But You Didn't Know Him!

My heart sank the night I read on social media that Stephen tWitch Boss was dead from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound! No, not again! Not another young man dead via suicide. One who presented as a light to the world. One whose smile seemed to have mesmerized the people in any space he held.

The statement may be made or thought," but you didn't know him". True, I did not know him personally. I had only learned who he was a few years ago when I saw him on a TV show. Not knowing him personally does not exempt me from grieving his death. Not knowing him personally does not exempt me from experi

encing the kind of pain I believe his loved ones may be experiencing. I am not saying I KNOW how they feel; I'm saying I know the kind of pain I feel certain they are experiencing.

As a survivor of suicide loss, every time I hear about or read about a suicidal death particularly of a younger Black man, my heart aches all over again.

Why do we grieve the suicidal death of someone we do not know? Personally, it's some of the emotions that rise up - shame, hurt, anger, and regret, to name a few.

By the way, did you know that according to 2019 statistics released by the Center for Disease Control (CDC) 2019 approximately 130 deaths in the United States occur by suicide daily?