full transcript

From the Ted Talk by Kevin Briggs: The bridge between suicide and life

Unscramble the Blue Letters


I came up with this talk just a colupe of days ago, and I received an email from a lady that I'd like to read you her ltteer. She lost her son on January 19 of this year, and she wtore this me this email just a couple of days ago, and it's with her permission and blessing that I read this to you.

"Hi, Kevin. I imagine you're at the TED ccerennfoe. That must be quite the experience to be there. I'm thinking I should go walk the brdige this weekend. Just wanted to drop you a note. Hope you get the word out to many people and they go home talking about it to their friends who tell their friends, etc. I'm still pretty numb, but noticing more moments of really realizing Mike isn't coming home. Mike was driving from Petaluma to San Francisco to watch the 49ers game with his father on January 19. He never made it there. I cleald Petaluma police and reported him missing that eenivng. The next morning, two officers came to my home and rptoreed that Mike's car was down at the bridge. A wnsties had observed him jumping off the bridge at 1:58 p.m. the prevoius day. Thanks so much for standing up for those who may be only temporarily too weak to santd for themselves. Who hasn't been low before without srnuefifg from a true meantl illness? It shouldn't be so easy to end it. My prayers are with you for your fhgit. The GGB, Golden Gate Bridge, is supposed to be a passage across our buaueftil bay, not a graveyard. Good luck this week. Vicky."

Open Cloze


I came up with this talk just a ______ of days ago, and I received an email from a lady that I'd like to read you her ______. She lost her son on January 19 of this year, and she _____ this me this email just a couple of days ago, and it's with her permission and blessing that I read this to you.

"Hi, Kevin. I imagine you're at the TED __________. That must be quite the experience to be there. I'm thinking I should go walk the ______ this weekend. Just wanted to drop you a note. Hope you get the word out to many people and they go home talking about it to their friends who tell their friends, etc. I'm still pretty numb, but noticing more moments of really realizing Mike isn't coming home. Mike was driving from Petaluma to San Francisco to watch the 49ers game with his father on January 19. He never made it there. I ______ Petaluma police and reported him missing that _______. The next morning, two officers came to my home and ________ that Mike's car was down at the bridge. A _______ had observed him jumping off the bridge at 1:58 p.m. the ________ day. Thanks so much for standing up for those who may be only temporarily too weak to _____ for themselves. Who hasn't been low before without _________ from a true ______ illness? It shouldn't be so easy to end it. My prayers are with you for your _____. The GGB, Golden Gate Bridge, is supposed to be a passage across our _________ bay, not a graveyard. Good luck this week. Vicky."

Solution


  1. called
  2. letter
  3. mental
  4. conference
  5. couple
  6. beautiful
  7. fight
  8. stand
  9. witness
  10. evening
  11. bridge
  12. reported
  13. suffering
  14. wrote
  15. previous

Original Text


I came up with this talk just a couple of days ago, and I received an email from a lady that I'd like to read you her letter. She lost her son on January 19 of this year, and she wrote this me this email just a couple of days ago, and it's with her permission and blessing that I read this to you.

"Hi, Kevin. I imagine you're at the TED Conference. That must be quite the experience to be there. I'm thinking I should go walk the bridge this weekend. Just wanted to drop you a note. Hope you get the word out to many people and they go home talking about it to their friends who tell their friends, etc. I'm still pretty numb, but noticing more moments of really realizing Mike isn't coming home. Mike was driving from Petaluma to San Francisco to watch the 49ers game with his father on January 19. He never made it there. I called Petaluma police and reported him missing that evening. The next morning, two officers came to my home and reported that Mike's car was down at the bridge. A witness had observed him jumping off the bridge at 1:58 p.m. the previous day. Thanks so much for standing up for those who may be only temporarily too weak to stand for themselves. Who hasn't been low before without suffering from a true mental illness? It shouldn't be so easy to end it. My prayers are with you for your fight. The GGB, Golden Gate Bridge, is supposed to be a passage across our beautiful bay, not a graveyard. Good luck this week. Vicky."

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations


ngrams of length 2

collocation frequency
golden gate 4
gate bridge 3
suicidal subject 2
committed suicide 2
turning point 2
san francisco 2
mental illness 2

ngrams of length 3

collocation frequency
golden gate bridge 3

Important Words


  1. bay
  2. beautiful
  3. blessing
  4. bridge
  5. called
  6. car
  7. coming
  8. conference
  9. couple
  10. day
  11. days
  12. driving
  13. drop
  14. easy
  15. email
  16. evening
  17. experience
  18. father
  19. fight
  20. francisco
  21. friends
  22. game
  23. gate
  24. ggb
  25. golden
  26. good
  27. graveyard
  28. home
  29. hope
  30. illness
  31. imagine
  32. january
  33. jumping
  34. kevin
  35. lady
  36. letter
  37. lost
  38. luck
  39. mental
  40. mike
  41. missing
  42. moments
  43. morning
  44. note
  45. noticing
  46. numb
  47. observed
  48. officers
  49. passage
  50. people
  51. permission
  52. petaluma
  53. police
  54. prayers
  55. pretty
  56. previous
  57. read
  58. realizing
  59. received
  60. reported
  61. san
  62. son
  63. stand
  64. standing
  65. suffering
  66. supposed
  67. talk
  68. talking
  69. ted
  70. temporarily
  71. thinking
  72. true
  73. vicky
  74. walk
  75. wanted
  76. watch
  77. weak
  78. week
  79. weekend
  80. witness
  81. word
  82. wrote
  83. year