A Long Way Down

Martin explains the thinking that led him to want to jump off the top of the block tower and take his own life: “There simply weren’t enough regrets, and lots and lots of reasons to jump” (4). He had made a list of pros and cons, and the only things on his “cons” list were his children: “But I couldn’t imagine Cindy letting me see them again anyway” (4). He reveals that his parents are no longer living and he just couldn’t see the point of continuing his life. 

Maureen has been planning her suicide for months, telling her son that on New Year’s Eve she was going to be going to a party. She had supplied details about the party, including the other guests who would be there: “It just goes to show what I had to look forward to, doesn’t it?” (5). Every Sunday she gives her son Matty a new detail about the party, as if she had learned something new to make it sound like she was getting more excited about it each week: “It was on my mind, New Year’s Eve, of course it was, and it was a way of talking about it without actually saying anything” (6).