I Still Believe

According to the Foundation for Suicide Prevention, everysixteen minutes someone in America dies by suicide. There were more suicide deaths of young Americans in1995 than deaths from cancer, heart disease, AIDS, birthdefects, stroke, pneumonia, influenza and lung diseasecombined. In 2010 it is still the third leading cause ofdeath of young people ages 15-24. Studies suggest thatthe great majority of them suffered from a diagnosablemental illness, and that most of them received either notreatment or inadequate treatment. Ryan suffered froma mental illness, that neither he nor his family understood,that did not respond to treatment, and resultedin his death. The scar across our hearts still opens,reminding us that learning to live without him is thework of a lifetime.We are forced to face what cannot bechanged, and to trust the Creator for what we cannotnow see. The act of writing became for me, a spiritualjourney to probe the promise of beauty within the darkness,to seek understanding in mystery, and to believeonce again in life after death.