A request from the other me...

What else can I add to a topic seemingly experienced by a wide world? Nothing. There is nothing I can say that has not already been said. There is certainly nothing I can do to make that hurt less, no suggestion I can venture that is new. But, perhaps the one thing I can do is share with you all in order to spread the ultimate message. So, here goes... Last Monday, a former student at West passed away. There is a lot you can learn about the situation from his mother's blog at mamapundit.com. This morning as I got up and checked in with her, I wasn't sure what to expect. They laid her oldest son to rest yesterday; they gave up a part of who they are. While I understand parts of that, it would be crass to suggest that our situations are even remotely the same. So, when I checked in, I had no idea what to expect. Here is what I found: a beautiful video documenting who Henry really was-not the person that drugs sometimes made him, but the son they truly lost, a family who has come together for each other despite the past, a mother who has no idea where to go from here with a life that is coming soon that will be totally dependent on her. My heart is breaking for this family. There is so much they have to process and so much they have to walk through that it is hard to even know where to start. The lesson I took away this morning is this: Henry, with all of his recent troubles, was more than someone addicted to drugs. He was a beautiful young man with so much potential. He was a funny, handsome, family oriented boy who had a problem that most of us never experience in any way. It is so easy to read a news story and form opinions about who someone truly is. In other cases, I have been guilty of it myself. However, who Henry was is so much more than what we read, and THAT is what his family lost. They lost their comedian, they lost their brother, they lost their friend. They lost the chance for things to change. In its place, they received an outpouring of support and some judgment. They received constant speculation. They received hurt and confusion and guilt and debilitating grief. It is not a fair trade. Not at all. They are left with the question of where to go from here. For us, this is my suggestion. Please read his mother's blog. Please tell your children. Besides the fact that it makes the lesson very real, it is also the only part of him that his mother has left, and we owe her that.