Dear Erik, 

I still cannot believe that you’re gone. I like to think that you’re just somewhere on vacation and that you’re going to come back. It’s easier to deal with, being away at school and not being home all the time. Here, when I don’t run into you, it makes sense. I still cannot understand why you wanted to take your own life. I never would have guessed it in a million years. I never knew you felt that way. I do understand that you were a rare kind of person. You felt everyone else’ pain as your own, and maybe that’s what did it in the end. Maybe that’s why you couldn’t take it anymore, because we were all so weak and you couldn’t be strong for us anymore. All I know is nobody could ever replace you and nothing will erase those high school memories from our minds. We all miss you and love you. 

Love, 
Sammie, age 19