One personal illustration sums it up for me. For years, one of my favorite photos has been "Catch of the Day" by Thomas D. Mangelsen, which shows a grizzly bear standing, mouth open, at the top of a waterfall and a sockeye salmon that has, with one final jump, cleared the falls only to land in the bear's mouth. Until recently, this photo had a lot of philosophical meaning for me. I felt it depicted the futility of even the most enormous effort, if not the futility of life itself. After all, the salmon had worked very hard to conquer the force of the river, only to become the bear's lunch. In other words, I identified with the salmon. Now, having come out of depression, I have a similar poster on the wall, with the initials BTB on it: Be the Bear.


-- Finding Your Way after the Suicide of Someone You Love

authors David B. Biebel, DMin, & Suzanne L. Foster, MA