A friend of mine died last week. And what is most heartbreaking
is that he took his own life. I’ve never lost a friend like this
before. I’ve had friends go away, I’ve had a friend die in a car
accident, but I’ve never lost one to suicide. I am confused and
hurt more than I can say. The papers will sum it up with: Willie
McGeever, 19, died by his own hand on Monday, April 7, but there is
so much more to this story.
A friend of mine died last week. And what is most heartbreaking is that he took his own life. I’ve never lost a friend like this before. I’ve had friends go away, I’ve had a friend die in a car accident, but I’ve never lost one to suicide. I am confused and hurt more than I can say.
The papers will sum it up with: Willie McGeever, 19, died by his own hand on Monday, April 7, but there is so much more to this story. This was Willie, funny, popular, too cute for words, Willie, the type of person who lit up any room he was standing in and now he is dead. It makes no sense to me. My fondest memories of Willie involve him either clowning around on campus for a laugh, or just talking with him in my driveway at home. I have so many memories of him, and now with his death I don’t know what to do to.
I am also 3,000 miles away from home and this tragedy makes me feel absolutely helpless. If I were home I would feel the closeness of my friends and our small town circle of friends closing rank in a community wide hug of support to stick together in times of need. The people of Morgan Hill are very good at coming together during times like these, and caring for each other. I feel like I need to be back home at a time of such great unimaginable loss. I want to be close to the people of my high school class, my family, and the people I’ve grown up with. My friends here in Boston are very supportive, but they don’t understand the loss I feel. They didn’t know Willie.
I have been talking with many of Willie’s friends the last few days. Nick Dowdle, 19, a freshman at Virginia Military Institute and a graduate of Live Oak’s class of 2002, knew Willie well. “Being so far away from home has made this, that much harder because I feel extremely helpless,” said Nick. “I do know that I will always miss him and I will never forget him.”
When I first heard the news about Willie, I didn’t know what to do with myself. A very good friend of mine from Morgan Hill had called, and all I could do was cry. explanation.
Melanie Anvari, 18, a freshman at U.C. Davis, and a graduate of Live Oak’s class of 2002 said, “It’s really weird. To think of someone whose face I saw and whose voice (who couldn’t hear his voice!) I heard almost every day of high school, and then to realize that you are never going to see them again.” But she also added, “It’s so tragic that through the loss of one life, the entire class of 2002 has come back together, right when we were all starting to drift apart.”
I’ve been going through old yearbooks and the scrapbook I made of my high school days. Willie was voted “Most Likely to be Heard” for our ‘Senior Class. I have photos of him in my scrapbook, my favorite shows him topless in front of the school, with his hands on his hips, chest stuck out with a huge grin on his face. I’m going to miss everything about him.
It is too late for Willie, though, and I am at a loss because I’m the type of person who always wants to fix things, and this is something that no one can fix. You can’t mend a broken heart, you have to wait it out and let the wound heal over time. I wish Willie could see how this is affecting the people he grew up with, and how many people there are that cared about him. He will be missed, more than I can say. I wish that Willie had known just two things: that he was truly loved and how much his suicide has hurts those that he left.
None of us will ever know why Willie decided to end his life, but one thing is certain that I hope all of us can learn from Willie’s death: in Morgan Hill, you can be absolutely sure that you have people who care about you and love you. Even at your darkest moment, when all seems hopeless, don’t leave us – call us. We don’t want to lose another friend.
Lacey Green is a freshman at Northeastern University in Boston. Readers may contact her at La********@*ol.com
