Dear
Friends,
Good morning. As Betsy and I
listened to the speakers extol the merits of the Penn Foundation during its
50th anniversary banquet 10 days ago, I thought about the four people who
recently died in domestic violence gunfire. Jeffrey Ogle killed his estranged
wife in Quakertown and committed suicide. In East Rockhill Township, Andrew
Detwiler murdered his wife, Suzanne, before his son killed his father.
Could these horror stories been
avoided if Ogle and [Andrew] Detwiler had been in the care of the good folks at
the Penn Foundation, I wondered? How does a family member, a neighborhood, or
the community identify someone with mental instability and do something about
it?
At the Penn Foundation banquet,
three parents gave glowing testimonials about the remarkable care that their
children received. They described the mental illnesses, which the Penn
Foundation diagnosed and began to cure. What a pity it was that Ogle’s and Detwiler’s
condition went untreated.
After the 50th
anniversary festivities concluded, I talked with John Goshow, Penn Foundation’s
President. How should a community respond to tragedies like these, I asked? For
answers, Goshow put me in touch with William Kilgore, Penn Foundation’s
Director of Employee Assistance.
“Bill [Kilgore] works on the site where tragedies or
trauma occur,” Goshow told me. “For example, he worked with the employees at
the Quakertown National Bank after the armed robbery of one of its branch
banks.”
“These are very unusual circumstances for small
towns,” Kilgore began, referring to the four Upper Bucks’ deaths. “It involves
significant loss and it’s not on anyone’s radar…that anything bad like this
could happen in this community,” he added. “One reason why people come here
from big cities is because they expect living in different, peaceful
surroundings.
“So there’s a community sadness…a feeling of loss,”
Kilgore continued. He gave an overview, addressing community trauma. “We have
to keep events like this in perspective…not what kind of terrible world we live
in. You never know when something bad will happen. Whatever feelings people
have, it’s OK,” Kilgore said. “But yes, it will make people look differently at
the world.
“If you have terrible thoughts, share them with
others,” Kilgore continued, “They’ll probably feel similarly. But it’s time to
support each other, not withdraw from each other. It’s important to understand
that people react differently to tragedy.” The Penn Foundation has a website,
which is useful (www.pennfoundation.org Drag to “Articles of Intent”). “There’s a
spiritual side of this as well,” Kilgore said. “Pastors, Priests and Rabbis can
be very helpful. And you can call us at
Goshow reminded me of an excellent book on the
subject. “When Bad Things Happen to Good People” by Harold Kushner is a 150
page text available at Amazon.com for under $10. Kushner is a rabbi who had to confront
his teenage son’s terminal illness.
I thought about the Penn Foundation and its founder,
Dr. Norman Loux. Their 50-year story is amazing. Loux guided PF from 1955 to
1980. It was he that convinced Grandview Hospital that it should have a
psychiatric wing to treat mental health patients.
We often laughed together when I suggested that we
should pay more attention to our mental health. After all, I reasoned, we get a
physical check up each year…we see our dentist every six months. Shouldn’t we
call our friendly psychiatrist or psychologist as well? Friends, I hope this
helps.
Sincerely,
Charles Meredith