Compassion for Survivors

Recently, I spent time with my cousin in Arizona. She was telling me about her trip to Italy with her fiancé. They met a couple and spent most of their time with them. They returned home and kept in contact with them since they seemed to have a lot in common. Two weeks after they returned home the couples son/stepson took his life. My cousin shared a little bit about the young man. He had had a troubled life, went in the military and was trying to get his life together. The stepmother was distraught since she had become very fond of her stepson. This couple had a trip to Hawaii planned with some good friends. Shortly before the trip, their friends backed out indicating the grieving couple needed time alone to recover. This hurt the couple to the core. At that time in their lives they needed their friends' support and understanding. As you can imagine, the focus of the vacation turned inward to nothing but grief. For most people, there is nothing worse than being alone during times of tragedy. We need friends not only to grieve with but to engage in normal living. Even worse, those "friends" seemed to want nothing to do with the couple upon their return from Hawaii. Matt's Last Call: Surviving Our Protectors, written to save lives. It is about my son, an athlete, SGT. in the United States Marine Corps and a Chelan County Sheriff Deputy who took his life due to a failed relationship. It is a Biography & Autobiography, Law Enforcement, Self-help/ Death, Grief, Bereavement. It can be purchased on my website, http://mattcutshort.tateauthor. It is my hope that you show compassion for survivors of suicide or other tragedy--you may be their only path back to the land of the living.