Wednesday, March 21, 2007

FEELING A LITTLE DOWN

We got a phone call to say a friend had committed suicide. He had been having problems with his wife, and as far as we knew, though they were living apart, they were working on it.

We saw him Sunday afternoon, first time I'd seen him for a couple of months, and I was so impressed at how good he was looking, he had cleaned himself up, lost a lot of weight, had given up smoking and drinking, in an attempt to settle things with his wife. The scary thing is, we may have been the last to see him. The worse bit is, now I think back, he didn't seem himself, I just put it down to stress with his wife, but he just wasn't his jovial self.

I went to bed last night, and flicked through a little book (that my youngest had 'flogged' from Grandmas garage sale last weekend). It's called First Aid for a Woman's Soul. It has little verses of wisdom in it. The second verse hit me.

Looking forward beats looking back. Any time. (Frances Weaver)

While I don't profess to know what goes through the mind of someone considering suicide, I thought this verse was something worth keeping in mind, always. It is so relevant. It is so true. Looking back only brings back regrets and bad memories.

Life is precious, please let your loved ones know that you care.