I lost a good friend this week. Human

J_J · Mar 28, 2010

I have been very sad this week, because I lost a good friend this past Tuesday due to suicide. Don't know how this could have happen, because all appearances indicated that he was a happy man and had remarried, and retired. He had many friends, that would have been there for him had he just asked. I am thinking depression, rejection, medical, I just don't know what to think. He was a Marine Vietnam veteran, went through some very hard times. Always smiling and helping people. He was laid to rest Friday. May he rest in peace.

I have been through some of the depression and hardships myself, and I can tell you, it is not easy to recover, unless you have some good friends that are willing to help. Try talking to your friends more to find out their well being, and offer help even when not asked.

ol'oilburner · Mar 28, 2010

My condolences on the loss of your friend JJ. Depression and mental illness are very difficult things to deal with and quite often people try to cope with the problem themselves because they see seeking help as a sign of weakness and that isn't so.

crusty 1 · Mar 28, 2010

JJ, sorry for your loss of a friend,we just had a teenage girl this weekend take her life in our sleepy little area,so sad!Do people feel everone is uninterested,don,t want to bother? we,ll never know.Anyway best to you and you mussen,t blame yourself,take care!

MossRoad · Mar 28, 2010

Sorry for your loss, J_J.

Egon · Mar 28, 2010

It hurts to lose someone before the proper time.

Sorry for your loss.

Taylortractornut · Mar 28, 2010

I had a friend take his life this past week. He was 50 and I had known him from the time I was 17. He had a nice excavation business working for one of the plants I we worked for. He had several nice peices of equipment and an all around nice guy. On one job after he had gotten up a few workers he changed. We worked on one job with him and he didnt act right found out he was taking pain pills. The company kept him on overlooking several incidents that happened wher he hit building s with a machine and had acted strangely. The next time we saw him he was looking bad and incoherant and the company let him go. The next time I saw him found out he had gotten cancer and he went down hill form there. One of my workers is on the VFD in that area and told me he had tried to overdose a few times. They didnt really specifiy if it was cancer or suicide not to ruffle any feathers.

He had changed the last few years after getting in with the company, But he was the the sort of person that you couldnt help but like the man. He was kind hearted to animals and at first was a good friend it was hard to see him change for the worse. It was pretty hard to see him in that funeral home the other night.

wroughtn_harv · Mar 28, 2010

Last friday we had a memorial service for my brother-in-law. He was three weeks older than me, a Nam vet like me, in fact when we were going through the family photos for the slide show I was really surprised about how much we looked alike when we were kids.

I couple of weeks ago he was sent home from the hospital with orders to quit drinking and stop smoking and he could live for a couple of more years. I visited him for about six hours one Saturday and he was drinking whiskey and water when I got there at ten in the morning.

His attitude was his drinking was like standing on the tracks and flipping off the train charging down the tracks at you.

The reality is it was a lot more like watching someone with a foot caught in the tracks and the train unable to stop.

He was a good man and had high hopes and great dreams for everyone else but himself.

I'll miss him. Sixty one years old is too young to die, especially when you have a sixteen year old son who needs his dad now more than ever.

Thomas · Mar 29, 2010

Sorry for your loss JJ.
<_________________>

jimmyj · Mar 29, 2010

Very sorry to hear about your loss JJ. It' sad how fragile we really are.

mjarrels · Mar 29, 2010

Chief, sorry for your loss. I had a first cousin who killed himself many years ago (he was college educated and in the Navy stationed at Jacksonville Fl). Just never can understand.

mark AZC(AW) USN Ret.