The shirt read: “Proud member of the Forget Your Feelings Generation.”
That was the display on the back of the T-shirt of the middle-aged man in the last row. Only, the first word wasn’t actually “forget,” though it did start with F. He was listening to speakers instructing him how to “go to the mind gym” and to “open your mind, open your heart.” From his look, the membership to the FYF Generation hadn’t included many passes to “the mind gym” over the years. And any opening of his heart at a forum surrounded by dozens of strangers might require the Jaws of Life.
He sat quietly, respectfully and perhaps a bit nervously—not unlike the others in attendance. He was one of 50 mostly male first responders at Bishop’s Ranch event center in Healdsburg in early November 2025 attending the opening of a three-day training workshop put on by First Responders Resiliency, Inc., the Sonoma County nonprofit dedicated to “Putting PTSD Out of Business.”…