Ever since a morning in 2002, when I saw a man attempt suicide at the bizarre corner of Pine and Boren, which is an intersection directly above the freeway, I've been haunted by it. It has a really low railing and that morning, as I was walking to work, I saw a man climb over the railing, stand up, raise out his arms to his side, pause for a minute, then cross back over the railing onto the sidewalk. I was with a group of people walking downtown. I had no idea what to do. The whole thing happened in silence, and it felt like a very, very bad dream. As I walked past the man, he disappeared into the distance, up the hill toward the Salvation Army and Virginia Mason hospital. The whole day, I was left kind of in a state of shock and sadness. I felt sure that it was only a matter of time before that man tried the same thing again - his manner seemed very nonchalant and practiced. At that intersection, I often think of him, and I try to avoid crossing the freeway there. Today, someone else did the same thing. I wonder if it was him...
Man jumps from overpass onto busy I-5
