Powerful testimony. I was an Air Force Casualty Assistance Officer when I was younger. Unfortunately, I worked too many completed suicides and assisted the next of kin in applying for and receiving military and Veterans Administration benefits.
When I was working on my Masters in Human Relations Degree at the University of Oklahoma, I did a study on teen suicides. One of the mothers who founded SOLOS (Survivors of Loved Ones' Suicide) wrote "The person who completes suicide, dies once. Those left behind die a thousand deaths, trying to relive those terrible moments and understand… why?" - I have never forgotten this so many years later.
"When people kill themselves, they think they're ending the pain, but all they're doing is passing it on to those they leave behind." Jeannette Walls
The aftermath of suicide is devastating -- thank you for being there for your friend in his hour of need.
Powerful testimony. I was an Air Force Casualty Assistance Officer when I was younger. Unfortunately, I worked too many completed suicides and assisted the next of kin in applying for and receiving military and Veterans Administration benefits.
When I was working on my Masters in Human Relations Degree at the University of Oklahoma, I did a study on teen suicides. One of the mothers who founded SOLOS (Survivors of Loved Ones' Suicide) wrote "The person who completes suicide, dies once. Those left behind die a thousand deaths, trying to relive those terrible moments and understand… why?" - I have never forgotten this so many years later.
"When people kill themselves, they think they're ending the pain, but all they're doing is passing it on to those they leave behind." Jeannette Walls
The aftermath of suicide is devastating -- thank you for being there for your friend in his hour of need.
Bob, thanks for reading, but more than that thank you for pointing to the ripple effect of it all. Devastating.