Dedicated to anyone who thinks about it- I understand- but it is not the answer.
I have been up for hours and am exhausted before the clock strikes eight. I eye the sink full of dirty items while the dishwasher lies four inches to the left. The house is silent and soon I know the air will be filled with anger.
The larger dog sits with me on the swing and cuddles next to me. He knows I will soon leave and his life will become empty again. My heart cries for him but it is either his life or mine and there is no other solution. The lord of the manor is not in a good mood so I will embark on a journey somewhere else today. I pose him a few questions and nothing but silence follows my words and I immediately blame myself for his reaction as I did for years.
I know in my heart that I do not deserve this treatment but in my mind I am shaking with fear and anticipation that he might lash out at me for hours. How many more days can I endure this without falling apart?
Yesterday morning I sank to the depths of hell and barely crawled out in time. There is no answer except possibly death that will find me relief from his distant presence. I am free but yet I am not and I slowly sink into a hollow world where nothing hurts me.
I wake up and feel the imaginary cloud of blackness cover me once again and it brings me back to a place I had been to a very long time ago.  My mind is  breathing in a pit full of black sticky tar and there no way to get out. Slowly I feel myself suffocating from my thoughts until I can no longer breathe and then I give in to the darkness again and became no more.
In my dream I awake with tears in my eyes and  remember  the day that was going to be the last day of my life. I dressed slowly that morning as I glanced around at my surroundings and knew they would suddenly be alone. I had made up my mind, ran down the stairs and jumped on the bus to my destination. As I sat on the subway I closed my eyes as I went through the 6 minutes of darkness while the train went through the tube under the bay. It was almost like the dark before the storm and my fingers grasped the edge of the seat knowing there was no turning back.
I took the bus to the shore and watched the waves come in one by one. They were dark angry waves,  and I walked towards them inviting them to take me away to the sea. The edge of the waves tickled the tips of my shoes and beckoned me to walk further into the bay. I knew if I followed their dark directions I would be immersed in a riptide of  cold water with no chance to correct my mistake.
Instead I sat on a bench and wondered if I was going to suffer much when I carried out my mental ambition. I looked to the bridge and the fog still  hung like Christimas stockings on the edges of the gray metal. Maybe if the bridge was merciful that same fog would carry me down softly to the depths below and simply ease me down slowly into final peace.
I knew once I jumped it was going to be like hitting a concrete wall and if I was lucky it would take me less than five minutes to drown in the cold water where the bay met the sea. If I made a mistake and jumped feet first I might survive and live in pain for the rest of my life. Â Did I want that? Was it not like what I was going through in real life, and if I commit suicide will the wrath of the Devil come and push me to the boundaries of Hell?
For weeks I had thought of the Golden Gate jumpers and mentally replayed them, fascinated that the end could be so near. Â As I walked along the narrow road to the bridge my fear suddenly disappeared. Â Â I had walked its length once before and knew that in 4 seconds I would be flying towards what I considered final freedom of my mind.
Death might take seconds as my body would plunge deep in the salty water where no angels would be rescuing me just yet. It would not be a pretty death and suddenly a silly thought of fish dining on my mortal remains scared me. Years of not being afraid to attempt the almost terminal extension of life had now been thwarted by the fear of fish.
In the years that passed I knew the bridge would always be there to beckon those who had given up. The clouds of pills and mental pain would remain for years  until I realized life was not a mistake.  One day a young child would display the same past thoughts as his mother and tales would be told that life was to appreciate and to live- for we have all come too far to fail.
All photos and text by Linda Seccaspina
11 comments
Thank you for reading
I visited Alcatraz as a kid, took the tour and touched the same jail cell bars as Clint Eastwood. The tour guide said that back in the 40’s Great White sharks were introduced to the San Francisco Bay. The rationale was that if any prisoners escaped they wouldn’t fare well once they started to swim away from the island.
Over the years the sharks proliferated. They thrive in the cold water there, and have adapted quite well. If anybody wants to jump of the GG Bridge, I wouldn’t worry too much about the smaller fish….
Thanks for sharing.
I think about SUICIDE A LOT…But everytime I have the knife in my hand…ohhhh I just can’t do it! Stupid me! 🙁
Lucy4- Everytime I look at the bay I agree I think of sharks. Took me a long time to get the nerve to write it.
maria- It is probably for a good reason. You are meant to do good things. Jst sit down and think about what you are good at and go for it.
I think I’m not good at anything…I’m just a waste of space…Even my mother said it 🙁
@ LindaS; Totally agree. Everytime I look at the water I wonder how many sharks are swimming around under the surface, lurking undetected.
There was a documentary that came out a few years ago that showed people jumping off of the bridge. There are surveillance cameras set up that have captured images of people in the act of “doing the deed.” Have you seen it? It really puts things into perspective when you see how much of a splash a human body makes when it hits the water from such great heights.
Maria.. you need to believe in yourself and ignore what others tell you.
Yes lucy4- It’s called The Bridge. Pretty scary!
It took me a long time to understand that suicide is not the answer. I am always here if you need to vent. I write about things now.. write it out if you feel down.
@LindaS Thanks for the advice! I’ll try!
Maria.. That is how I started writing.. I wrote a book about older women but am doing one that is from my heart. We have all tried to hurt ourselves in many ways. It just isn’t the answer. Been there done that.
Pm me when you write one here. I am looking forward to it.
HUGGGGGGGGGGGGGG
🙂