Right then. I'm all for creating a fund for building a memorial to honor every single one of them.
I love my early mornings. never used to get up till I absolutely had to but now I relish every minute of my solitude on these days when I have it for awhile before the kids get up. I'm not alone, though. Not really. I'm hanging with my ancestors, my better angels and my own thoughts, looking out at the cold beautiful snowy landscape in my warm little home. Who would have known? I
One thing my rents taught me so well was the value of thrift. It's better, more satisfying and just plain more sane to do a thing well with little or no money than to buy it. Money is not always evil, but it is always a
marker or
symbol for some thing of value, not the thing itself. It takes your time and effort to get it and then you pass it along to someone else who, in turn, takes it in trade for their craft and sweat and effort. It causes a separation from those truly valuable, meaningful, god acts. That's why dogs, frogs and dolphins are always smiling. "Yeah, so we ain't got no thumbs. We ain't got no jobs or money either, suckers! Hahaha!"
Anyway, here's an idea I tried to get going a long time ago, never took off. Maybe the time is right now. Go to your local lumber store and get the best price you can find on shim wood. That's what my dad called them, there's probably another name for the product. These are pieces of 3rd rate light wood cut to about 1.5" x .25" x however many feet. Get some white paint, a light staple gun and a sharpie. Assemble them into crosses of about 1' x 2' and cut the bottom into a V shape, paint them and toss them into your trunk. Whenever you think of it and have some time to kill; whenever you come across an appropriate setting, jump out and plant one or a dozen of them bearing the names and life dates of someone you mourn. If a whole lot of us start doing this, it'll make people curious.
Here are some examples of good target locations for Straight/Seed/PFC/KHK vets. Eckerd Drug stores (Jack Eckerd was tied in) Sembler Properties. The Skyway Bridge in St. Pete (I can't remember who jumped there, some of my friends down that way would know) And, of course, any program operating any kind of facilities in your area or the current business places of program principles.
What would be the impact in the Alexandria, Va area if little white memorial crosses kept cropping up like mushrooms after a rain on various parts of the T. C. Williams High School campus bearing the names of Straight, Inc. suicide victims on the front and
www.melriddile.info on the back? Never know till we try. It would take far less effort and time than a protest, so it's sustainable. And even if it never makes a perceptible impact on the public, it's bound to make a few people wonder what's up and may well do you some good personally.
Just an idea. Pick your own targets. You know of a hotel that regularly hosts parent seminars? A healthcare provider that colludes with programs to treat clients and keep secrets? How about a banking institution that funds these gulags? Or a politician who takes the blood money? Program influence is so pervasive, the list of possible target locations is practically endless. Make it personal.
