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shutterbug · 03-02-2008, 03:32 PM

A friend of my family who i've known since childhood was found dead today.

He shot himself Thursday or Friday....in the head with a shotgun.....as he'd talked about doing for years - explaining how he'd actually make it possible to do with a shotgun.

He was schizophrenic and rarely stayed on his meds.
My dad, his other friends and his ex-fiance's and girlfriends would always try to get him to stay on his meds, but he never would for long. He'd been off them for years.

He'd gotten so bad that he'd recently sent death threats in the mail to my father.....the scary kind where he cut words out of magazines....like in the movies. My father finally had to go to the police out of real fear for his own safety. Neither he, or this man's other best guy friend could ever figure out why. They are in the same line of work, which is how they've known each other so well for so many years and my dad has hired him to come and live with us many times when i was a child to have help in his own shop while helping out his friend.

Luckily, he'd sent my dad a several page appology letter...trying to explain the death threats to him and why.

He was always odd....often "high" and giggly....often extremely angry for no reason....and would often switch in the middle of a sentence. My sister remembers the later part quite well as she was closer to him than i ever was....and several times he would take out his rages on her to the point our father had to step in.

The worst i remember was the day i found out of his illness because he was freaking out in an hallucination that he had ants crawling all over his body and biting him.

It's a bit odd, the timing of it i suppose......as i hadn't thought of this man in a couple years until last week when we needed a photo only my dad could provide us on short notice. The photo was beautiful and featured both this man and another of their friends on a hunting trip together......[i]this man with a shotgun in his hand[i]. It appeared on the front page or our paper.

Last weekend, i took 3 copies of the paper to my father. He asked for 3, so he could have a copy of his photo published and send one to the other guy and mail one to this man. He will never get to see it now.

I'm a bit sad b/c it is a sad thing, but so many people have fought so hard to help this man for most of my life, decades, and he refused the help. What i am more sad for is his talents lost to the world and for the hurt my dad and my dad's friends will now have to go through (the one closest to him is taking it pretty hard)......all which could have been avoided.

Jenna

03-02-2008, 03:32 PM	#1 (permalink)
shutterbug A picture's worth a 1000 words Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: With any luck, I'm lost in a view finder Posts: 2,947 Blog Entries: 5	He killed himself A friend of my family who i've known since childhood was found dead today. He shot himself Thursday or Friday....in the head with a shotgun.....as he'd talked about doing for years - explaining how he'd actually make it possible to do with a shotgun. He was schizophrenic and rarely stayed on his meds. My dad, his other friends and his ex-fiance's and girlfriends would always try to get him to stay on his meds, but he never would for long. He'd been off them for years. He'd gotten so bad that he'd recently sent death threats in the mail to my father.....the scary kind where he cut words out of magazines....like in the movies. My father finally had to go to the police out of real fear for his own safety. Neither he, or this man's other best guy friend could ever figure out why. They are in the same line of work, which is how they've known each other so well for so many years and my dad has hired him to come and live with us many times when i was a child to have help in his own shop while helping out his friend. Luckily, he'd sent my dad a several page appology letter...trying to explain the death threats to him and why. He was always odd....often "high" and giggly....often extremely angry for no reason....and would often switch in the middle of a sentence. My sister remembers the later part quite well as she was closer to him than i ever was....and several times he would take out his rages on her to the point our father had to step in. The worst i remember was the day i found out of his illness because he was freaking out in an hallucination that he had ants crawling all over his body and biting him. It's a bit odd, the timing of it i suppose......as i hadn't thought of this man in a couple years until last week when we needed a photo only my dad could provide us on short notice. The photo was beautiful and featured both this man and another of their friends on a hunting trip together......[i]this man with a shotgun in his hand[i]. It appeared on the front page or our paper. Last weekend, i took 3 copies of the paper to my father. He asked for 3, so he could have a copy of his photo published and send one to the other guy and mail one to this man. He will never get to see it now. I'm a bit sad b/c it is a sad thing, but so many people have fought so hard to help this man for most of my life, decades, and he refused the help. What i am more sad for is his talents lost to the world and for the hurt my dad and my dad's friends will now have to go through (the one closest to him is taking it pretty hard)......all which could have been avoided. Jenna __________________ I'M FINE!! Fanatically Insecure Neuratic & Emotional Bipolar/Depression support: 1-800-950-NAMI(6264).