Paul Newman, Kay Warren and Gary Mendell: Making Sense of Loss

While at my hairdresser today an article in Vogue Magazine, July 2015 issue caught my eye. There was a piece about discontent in the Newman family since the death of actor Paul Newman (2008). It seems that Newman gave the proceeds of his food company to charity and since his death one of the things that has not been funded is the center his friends and family established after the overdose of his only son Scott. Of course the name caught my eye -- Scott is also the name of my deceased son. I wondered how I would have felt if he had overdosed or shot himself rather than been killed in an automobile crash. This thought brought me back to last month's keynotes at The Compassionate Friends (TCF) national conference held in Dallas, Texas. Among attendees were over 1,000 bereaved sibling parents and grandparents. There were many great presenters and workshops, but the keynotes by Kay Warren, wife of pastor Rick Warren, together founders of Saddle Back church in Northern California, and Gary Mendell were especially moving. Kaye's son Matthew died by suicide, 2013, and Gary Mendell's son Brian like Paul Newman's son died of a drug overdose. In her speech Kaye talked about her son's history of mental illness and his feelings at an early age that he was a "freak of nature." She said that as early as 12 he expressed suicidal ideation and in his early to mid-20s he, according to Kay, "marched to the drum beat of self destruction." During that time Kay said there were moments when, "I co...
Source: Healthy Living - The Huffington Post - Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news