Oregonian reveals the other life of our friend

Longtime politically involved citizen, Dave Mowry, made the front page of the Sunday Oregonian this weekend.   Surprisingly it was not for his efforts at running as a candidate or his staff service at the State Capitol working for Representative Linda Flores.   Instead, this special feature front page article was telling an important story about Mowry’s struggles with being Bipolar.   The Oregonian featured his journey and more importantly his bold and honest confession of his struggles.   It is a wide-eyed surprise to read in the newspaper about one’s friend who you know as a gentle spirit always serving in the cause and then to read that he once found himself alongside a river with a gun in his hand contemplating ending it all.

Many political figures, big and small, suffer with serious struggles.   Sometimes we never find out until it explodes in scandal or a breakdown.  Other times the person will fall off the face of the earth and we never hear from them again.   It is encouraging to see Dave Mowry take his painful trials and turn them into a testimony to help others.   To do so is among the greatest human achievements.     Truth be told, Dave Mowry did not become the County Commissioner or State Representative  that he once ran for, but by sharing his life story in The Oregonian to 320,000 people he is starting a cycle of healing that will matter deeply to others who needed to hear his story and to hear it without delay.

Please read the story and remember it when you see a friends struggling with mental illness, depression, bi-polar disorder and other hard to talk about problems.

— By Jason Williams