Suicide survivor to speak at event in Crestline

“Did he say anything to you?”

“Did you see the signs?” 

“He didn’t say anything to me, or else surely I would have told him not to make this mistake.”

In February Harry Miree heard the chattering begin again.

In the days after his cousin had fatally shot himself, Miree was reminded of being in the same hospital seven years earlier. That time the chatter was about his own suicide attempt.

In those moments this year, he recalled his realizations from 2007.

 “Most peoples’ attempt at making sense of their loved one’s suicide is so informed by their own non-suicidal thought filter that they can’t see through the lens of the fellow who did commit suicide,” he said. “That’s fine. In fact, it’s to be expected. But when this thought pattern leads us to blame ourselves for our loved one’s suicide, I’m going to want to fight that perspective. I think blaming ourselves is unhealthy and somewhat self-destructive, but the bigger issue is that it’s just unrealistic. Maybe we’re giving ourselves a little too much credit by thinking something we did or didn’t do is the total reason our loved one took his or her own life.”

Mulling over these thoughts, Miree dug up his journal from seven years ago and offered his family the perspective he had had when he was in the same position as his cousin, a Mountain Brook resident.

“No one can speak for my cousin except for my cousin himself, but I thought that sharing what that experience was like for me would at least illuminate the point that my suicide isn’t necessarily about you, it’s about me,” Miree said.

Reading his journal, he recorded a Youtube video that has now received more than 6,700 views.

Since then he has heard from not just his cousin’s family but others who have lost loved ones in the same way and seen his video.

“I didn’t know this video would be heard beyond my own family’s circle, and now I’m in touch with families throughout the world who have found comfort with the message as well,” he said. “This has honestly been the first true feeling in my life of ‘mission accomplished.’”

Now Miree, who lives in Nashville, is returning to Crestline Village to discuss his personal struggles with suicide and common misconceptions about the issue. The date is set for Sept. 9 — the seventh anniversary of his own suicide attempt.

“I’m no psychologist. I’m not even a suicide expert. I’m just a normal dude who really, really wanted to die for the majority of my teenage years and happened to survive it,” Miree said. “All I can do for Aware is share my story and hope that it helps this community empathize with that mindset.”

The community organization Aware will host the event, which is also scheduled for the day before World Suicide Prevention Day. Food trucks will arrive at the field starting at 5:30 p.m.

“We hope the community finds the location more open and inviting and persuades more to take advantage of the information and experiences made available,” said Billy Bromberg, a member of Aware. “We want it to be a warm homecoming for Harry Miree in his first ever speaking engagement.”

To see Miree’s video, search “Journal of a Suicide Survivor” on Youtube. To learn more about Aware, visit the group’s Facebook page.

Community Suicide Prevention Event

Featuring Speaker Harry Miree

Tuesday, Sept. 9

6 p.m.

Crestline Elementary Field