Some will choose suicide. Based on what they feel and foresee, they will choose death over suffering. And those of us who loved them will grieve. For years.

Sadly, some friends have joined the ranks of suicide survivors this week. To say welcome would be absurd, but I can say that you are not alone, and others are travelling the road with you.

You may ask yourself, “Was there something I could have done?” And you may answer yourself, “Yes”, but that would only be partly true, if true at all. Suicide is not a single point of failure. No catastrophe ever is.

Hope. Curiosity. Love. Wonder. Endurance. Self-confidence. Faith. The rationale for suicide finds its way around many emotional, spiritual, and intellectual safeguards to come to its final conclusion. No one thing, no one person, can decimate them all. The path is navigated within the mind of the suicide, not mapped from the outside.

So take time, my friends, to grieve. If you feel guilt, don’t let it fester. Ask God and yourself for forgiveness. Then, consciously, choose life. Choose love. Honor the friendship you had, by being a better friend. Honor the person you will miss, by nourishing you. You’ll need your strength, and your friends. It’s a long road ahead.

A long, wonderful, beautiful, amazing, fun, exciting road. Even when grief rides along.

Dedicated to Laura, Ginny, Claude, Gail, and Bill.