Sad news

I received some sad news this morning. I’ve known Mike since the fourth grade, and we were best friends all through school, and his family was my second family. I think I sometimes spent more time with his family than I did with mine. Many of my fondest childhood memories involve Mike and his family. After high school he went to college in St. Louis, but we still kept in touch and saw each other whenever we were both in town. He met a girl at school and they fell in love and were very happy. One day an ex-boyfriend showed up and murdered her, right in front of Mike. He was obviously traumatized by what happened and that led to a downward spiral where he became addicted to alcohol and drugs, and was homeless for many years. He entered a rehab program at some point and seemed to be getting his life back together. After I moved to Missouri I got in touch with him and we started e-mailing, but sadly he never had much interest in getting together and we eventually lost touch again. Through Facebook I got in touch with his sister and brothers, and this morning I learned he had recently been hospitalized and after he was discharged he had attempted suicide. His family doesn’t know where he is or if he’s okay. I feel sad that he and his family have had to go through such a horrible ordeal. I remember sleeping over his house and spending many nights talking about our futures and planning what we wanted to do with our lives. The future was limitless and we had so many dreams and things we were going to accomplish with our lives. And with one tragic event his life was forever altered and his dreams shattered. My heart aches for him and his family.