The "I'm Telling You To Do It Right Now!" Story

It was an ordinary day.  What do you do on an ordinary day?  I usually begin my day by walking down my driveway and retrieving the morning newspaper.  Sometimes my cat Creamsicle would walk with me, but he has passed, so now I walk by myself.  In nice weather I find a seat on my rear deck and begin to peruse the front page of the paper.  Then I hit the obits and the editorial page before I check out the "Dear Abby" column.  What? You don't read "Dear Abby."  She offers some pretty good advice at times.  She must be good since she has been in the Lancaster newspaper for years.  The column was founded in 1956 by Pauline Phillips under the pen name of Abigail Van Buren.  Pauline wrote the column until 2000 when her daughter Jeanne Phillips began to help with the column.  Jeanne became the sole author in August 2002 when she announced that her mother had Alzheimer's disease.  Pauline Phillips died on January 16, 2013 at the age of 94.  So you see that much advice has been offered to the world by the Phillips family over the years.  I share this information since the column today deals with something close to me.  Column was titled "Suicide rate among older men is overlooking tragedy."  Writer wrote to "Dear Abby" telling her that her elderly father's dearest friend had recently committed suicide.  Shot himself in the head.  Seems her dad has lost three of his best friends to suicide recently and was wondering if he was secretly suffering.  The suicide rate for men 70 and older in the U.S. is double the overall suicide rate.  How can this be I keep thinking?  Many of my friends are over 70, as I am, and I now worry what they may be thinking of doing in the near future.  I have a few friends who have medical problems such as I do and I now wonder if they may have thought of ending their life at some time.  How do I tell if they are depressed?  I don't feel I'm equipped to be able to diagnose their depression.  The writer went on to ask Abby how can we help prevent these tragedies.  As for myself, I was certainly interested in the answer.  She first says that men aren't as open about sharing their feelings as women so it is very hard to tell if a man is depressed.  Many men, such as myself, were taught all our lives that expressing emotions made you "weak", so we have stayed silent.  Men who were the family "breadwinners" may have now retired and no longer are needed in that position.  They may now fell unwanted.  Abby lists risk factors that should be observed such as:  Have they lost a wife or significant other?  Are they alone and isolated?  Do they think they are a burden?  Do they have a firearm in the house?  Do they lack motivation or energy?  Have they lost interest in eating or getting out of the house?  Abby tells her audience that many think these things are happening because a person is old.  Hey, anyone can display these symptoms I just listed no matter what age they may be.  Should you just ignore the symptoms because someone is old?  She suggests you should try to get an older man to volunteer or use their lifetime skills to help someone in the same type of occupation.  Help them stay connected.  Her final thought for the day was if you need advice about how to approach a friend or family member whom you suspect may be depressed, call the national Suicide Prevention Lifeline.  Toll-free at 880-273-8255.  Could save a life!  Don't wait until it is too late.  Do it right now!  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.