I was going to come on here and write about my new job and how life after the All-Star training and summer has been but after getting a call from my brother I have decided to change that for another day and another blog. I just found out that a guy I used to work, at my job before leaving for the summer internship with Foster Club, has died. He has died by suicide.

I made a promise to some people not to say “committed suicide” for many people commit to suicide as their last option or their only way to end all their problems, some fail at their attempt and others leave us forever. Instead I have promised to say death by suicide or suicided. A person may commit to suicide but their family, friends, and all their loved ones don’t. They carry that feeling of “What could I have done or what did I not see?” with them forever.

I feel surprised and really confused. I just do not understand how someone would think that they do not have any other option then to die by suicide. I just cannot help but wonder who failed them, their family, friends, community or society. I feel like we all get tangled up in our everyday lives, doing the same routine day after day. And in that continuum of our everyday lives we stop thinking and feeling. We stop looking at those around us and stop letting those around us know we will be there for them no matter what.

We go through life without calling that friend from senior year, without checking in on that widowed old lady down the road and without looking at those closest to you. Never stopping to check and see if our “perfect lives” really are not that perfect. The test then comes when you realize that life is not that perfect is that you must open your heart, ears, and most importantly your love to let that person know you are there for them. I will admit that I am as guilty as everyone else when it comes to the continuum of life. I don’t look at what is happening around me as much as I should. I think to myself “Well, I have enough problems of my own. Why should I burden myself with someone else’s as well?” This thinking will not stop someone from dying by suicide.

As a society we must stand together to let those at risk of dying by suicide, those that think about dying, and those who just are lost and confused and feel there is no other option, that we will be there to help them through all of their struggles. We would rather let you sleep on our couch, eat our food, take our money, and be a “burden on us” then to go through life without you in this World. If any one that reads this feels that they have no one to talk to, feels stuck or just wants help or to talk, please look at resources available online. Please reach out to an adult in your life who can help you get in contact with the resources in your area.

If all else fails email me: Marcus Brown at [email protected] and I will pass your message on to an appropriate source or contact you back with resources available to you.

REMEMBER YOU ONLY GET ONE YOU! And the you that you have is very precious and valuable to everyone in this World.