On Suicide and Other Tragedies of Life
Another Friend Turns to Dust.
Many of you may remember when I wrote the hub about surviving suicide. Prior to my father's death in 1988, I had never experienced the loss of anyone. To be honest, that particular suicide was somewhat of a relief due to his violence and the threat he represented to our family. The full story is in my hub entitled, "Surviving a Suicide."
There were several other deaths of close family members after that which were traumatic and hard for me to deal with. Mostly, they were my grandparents, my great aunt, and my current father-in-law.
Then my ex-husband's sister was killed in a car accident. We weren't technically family anymore, but you never really forget the toddler you babysat and held close. Even when they are 19 and no longer a legal part of your family. She was in a Porsche with her dad, and they were driving home in the rain. The car had bald tires, they hydroplaned and hit a pole. The engine went through her head. That seemed to be the most traumatic thing I had ever experienced at the time.
The day Farrach Fawcett and Michael Jackson died, a young girl who was a close family friend and who had just had a new baby shot herself on the beach near my mother's house.
Then my cousin Smokey was murdered. I still don't know the whole story on that one, except that it may have involved drugs or a woman, and they caught the guy who did it after he had been given a ride by a guy who goes to my church to Fort Pierce right after he murdered my cousin.
This morning, my mother called me and said that another close family friend had called her this morning and said that his son had called him last night at 11pm and apologized shortly before he laid down on the tracks in front of a freight train. This man and this son of his helped me move into my house almost two years ago. They helped my sister move into her house last month. Our whole family cared about him. We are all devastated.
I am disheartened by the state of the world and the coldness of society. It is sickening to realize that people who have never experience hardships have little compassion for those who do. People fight their way to the top, when they should work together to achieve goals.
People work for companies for years like workhorses and are treated like dogs and then laid off with little to fall back on. A person has to be a rhino to survive this turmoil we call life. It is so hard to keep a positive attitude in the face of injustice and heartache. I am thankful for the good things I have in my life, but I have to admit feeling guilty when I see things I can't do anything to help. My poor friend. He was only 27. His father is an emotional mess now.
It would be so nice if people in powerful positions would realize how important it is to have compassion toward and be considerate of people in need. Everyone has their eye on the almighty dollar and very few people are watching out for their brothers. We are all one big family. We should look out for each other WAY more than we do.
Even if it is feeding someone, giving someone clothes, or lending an ear to someone who is in dire straits, it is so important to make that effort. It is also important to do this in a way that is not filled with ego. Don't do it because you are wanting to be noticed for doing it. Your reward will come later, maybe even when you are the one who is in need.
