I was deeply saddened to learn that Natalie Fuller, the 28 year-old daughter of Doris Fuller, ended her own life recently. In today’s Washington Post, Doris writes poignantly about Natalie’s six year struggle with her mental illness.
I was aware from Doris that Natalie, who I met briefly when she was in a local hospital, was having trouble. I was deeply touched by Doris’s tireless devotion to her daughter and Natalie’s spirit. I am so sorry that her life ended this way.
Thank you Doris for your courage and for sharing Natalie’s life story with us.
The “Demons” Got My Beautiful, Loving Daughter
By Doris A. Fuller
Published in The Washington Post on April 21
I lost my darling daughter Natalie to mental illness last month. She killed herself a few weeks short of her 29th birthday by stepping in front of a train in Baltimore.
Natalie and I wrote a book together when she was 16: “Promise You Won’t Freak Out: A Teenager Tells Her Mother the Truth About Boys, Booze, Body Piercing, and Other Touchy Topics (and Mom Responds).” The idea of a teenager telling the truth about her secrets was such a startling concept that we were feature-page headliners in the Baltimore Sun and about two dozen other newspapers, went on TV coast to coast, including on one of the morning shows, and got paid to give speeches. “Oprah” called.