Coping with Suicide

My oldest daughter learned a sad lesson about life way too soon yesterday.

I was a little bit under the weather and staying at home when I received a call on my cell from her. She asked if I could call into her high school and have her excused for the afternoon after lunch. What? I of couse asked why. She told me that her boyfriend's best friend (who lived in another state) had committed suicide the night before. To make things worse, the young man who killed himself texted my daughter's boyfriend (Sam) before he did it. So poor Sam not only has to deal with the grief from the loss of his friend, but all the feelings connected with getting this last text.

I am happy that my daughter certainly saw the need to help Sam through this rough time. She has been pretty amazing. Sam and his family are going back to Texas today to attend the visitation and funeral.

This is not the first time that my daughter has had to deal with the aftermath of suicide. Ones of her acquaintences at school killed herself last year.

This is all so sad, particularly to those of us who are well beyond getting that first drivers license. If 16 years is a life, than I am already on my fourth life. Shit, who even remembers half the stuff the went on before you turned 16? And outside of helping to define who you are today, how much did that shit really matter in the long run? Why can we sometimes not see the big picture and realize that even most of life's hard knocks are pretty insignificant in the long run?

Today, I am just sad. Such a tragedy. Such a waste.