World Suicide Prevention Day

Survivor: my mom, Cheryl Morgan
Loved one: Dennis Morgan, Husband
Artifact: “I held a memory quilt that was made by a very good friend of mine. Barb made the quilt using photos and pieces of fabric that held special meaning. In it there was a piece of a sleeper that Dennis had bought for Maverick and a picture of Dennis and Kane holding up a fish they had caught. I wear a necklace with his wedding ring and a ‘key to my heart’ charm which contains a small portion of his ashes.”

Survivor: Kristy Wolfe
Loved one: Dennis Morgan, Dad
Artifact: My dad’s stethoscope is important to me. You see, my dad was a cardiologist. I didn’t realize the intricacies of his job until my son, Kane, was born with congenital heart defects. My dad was still with us when we initially found out about Kane’s heart through fetal echocardiograms, during the learning stages of life in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, as well as for Kane’s first heart surgery. My dad was around when Maverick was born heart healthy. My dad was no longer with us when Kane had his most recent heart surgery or when he received a pacemaker last September. My dad was a cardiologist. He knew more than any of us just what was in store for Kane and I will never know if that added stress led to his death. But I cannot control that. What I can control is how I talk about mental health. I make a point of checking in with our medical staff about how they are doing. Because they are in it with us. 

Survivor: my older son, Kane Wolfe
Loved one: Dennis Morgan, Grandad
Artifact conversation:
Me: “What were you holding that belonged to Grandad?”
Kane: “A stethoscope and a picture of me and grandad playing when I was a baby.”
Me: “What were you doing with the picture?”
Kane: “I was covering up my face my younger face.”

Survivor: my younger son, Maverick Wolfe
Loved one: Dennis Morgan, Grandad
Artifact conversation:
Me: “What were you holding that belonged to Grandad?”
Mav: “His fishing rod.”
Me: “What were you doing with it?”
Mav: “Acting like I was fishing.”

Survivor: my sister, Erin Manson
Loved one: Dennis Morgan, Dad
Artifact: “When I was in high school I went to Spain. I brought back this sword for dad. He loved to travel. Since that time, we traveled together to Egypt, Turkey, Portugal, Greece, Italy and the UK. We shared a love for collecting souvenirs.”

Survivor: my brother, Brendan Morgan
Loved one: Dennis Morgan, Dad
Artifact: “Dad loved to go skiing with the family. We made sure to go as many times in a year as we could. He loved to sing silly songs while we rode the chair lift. His go to song was “I’m a lumberjack” from Monty Python.”

Survivor: my sister, Natalie Hextall
Loved one: Dennis Morgan, Dad
Artifact: “I am holding the boat hook while out on the logs in Cowichan Lake. I wanted to use dad’s boat but it’s not in the water this year. We spent many days at the lake out in the boat. Dad loved to yell, “Yeehaw!” when he went fast and was ruthless when trying to bounce us off the tube.”