I did then what I knew how to do. Now that I know better, I do better.
Maya Angelou
Someone posted a link to this article on Facebook this morning, and it caught my eye. As many of you know, I lost my brother in law to suicide almost two and a half years ago. The article dealt with the manner in which we talk about suicide. Specifically, it focused on the expression “committing suicide.” I imagine most of us have used that expression many times, and never thought about its origin. The reason that “committed” is part of the expression, is that until fairly recently (the last fifty years or so) suicide was a crime. As in, committed murder, committed armed robbery.
I will not dwell on the sheer jackassery of suicide being an illegal act, as though the notion of a jail sentence would deter someone who is…
View original post 1,238 more words
