I was out meeting two friends a couple of weeks ago in Harry Byrne’s in Killester. Midweek, following an evening class I give to advertising students. Quiet couple of pints. I got to telling them the story of a recent loss.
One of my students had ended his life a week earlier. He was 22, and seemed to have everything to live for, but he took things in a different direction. I was baffled, and trying to understand what I could have done, or where I could’ve stepped in and made any kind of difference to the outcome. As I went to the toilet I was, to tell the truth, a bit angry with him. Maybe with myself too, for not spotting what became too obvious too late.
The toilet was empty, and as I stood at the urinal I surprised myself by shouting ‘Fuck you anyway, Mark’ out loud. Then a voice from the cubicle. ‘No need for that language.’ Damn. Not as alone as I thought. I washed my hands and mumbled something back about them not knowing what I really meant. The door opened, and a man in his mid, maybe late twenties stood there. He had Down syndrome.
And he was absolutely right. There was no need for that language.
Rest in peace, Mark.
Snapped this little guy on my mum’s front yard at the start of April. In the most inhospitable crack between the front wall and concrete yard. Life keeps pushing on.
Our Jacob 