The other day I saw a familiar face in the local obituaries. It was someone I hadn’t seen in about 18 or so years that I had briefly dated (I’ll call him “Fred”). Fred was only 39, and when I  learned that he’d committed suicide, my heart ached for his loved ones and for Fred’s soul. What happened to Fred during those years in between I remember him being a happy person and now? What happened in his life that made it so unbearable that he felt ending it was the only option?

I’m sure that Fred’s surviving loved ones are asking themselves what they could have done differently. Even if things were done differently, would it have mattered to someone who is lost in depression?