Thank you Lara. It was a very interesting article.

It makes sense to me that our focus on materialism and individualism can lead to suicide. The first one (materialism) is an incredible burden, and the second one is incredibly lonely. Neither one serves as a connection to this world or as a reason for living. Life isn't all about earning a paycheck and owning things. What connects us is family, friends, and community because at the core we are communal beings - not loners.

I hope this isn't a trigger for anyone, but there's another group that concerns me - adopted children. It's always been a big thing for me because when I was pregnant with my son I was going through a divorce. People pressured me hard to give my child up for adoption, saying it would be hard to be a single parent raising a bi-racial son. The arguments they gave me held no water. Sure, another family could have provided material wealth and a "mom and dad" at home, but they could NOT have provided my son with his "roots." He'd be surrounded by things, but would have no story of his own. It would have been MUCH harder for him if I had given him up for adoption because the story of his adopted parents would have nothing to do with him.

I was extremely suicidal when I was first diagnosed with familial amyloidosis, after watching my mother suffer and die from the same illness. Winning the lottery and buying a fancy new car or home in the mountains would not have made a difference. What kept me alive was my connection to my family and ancestors. I found my strength in the story of my mother, my grandmother and great-grandmother. It is more than an "inspirational story" because it belongs to me too - their blood runs through my veins. If they could do it, dammit, so can I.

If, God forbid, my son inherited this disease, their blood also runs through his veins. He also has a lot of strong stories from his father's side. Thank God I didn't, but IF I had given him up for adoption, his adoptive parents would have NO CLUE how to support him or keep him alive if he did inherit this disease.