<p>My son just called me in tears - a very close friend of us was killed today. He was fooling around fell off a cliff at a popular mountain hang-out. Mike just graduated high school last year. We live in a small rural community and in the past several years have lost two teens to two separate car accidents, another teen to a rock-climbing accident, a suicide, a drowning secondary to a cardiac arrthymia (in the community pool, the very first night of swim team practice and two kids who died from chronic illnesses (CF and renal disease) I have run out of words to comfort my s - please give all your kids a big hug tonight and pray for Mike’s family . . . </p>
<p>Rachel - I know how this rocks the world of you who were close to Mike; and how it rocks the world of the entire community when it is a small one. We are coming up on the one-year anniversary of the suicide of one of last year’s graduates here. You are right for us to all hug our kids. I wish comfort for your son and all of you.</p>
<p>I am so very sorry for Mike’s family. My thoughts are with them and with your family and other close friends with the terrible loss of this young person’s life. Very tragic. Your community has been through way too much loss. Prayers sent to you all.</p>
<p>Your son, your family, and your entire community must be in shock over the loss of so many young adults. And how do you explain so many losses to your son to make it bearable? I haven’t a clue. Most American teens probably haven’t even experienced the death of more than one friend or family member by the time they graduate. I worry for your son really. Have you gotten any of Kubla-Ross’s books on Death and Dying? The stages people weather and go through after people they love/know die might provide some benchmarks for your son and the many emotions he must be weathering right now.</p>
<p>Oh my gosh, how terribly sad. I will certainly keep good thoughts for your son and for Mike’s family. It sounds like your community has dealt with so much sadness recently. When I was a senior in high school, two very close friends died within a month of one another … one from cancer, the other killed by a low-life drunk who had been released from jail that morning on drug and DUI charges. I just remember being so incredibly sad. I can only imagine how difficult it must be to try and find the words to comfort your son. Good thoughts coming your way.</p>
<p>Incidents such as this really drive home to us the tenuous nature of our grip on life. It can be taken away at a moment’s notice, when we least expect it. It’s terrifying, and horribly sad. My heart goes out to your son for the loss of his friend, and to the family of this poor teen. I was thinking just this morning about the poor family of the girl who is missing in Aruba in the aftermath of her class senior trip. Those of us with teenaged daughters can instantly identify with the fear and devastation her parents must be experiencing at this very moment. I do indeed hold my own daughter very close every day and tell her just how much she means to me. Everyday with a loved one is dear. We can never take their presence in our lives for granted.</p>