Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Vista Bridge



Sometimes I find that in the day to day of life, I lose focus on what is really important. There are ups and downs in all of our lives and when it get's stressful, it's good to take a step back and remember the important things.

I was in one of those stressful times when I saw Sarah's post on LivingWithTN, a patient to patient support network for Trigeminal Neualgia that I help run. The post was titled "Vista Bridge Revisited." It's a beautiful post of reflection by Sarah. A year ago she was struggling with a recurrence of TN, and briefly contemplated taking her own life via the Vista Bridge in Portland. I remember when Sarah wrote the first post and I thought it was an incredibly brave thing to do, because she was admitting she was having a tough time, and it was a way for her to reach out. At the time, LivingWithTN only had about 30 members (we have 300 now!!!), but I think most of them reached out to Sarah and comforted her the best we could. I like to think that this group of people made a difference for Sarah in her time of need.

I know that Sarah has returned the favor many times over to other members and it makes me very thankful to be a part of the LivingWithTN group. We all have friends, family and in the case of LivingWithTN, special friends, that we can reach out to. I view reaching out as a sign of strength and it's important to remember that.
Sarah is doing great now. This quote sums it all up.

"Today when I see the bridge, I do not see it as a place of despair, but a place of victory."
-- Sarah