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Meant to ask... do you remember that night? Going to see the Outsiders?

Francesco Bellafante
American Foundation for Suicide Prevention Philadelphia Chapter Board Member
Zero Suicide Champion
frank talk ~ leveraging the genius of Einstein to bring about the beginning
of the end of suicide and to maximize well-being
<https://about.me/francescobellafante?promo=email_sig>iameinstein.com

On Thu, Oct 6, 2016 at 12:14 PM, Francesco Bellafante <incredulity@gmail.com
> wrote:

> FYI bud.
> I hope you and your family are well.
>
>
> Francesco Bellafante
> American Foundation for Suicide Prevention Philadelphia Chapter Board
> Member
> Zero Suicide Champion
> frank talk ~ leveraging the genius of Einstein to bring about the
> beginning of the end of suicide and to maximize well-being
> <https://about.me/francescobellafante?promo=email_sig>iameinstein.com
>
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> From: Francesco Bellafante <incredulity@gmail.com>
> Date: Thu, Oct 6, 2016 at 12:13 PM
> Subject: AFSP leadership meeting request follow up
> To: "Lance, Ginna L. EOP/OVP" <virginia_l_lance@ovp.eop.gov>
> Cc: John Madigan <jmadigan@afsp.org>
>
>
> Dear Ginna:
>
> I am so grateful for your time and consideration back in June when you
> were working to help me schedule a brief meeting with Vice President Biden
> and the senior leadership of the American Foundation for Suicide
> Prevention, before the tragedy in Orlando.
>
> With Vice President Biden's term drawing to a close, I'm reaching out
> again to see if we can make this meeting happen before he leaves office.
>
> Please let John Madigan and I know what may be possible whenever you have
> a chance. Thank you again for your help!
>
> Warmest regards,
> Francesco
> 215.678.3243
>
> http://www.iameinstein.com/blog/2016/10/open-letter-to-vp-
> biden-from-one-auk-to-another-frank-talk-about-suicide-episode-6/
>
> Dear Mr. Vice President:
>
> We’ve been crossing paths since I was 12 years old, but the first time we
> spoke to one another was just last year.
>
> The first time I saw you in person was in line for a movie at the former
> Concord Mall theater on 202 near Naamans Road. It was the spring of ‘83
> and Coppola’s *The Outsiders *had just opened in theaters*. *I was 12
> years old, my brother Mark and Beau were 14, and Hunter was 13. Mark and I
> were in line right behind you, Dr. Biden, Beau and Hunter. You guys ended
> up getting the last four tickets for *The Outsiders*, and even though we
> were underage, the woman at the box office let us buy tickets for the R
> rated comedy, *Joysticks, *which was not nearly as good a film, believe
> me.
>
> Then during high school at Archmere, at football games with Hunter and
> tennis matches with Beau, and various other events, I saw you more times
> than I can recount.
>
> Then in early 2012, when the football team that Hunter and I played on
> together that lost to Laurel 7-2 in the state championship game was
> inducted into the Archmere Athletics hall of fame, I saw Beau for the last
> time when you both showed up at the Patio that night. I took delight in
> the fact that with not a single spare seat in the house that night, you
> took a seat on the stairs, and that was no big deal. I chatted briefly
> with Hunter that night, but I’m sad to say that I didn’t say hi to Beau.
> But I do recall the last time I saw and spoke with him. I’m not sure what
> year it was, but I was driving through Philly when I saw Beau walking alone
> on the sidewalk, and he saw me see him. So I pulled over, put my hazards
> on, jumped out of my truck and ran back to have a quick chat. I don’t
> remember what we talked about really, but I do remember being lit up by the
> chance encounter… because… well, Beau was Beau.
>
> Anyway, it was last year when I personally met you for the first time when
> I offered you my condolences at Beau’s wake.
>
> A couple months later I sent an email to Hunter that I want to share part
> of with you now:
>
> The obvious horrible circumstances aside, I was grateful to have had the
> chance to spend the few moments that we spent together at Beau’s wake; it
> meant a lot to me to see you and to personally express my condolences to
> you and your family. I also want to let you know how touched I was, blown
> away really, by your amazing tribute to your brother at the funeral. The
> entire ceremony was such a beautiful tribute and celebration of Beau and
> his life. I was so grateful to be able to see it, not to mention to know
> that people that may not have known Beau could see and hear you and
> everyone else that spoke, so that they could understand what kind of son,
> father, brother, friend and public servant… what kind of person your
> brother was. I also wanted to take a moment to share something else with
> you. Beau’s wake was the first time that I ever spoke with your father,
> and as I was getting close to the front of the receiving line, I debated
> taking a couple extra moments to thank him for his decades of service to
> the people of Delaware and this country, but I decided against it in the
> interest of time. I wanted to thank him for living such an inspiring life
> and for dedicating himself to public service and for being a living example
> of the difference that one person can help make, for others.
>
> So, thank you.
>
> Just this past summer, with the help of Hunter, I got this letter in front
> of your scheduling assistant.
>
> Dear Mr. Vice President:
>
> Nine years after I graduated from Archmere Academy I nearly died by
> suicide when I was 27 years old. Eighteen years after my suicidal crisis I
> am grateful to be a Philadelphia chapter board member of the American
> Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP), the leading nonprofit at the
> center of the fight to reduce the mortality of suicide in this country.
> Our mission is to save lives and bring hope to those affected by suicide.
>
> In a couple of weeks hundreds of AFSP volunteers will visit Washington
> D.C. to meet with lawmakers to advocate for increased federal funding for
> evidence-based suicide prevention programs. The AFSP has an ambitious goal
> and a practical plan to reduce the U.S. suicide rate by 20% by 2025. I am
> writing to ask you to please consider meeting with the leadership of the
> AFSP before you leave office. Robert Gebbia, our CEO, Dr. Christine
> Moutier, our Chief Medical Officer, and John Madigan, our Vice President of
> Public Policy would greatly appreciate the opportunity to brief you on our
> strategy to save the lives of thousands of Americans. If your schedule
> permits, a brief meeting with you on June 14th would undoubtedly energize
> our growing group of thoughtful, committed citizens dedicated to reducing
> suicide.
>
> We are convinced that our movement is approaching a tipping point in
> garnering the political will necessary to halt the rising U.S. suicide
> rate. Your help in raising awareness about this preventable cause of death
> will hasten the arrival of the day when suicide is no longer one of the top
> ten causes of death in this country. Thank you for your time and
> consideration, and thank you for being a living example of the positive
> difference that one person can make in the lives of others.
>
> Sincerely,
> Francesco Bellafante
> Archmere Academy Class of 1989
>
> The date we were hoping to arrange the meeting for was June 14th, which
> turned out to be two days after the worst mass-shooting in our nation’s
> history. Timing is everything, but there is still time to make this
> meeting happen before you leave office, if your schedule permits.
>
> Your work with the #CancerMoonshot is inspiring. Tragically, but not
> surprisingly the suicide rate for cancer patients is about double the
> national average. Worse yet, a study has found the suicide rate to be 13
> times higher for patients during the first three months after their
> diagnosis.
>
> The leadership of the AFSP and I are grateful for all that you, Dr. Biden
> and the Obamas have already done for the suicide awareness and prevention
> cause, but the days when the father of two of my teammates from high
> school is the Vice President of the United States are quickly drawing to a
> close.
>
> I promised myself when you and the President were elected that I would get
> myself in a position to leverage my personal connection to you for the
> benefit of this cause before you left office. So, from one Archmere Auk to
> another, I’m asking you to please consider meeting with these extraordinary
> leaders from the national non-profit at the center of this winnable fight
> to stop suicide.
>
> Sincerely,
>
> Francesco Bellafante
> American Foundation for Suicide Prevention
> Board of Directors, Greater Philadelphia Chapter
>
>
> Francesco Bellafante
> American Foundation for Suicide Prevention Philadelphia Chapter Board
> Member
> Zero Suicide Champion
> frank talk ~ leveraging the genius of Einstein to bring about the
> beginning of the end of suicide and to maximize well-being
> <https://about.me/francescobellafante?promo=email_sig>iameinstein.com
>