When I was in 8th grade, I sat next to a girl named Trina in my English class. We were both very quiet, shy & reserved, and felt rather isolated from the rest of the class. As the semester drew on, we became friends. But at the semester break, she decided to skip the rest of 8th grade and went to high school instead. The next year, Trina shot herself and died. I remember the day I found out, it shook me to the core. Not because we were close friends. She was simply an acquaintance of mine, but the fact that she took her own life was really emotional for me. I remember just sobbing when my parents asked me how my day was. Most of the school went to her funeral, including myself. There was a picture of a rose she had drawn on the front cover of the program, and there was such a feeling of tragedy, sadness and emptiness at that funeral.

Yesterday, my mom called me and told me my Uncle Melvin (dad's brother) had died. I was completely shocked, I asked her how, and she told me that he took his own life. You could have knocked me on the head with a frying pan. Once again, those feelings of tragedy, emptiness and bewilderment overwhelmed me. I sense that people are blaming themselves for his loss. If they had done more, if they had settled their differences, IF only....There are so many questions and just an inability to comprehend how someone could end their life this way. Leaving behind loved ones with such a painful way to remember them. It's hard to celebrate a life when the person must have hated it so much that they made the choice to end it. It is my resolve to try to remember him for the good that he did in this world and not focus on the way he left it. May you rest in peace Uncle Melvin.