Carol Anne Brown was a girl who wanted above all else to race in the soap box derby, a championship in which children build motorless cars and race them around a track. She was a great racer and an inspiration to her family, her coach, and all those who saw her in the big races. However, as she got older, it was apparent to her parents (unintentional rhyme) that she had a secret double life (quite literally). She would arrive home hours after she was scheduled to do so, she would cut her arms with blades, she would seem to have different personalities when she went to bed and when she got up, etc. They tried antidepressants, but the medication didn't have any effect. As it turned out, she was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, characterized by rapid shifts of emotion. She took therapy and for a while she seemed her old self. However, one day she refused to get out of bed. Her mother, frustrated, left the house to walk the dog. When she came back, Carol Anne was in the closet, with a goodbye letter in her dresser. She had hanged herself.
Her grieving family felt they should honor her somehow, and she found a legacy in her younger brother Sean, who went on to win the soap box derby, all the while carrying a photograph of his sister with him.
No comments:
Post a Comment