Retirement is a week filled with Saturdays and Sundays interrupted only occasionally by a holiday.

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Thursday, March 29, 2007

A Life Too Soon Lost

Today I attended the funeral of my friend’s husband who died last week (see here). Gathered in the small chapel at the cemetery were numerous family and friends who were there to honor the life of this seemingly happy but obviously troubled man. In listening to the eulogies given by longtime friends, it is obvious that everyone is trying to understand why this happened and to make sense of it all. At the same time, they are trying to work through the undeserved guilt that comes with knowing that this caring husband, father, brother, and friend was so desperate and distraught that he felt his only solution was to take his own life. If he had only reached out to his loving family and friends, perhaps this horrible event could have been averted. Unfortunately, it is too late to know. I pray that my friend and her daughter will come through this tragedy able to find the peace and strength necessary to move forward with their lives.

8 comments:

Renee Nefe said...

I pray for peace too.

Patti said...

What a difficult time. I hope your friend finds the strength she needs.

jaded said...

My heart goes out to you and your friends. May peace be with all of you.

meno said...

This does make me question the happiness of people i know.

Peace to all.

Lynn said...

Unfortunately when people are hurting, sometimes they are afraid to reach out to people...even those who love them. How sad for his family and to all who were touched by his life.

Midlife Mom said...

My thoughts are with this family even though I don't even know them. They may never make sense of it but hopefully they will make peace over it and learn to move on in life after going through the greiving process. My heart goes out to them and to you as you deal with this also.

Anonymous said...

Joan, I wondered with guilt for a long time if while I was speaking with Kyle every day on the phone, I missed something in his voice which indicated his unhappiness, but no matter how much I wondered, there was nothing to indicate his death was so close. I still miss him almost 4 years later.

His family will also wonder the same thing for a very long time. It's up to friends like you to help them get over the guilt and remember the love. This is tough but necessary.

Susie said...

It's hard to know the right words to comfort at a time like this.
The family is blessed to have you as a friend..