“Everything’s gonna be all right”
(From “Travelin’ Prayer” By Billy Joel)



When someone dies, you don’t cry because the person is dead. You cry because you will never see them again.

Coming home from school, my dad was throwing his backpack in the snow. The first time he left it on the counter he said,” Oh, thanks Dax for putting my bag away.”

“No problem, Christian!”, my dad replied from down the stairs. When Christian saw his school work out in the cold, he dashed outside to gather it. He never seemed to learn. Every time my dad put his backpack away, Christian would thank him, think for a minute, then come running for dear life up the stairs.

He never seemed to learn.

When he left the house, to go back to my aunts house (his mom), we all felt like a part of our family had gone away. After a few years, we heard that he had killed himself.

He was in an everyday hassle with his dad. Christian had gone upstairs and “slammed” his door violently. After an hour of napping, his dad went upstairs to check up on his son. Christian’s light was on in his room. When his father walked into his room he saw his son on the floor, dead.

The bang that he had heard the hour before wasn’t Christian’s door. It was a gun shot. Christian, my cousin, had committed suicide.

It was the Super Bowl the night that it happened. My parents were told the next morning. That same night, they told my brother and me the heart wrenching news.

What I learned that night was that I loved Christian, and many loved him. What he did was selfish and bitter. Suicide is a permanent solution for a temporary problem. I will love you Christian, always and forever.