Emily
Editor, Senior Moderator
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Everyday People: A ruby holds a message of hope
After her brother's death, Fairless hopes to raise awareness
A ruby is helping Angela Fairless make sense of grief.
After two tours of military duty and struggling with his war-related injuries, as well as the difficulty of reentering civilian life, her brother, Curtis Fairless, took his own life on Dec. 16, 2018.
Angela Fairless and Lutheran Community Services Northwest will use proceeds from the sale of a ruby her brother purchased at an Afghan market to drive awareness to Afghan refugees seeking to settle in this country. Lutheran Community Services Northwest has been asked to resettle an estimated 550 emergency evacuees. The group launched a $2.5 million campaign to help refugees find stability in the Northwest.
Fairless hopes her brother’s memory will draw attention to the impacts of war, not only on civilians, but on the soldiers on the battlefield.
“We don’t hear the cries of the children dying of war,” she said. “Curtis was struggling with his part in that. We see this with veterans of all wars. They start to recognize that they have more in common with the pawns on the other side than the generals on their own side.”
...
Her brother felt “weird” about his medals — a Purple Heart for valor, a National Defense Service Medal, Army Service Ribbon, Overseas Service Ribbon, Sea Service Deployment Ribbon, NATO Medal and more.
“He felt like he didn’t deserve them,” she said. “We spent most of our lives feeling so extremely hopeless because of the economy and our efforts to be productive citizens. We did not have a good start. We were intelligent enough to be aware of why we struggled but not seemingly, at least in his regard, capable of overcoming it. Being aware that you have a mental health problem, does not fix it.”
In December 2018 Fairless was working at a restaurant in Astoria when she learned her brother had killed himself at a home owned by his aunt in Warrenton.
“He didn’t leave a note, but he did leave a message,” she said. “And that message was a stack of books next to his head splattered with his blood. The top book is ‘On Killing: The Psychological Cost of Learning to Kill in War and Society.’ Oh, my God.”...
Everyday People: A ruby holds a message of hope
After her brother's death, Fairless hopes to raise awareness
A ruby is helping Angela Fairless make sense of grief.
After two tours of military duty and struggling with his war-related injuries, as well as the difficulty of reentering civilian life, her brother, Curtis Fairless, took his own life on Dec. 16, 2018.
Angela Fairless and Lutheran Community Services Northwest will use proceeds from the sale of a ruby her brother purchased at an Afghan market to drive awareness to Afghan refugees seeking to settle in this country. Lutheran Community Services Northwest has been asked to resettle an estimated 550 emergency evacuees. The group launched a $2.5 million campaign to help refugees find stability in the Northwest.
Fairless hopes her brother’s memory will draw attention to the impacts of war, not only on civilians, but on the soldiers on the battlefield.
“We don’t hear the cries of the children dying of war,” she said. “Curtis was struggling with his part in that. We see this with veterans of all wars. They start to recognize that they have more in common with the pawns on the other side than the generals on their own side.”
...
Her brother felt “weird” about his medals — a Purple Heart for valor, a National Defense Service Medal, Army Service Ribbon, Overseas Service Ribbon, Sea Service Deployment Ribbon, NATO Medal and more.
“He felt like he didn’t deserve them,” she said. “We spent most of our lives feeling so extremely hopeless because of the economy and our efforts to be productive citizens. We did not have a good start. We were intelligent enough to be aware of why we struggled but not seemingly, at least in his regard, capable of overcoming it. Being aware that you have a mental health problem, does not fix it.”
In December 2018 Fairless was working at a restaurant in Astoria when she learned her brother had killed himself at a home owned by his aunt in Warrenton.
“He didn’t leave a note, but he did leave a message,” she said. “And that message was a stack of books next to his head splattered with his blood. The top book is ‘On Killing: The Psychological Cost of Learning to Kill in War and Society.’ Oh, my God.”...
