Today, I received news that a friend took his own life this past Sunday.  When I heard this I immediately said to my self, “That’s not my friend.  It can’t be the same guy I grew up with.  More than likely, it is someone with the same name.”  It was not a man with the same name. It was not a coincidence.  It was, sadly, my childhood friend.  My friend and I had gone our separate ways in 1993, after I was accepted to a college prep school out of state.  We never spoke again.  However, while we were in the 8th grade, he taught me something that I have carried with me to this day- and he never knew it and I never told him “thank you.”

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