Breathing Lessons

Older Comments on Breathing Lessons

• Posted 01/25/11 by drew meyerhoff
  I saw this while I was bed ridden with nerve pain (for 15 yrs.)It helped me to hold on!And appreciate my blessings!I hope he's at peace now!I wrote and still write poems.Where they come from is an unknown,but I'm grate-full for them and all that's helped me endure this life!(and enjoy too at times!)Alot more I could write /share!May-be another time?There are things we do and things we see,a seeming mystery,the blink of an eye,a child waving good-bye,the reasons why,we live,then die,the happiness we feel when things go right,the pain and anguish when we're forced to fight,the lonliness of life,hope and despair ,wrapped into one,is it fate or God's hand,that decides which one Thank-you and please never give up!Life can be good!!! Please remember this and God and people do care!
• Posted 09/18/10 by Jonathan Rhein
  I had no idea Mark had died. He was a great person, brilliant, funny, incredibly strong. I worked as his attendant for a couple of years. I may even be in the film, I don't know, I've never seen it, but I was there for some of the filming and signed a release. I'd be curious to see it, for Mark, not for me (I kind of hope I didn't make the cut, I was so goofy at that age). I've often thought of him, and only recently moved back to the area.
• Posted 06/21/10 by Lenee
  Sadly, Mark passed away at the age of 49, on July 3, 1999 at his home in Berkeley CA. I've been familiar with his work for many years, as my sister also lives in Berkeley and has encountered Mark through Berkeley's Center for Independent Living, as well as through friends they have in common. One friend, Cheryl Wade, who is mentioned in the film, has worked with my sister in a theater group called WRY CRIPS as it's coordinator and a performer, and is also the editor of an anthology of creative works of men and women with disabilities called 'Close to the Truth.' My sister was the apprentice editor and worked on the art layout, and all three are contributors to the anthology, which was published in 1989. Google Mark and others within the community, read as much as you can, get to know others who live this day to day. Much of what you think you know, or how you think you should feel will change, all for the better. Your eyes and mind will be opened in a way you never thought they would be, and you will be taken in a direction you never thought existed within the community. Even as an able-bodied individual myself, I have a better understanding than most since it's been a part of me and my life from the moment I took my first breath, but I will never fully understand living with a disability like Mark's or my sister's, but I'm much closer to the truth than so many others. Peace~
• Posted 12/20/09 by Sue
  mark o'brien is one of the strongest people i've ever seen. i don't know how things are going for him, but i hope well. please do not be ashamed of your body. plus, you have a lot more to give to us in this world. i am very proud of you and want to say you are absolutely awesome.