***I Am Alive***

I am Alive



I am alive...I may have lost my brother, my sister, my parent, my child, my friend, but I am a survivor of the long dark night of unspeakable loss, the unbearable pain, of my own darkness...and I am alive.


I am unwilling to stand idly by and allow shame to defeat love, or silence to defeat action. I stand for the enlightenment of a society that would hide from suicide, that would avoid, that would pretend...and I am alive...




I am unwilling for my perseverance to be in vain, unwilling for the passing of my loved one to be in shame. I loved them more than I loved myself and their life will have meaning in my action.


I am resolved and I am alive...in a world blinded by pursuit of pleasure, I am here to say that people are in pain. In a world rushing to get ahead, I am hear to say that people are being left behind. In a world obsessed with the value of the market, I am here to speak for the value of life and I am alive...


This will be no quite fight fight, for I am the voice of audacity in the face of apathy. I am the spirit of bravery in a world of action.


I am a commitment to action in the face of neutrality. I am out of the darkness...I am into the light and I...I am alive.


*****I LOVE YOU SON, ALWAYS IN MY HEART*****

 ~ Jeff Shuck, August 17, 2002 (read at a "Walk Out Of Darkness").