Requiem

A few days ago, a former colleague of mine drove from his home in Massachusetts to the White Mountains in New Hampshire, went on a hike, wrote an email to his wife, and took his own life. He was forty-nine, and the several quotes I read about him today were exactly correct: "He always did for other people, never for himself."

I learned the news today. As it was sinking in, the iPod, in shuffle mode, played Johnny Cash's version of "Hurt."

Now I'm drinking a glass of wine, listening to appropriately sad music, Sea Wolf. My colleague, I learned, suffered from depression.

My colleague's brother said this: "This wasn't my brother making these decisions. It was preventable. If people are not more pro-active about getting help for someone, you find yourself here, and all we have now are questions."

You were one of the nicest people I've ever met. Rest in peace, friend.