Stop everything and send someone you love a card.

01/17/2024 marks 34 years my Big brother has been gone... he was killed when he was 27, he sufferred horrific schizophrenia, he lived and died on the streets. Back then, we'd never heard of schizophrenia. We could not find help or effective treatment for him, so many winter nights we searched alleys and back streets trying to find him to make sure he had eaten, to make sure he had a coat on. It wasn't as simple as just asking him to stay home or for him to know it's cold and he could go home. Mental illness is a cruel dictator. Please remember when you see someone who is so truly ill; unable to focus or carry on a lucid conversation, appearing weather beaten and so tormented... please remember they are someone's brother or sister or child .... And only by luck did we not end up in their shoes. They were born with this disease and had no part in their illness... made no choice... had no chance. Please be kind, please care. Don't put yourself in danger, but if it's safe, share a meal or a blanket or an old coat if you have one. Please just have compassion and kindness because they are someone's brother and sister and child. My mother had these words put on his tombstone: Free At Last