always.