Photo: Courtesy Vince Granata
In 2014, Vince Granata was a thousand miles away from home, reading a Dr. Seuss book to children in the Dominican Republic, when his dad called to deliver the shattering news: His brother, Tim, had killed their mom.
The killing took place in the family’s Orange, Conn., home. Tim, a former college wrestler, beat and stabbed to death his 58-year-old mother Claudia, who was a doctor and teacher. Tim, then 22, suffers from schizophrenia and experienced severe hallucinations that led him to believe he was in danger and, ultimately, kill his mom.
Vince decided to writeEverything is Fineabout 18 months after his mom died. The manuscript started with notes Vince furiously scribbled on Tim’s hospital records. “I was underlining names and highlighting places where I felt like I could find someone to blame,” he recalls.
Atria Books
Vince soon connected with a mentor who taught him how to approach writing from a “quieter, more reflective” place of grief instead of anger. “I started to write all the time because my family felt out of my control and too big to understand,” he says. “One way that I’ve always tried to understand the world is through writing.”
Vince visited his brother at Whiting for the first time three months after their mother died. Maintaining a relationship with Tim helps him remember their family and their life outside of the tragedy. It’s one of the ways Vince honors his mom’s legacy, he says.
Courtesy Vince Granata
“She was his most important caregiver and, more than anything, she wanted him to have a chance to live life without oppression from his illness,” he says.
The anecdotes Vince shares from his visits with Tim are some of the most tender, emotional moments ofEverything is Fine. Ahead of the trial, Tim called Vince with an odd request before their next visit: He wanted pink sweatpants and a beanie with cat ears. “As Tim grew more aware of where he was, of what he had done, he grew terrified of how people saw him,” Vince writes. “Even in his facility, he knew that his specific crime — matricide — cast him as inhuman, as a monster.”
He continues: “I wonder too if these new clothes were also a way to change how he saw himself.”
Beau Bumpas
Vince hopes the book helps combat some of the stigmas surrounding schizophrenia and other serious mental illnesses, and that it also raises awareness of some of the larger issues plaguing mental health care.
“We often treat mental illnesses like schizophrenia as acute issues, like a gunshot wound, instead of the chronic conditions they are, and that doesn’t allow for long-term healing or support,” he says. “I want people to see Tim as someone who is so much more than his illness, someone who is so much more than what happened to our family.”
Everything is Fine(Atria Books) comes out today.
If you or someone you know need mental health help, text “STRENGTH” to the Crisis Text Line at 741-741 to be connected to a certified crisis counselor.
source: people.com
