“I look at my brother and struggle with dual images – a broken man fighting demons to reach whole and a little boy who’d do anything to give a broken family a reason to smile. I see both the boy who tried to hang himself to escape the darkness and the man trying to show the people he loves the pain hiding in his mind.

These are the narratives of my life, the stories that have shaped who I am. I’ve learned: the question isn’t which is right, but which is more true.

And the answer is it depends.”

Like so many in my life, my brother has struggled with depression and similar, yet it’s more complicated than that. This is about complex question of “reality” in struggles of mental illness and suicide.

My latest piece, Origami Dragons, was published yesterday on The Berfrois.