On Friday I received a call from my niece asking me if I had heard about Forest. I had not. "He's dead," she softly said.

A young man nearing his seventeenth year of life, couldn't find his groove - couldn't find a reason to stay on; so he left.

As Forest's family grieves their loss, our family grieves as well. We ask ourselves questions:

"What went wrong?"

"How could this happen?"

"Was there anyone reaching out to help?"

If you're a parent, the death of a child is of the deepest emotional pain. If your child chooses to end his/her life your pain is that much more personal.

For his teen friends, his death hits a raw nerve. "Could I have done more?" "Could I end up making the same choice one day?"

Some of us are wired to deal with life here on earth and in fact some truly thrive. Some however never  find the thing that pulls them through the darkness - the "why" for staying in the body.

But all is not sadness. The departure of a loved one, whether it is from old age, disease, an "accident" (if there is such a thing) or suicide can be reminder or a wake-up call. Not like an alarm clock that we recognize for a moment and then conveniently turn off. No, death can become like a piece of art we frame and hang on our living room wall because it elicits certain memories or feelings that we don't want to forget.

So as we honor the sadness that loss brings we can also hold onto the remembering that life is eternal and that with endings, come beginnings.

We send our love to Forest and his family and we reach out to all who are listening and ask you to be aware of those around you who may be suffering in silence. There are signs if you'll tune into them.

Life is sacred. Find your "why."