Rachel Popp- Outside Reading #2

While doing research for my final paper, I read an article about a man named Steve Fugate. His story really touched my soul so I quickly began to read anything I could find about him and learned his story. Fugate’s son committed suicide while he was hiking the Appalachian Trail and what really amazed me about Fugate is that, upon reading his blog, I found that he had almost perfectly captured the grieving process on a piece of paper. As a closet poet, I often attempt to capture emotions with my words, but I’ve never been able to get even close to explaining what grief feels like. He mentions screaming out the pain in his heart and how empty he felt. After reading his blog, I found a video of an interview with Fugate. I was moved to tears while watching as Steve Fugate explained that his daughter later passed away of a drug overdose and how something she had said had stuck with him through the years. She apparently, in her grief over the loss of her brother, had asked him why he had not given his son the same love for life that Fugate had. To deal with his own grief and to spread his love for life in memory of his children, he recently walked to the four corners of the U.S. with a sign on his head that simply says, “LOVE LIFE.” What a simple and beautiful message. The man has a way with words.