My daughter Colleen , who suffered severely from borderline personality disorder ( BPD ), a devastating mental illness , took her own life in June of 2010 . Having retired from Foothills School Division , I began to write a book about Colleen ’ s life . A publisher accepted the book early in the writing , and it became a twoyear project with many painful stops along the way . Entitled When the Ship Has No Stabilizers , the journey to its completion has been both cathartic and gratifying .
Lest we forget
A New Book to Help Save Lives by Fran Porter
My daughter Colleen , who suffered severely from borderline personality disorder ( BPD ), a devastating mental illness , took her own life in June of 2010 . Having retired from Foothills School Division , I began to write a book about Colleen ’ s life . A publisher accepted the book early in the writing , and it became a twoyear project with many painful stops along the way . Entitled When the Ship Has No Stabilizers , the journey to its completion has been both cathartic and gratifying .
Colleen ’ s story is as compelling as was her personality . She was bright , articulate , and utterly charming at times , but she could also be bewilderingly sinister , manipulative , and downright vindictive .
“ It is not enough to say we must not wage war . It is necessary to love peace and sacrifice for it .”
— Martin Luther King , Jr .
Lest we forget
Much about the human brain still remains to be understood , but since Colleen ’ s time , some remarkable treatments offer new hope to sufferers of BPD and related mental illnesses . Through conversations with experts , I have been able to discuss these in the latter part of the book , and also to refer the reader to facilities and resources that can be of assistance . Both my husband Andy and I intend the book to help sufferers and their families by providing information , or even direct help where it is needed .
All proceeds from the book ’ s sales will go , in Colleen ’ s memory , to programs for mentally ill adolescents at McMan Youth , Family and Community Services , a not-for-profit service organization in Calgary .
McMan does outstanding work in this area and made extraordinary efforts to help Colleen . Unfortunately , the need for more trained counsellors , consultants and treatment facilities is growing . The hope is to present McMan with a sizeable cheque in Colleen ’ s memory dedicated specifically to helping the organization open an on-site , no-waiting dialectical behaviour therapy clinic for the mentally ill . Such a gift is also intended to provide a useful memorial — and purpose — to a life cut all too short .
During July , When the Ship Has No Stabilizers has appeared several times on the Calgary Herald top-ten local bestseller list , and there are currently sixteen holds on the book at the Calgary Public Library . To date , it has raised just under $ 9,000 , and when the amount reaches $ 10,000 , my husband and I will present the first cheque to McMan and hope that other cheques will follow as numbers of speaking engagements increase and the word continues to spread . I will also be presenting at the upcoming FRTA one-day Health and Wellness Conference held at Red Deer Lake School on Sept 26th of this year .
This book can be purchased directly from Fran at f . porter @ shaw . ca or from Shelf Life Books in Calgary . It is also carried by Amazon . com , Amazon . ca , and Amazon . co . uk . All profits are being donated as described . The cost is $ 30.00 per copy .
6 Autumn 2014