[Street] Fwd: Vigil on Christmas Eve for Brian Arredondo
Katie Gradowski
katie.gradowski at gmail.com
Fri Dec 23 16:44:42 EST 2011
Hey all,
Cynthia wrote earlier on this issue -- here is an update from Sage...
***********************************************************************************
What: Candle vigil and short march in memory of Brian Arredondo, and
for awareness about the Cost of War
When: 6pm on Christmas Eve
Where: Unitarian Church in JP (at the monument, where South Street meets
Centre Street)
Why: War has far-reaching effects on soldiers and their families and
friends. More soldiers took their own life in each of the last two years,
than died from combat. Returned veterans take their own lives at an
alarming rate. The stresses on families of soldiers and veterans are
great, and can lead to unfair pressures. All of this is the fallout of
war, the true human cost of war, that we need to recognize. Brian
Arredondo took his own life on December 19th, the same day the Iraq War
came to a sort of an end, with the troops coming home for Christmas. But
the war is not over, and it never will me. It lives on, in the flows of
emotion and memory in the minds and hearts of all who have been exposed to
the tearing of the human species by the violence of war.
Look to your neighbors. Love thy neighbors. Pay attention to the signs of
depression and hopelessness, especially in veterans around you, especially
during this holiday season, and always. Reach out. You may save a life.
Donations for the Arredondo family, to defray the huge costs they are
facing, are welcome.
questions? call Sage 617-406-8842.
======
I spent time with Carlos and Melida Arredondo today. I've been spending
time each day and bringing some food for the morning.
They will have a vigil on Christmas Eve at 6pm, at the Unitarian Church in
JP, in memory of their son Brian, who took his life in response to the
complicated grief of losing his brother.
All are invited. It will be a candle vigil, with march to the Post Office
which is named after their son Alex.
I asked how Occupy Boston could help.
Carlos said that the best ways are to make the issues visible. Suicide
among military members and families of military are too prevalent. In the
last two years, more U.S. service members took their own lives than were
killed in combat.
They are footing a huge bill for the funeral and memorial expenses. If we
can give any money for this, they would not be opposed to accepting it,
though they did not ask directly. Their bills will run somewhere $7k to
$10k all told, for wake and funeral and gravestone and cemetery.
There is a wake on Tuesday and the funeral is on Wednesday.
The bank is foreclosing on the home that Carlos owns in Florida. The home
owned by Melida in Jamaica Plain is not in foreclosure.
These are the facts. Please help. I am exhausted, and could not write
these in a more orderly way, but please show up at the vigil tomorrow
evening, Christmas Eve, if you possibly can, to support. Bring a candle
and a good heart. Bring a sign if you want to.
Driving with Carlos, he asked me to stop the truck, and we went to play
soccer with a couple of kids this morning. It was good for all of our
hearts to do this. Afterward, Carlos told me he was heavy with guilt
because he had last played soccer there with his son Brian. He wishes all
people to spend the time to see each other, to see if someone is having
serious problems, to love each other.
Sage
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