Umatter -- Prevent Teen Suicide in New England

The following is a message from CHL’s new Executive Director, Kathleen Kilbourne:

As I complete my few months at CHL as the incoming Executive Director, I wanted to share a story with you that highlights one of the greatest protective factors we have…relationships and connections! May this story remind us ALL to be grateful and seek out connections and relationships that fill us with hope, joy, and appreciation! Wishing you and yours a season filled with all of this and more! 

Charles Plumb was a Navy jet pilot in Vietnam. After 75 combat missions, his plane was destroyed by a surface-to-air missile. Plumb ejected and parachuted into enemy hands. He was captured and spent six years in a communist Vietnamese prison. He survived the ordeal and now lectures on lessons learned from that experience!

One day, when Plumb and his wife were sitting in a restaurant, a man at another table came up and said, "You're Plumb! You flew jet fighters in Vietnam from the aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk. You were shot down!"

"How in the world did you know that?" asked Plumb.

"I packed your parachute," the man replied. Plumb gasped in surprise and gratitude. The man pumped his hand and said, "I guess it worked!" Plumb assured him, "It sure did. If your chute hadn't worked, I wouldn't be here today."

Plumb couldn't sleep that night, thinking about that man. Plumb says, "I kept wondering what he had looked like in a Navy uniform: a white hat; a bib in the back; and bell-bottom trousers. I wonder how many times I might have seen him and not even said 'Good morning, how are you?' or anything because, you see, I was a fighter pilot, and he was just a sailor." Plumb thought of the many hours the sailor had spent at a long wooden table in the bowels of the ship, carefully weaving the shrouds and folding the silks of each chute, holding in his hands each time the fate of someone he didn't know.

Now, Plumb asks his audience, "Who's packing your parachute?" Everyone has someone who provides what they need to make it through the day. He also points out that he needed many kinds of parachutes when his plane was shot down over enemy territory - he needed his physical parachute, his mental parachute, his emotional parachute, and his spiritual parachute. He called on all these supports before reaching safety.

Sometimes in the daily challenges that life gives us, we miss what is important. We may fail to say hello, please, or thank you, congratulate someone on something wonderful that has happened to them, give a compliment, or do something nice for no reason. As you go through this week, this month, this year, recognize people who pack your parachutes.

We at the Center for Health and Learning recognize our community of supporters and stakeholders as the makers of our “parachute.” We hope we can be the same for you. 

Happy Holidays