Dear tanner

I don’t know if you ever knew me personally, but we went to high school together. You were a few grades younger than me, and you had shared some classes with my little brother. He always talked highly about you and thought you were super cool. My brother struggled with making friends in school and you were one of the few who stood up for him and hung out with him. You seemed like a genuinely nice person.

The day we heard you committed suicide was the first time I ever saw the whole school stop functioning. Classes were even cut short because the majority of the athletic students joined together for grief counseling sessions. My brother was a wreck..he cried so hard and caused a scene. A few of my own friends grieved as well. You have no idea how impactful your death was. I always wondered why you would commit suicide. Were you lonely? Did you feel like it was the only way out? Whatever the reason, I’m sorry…I wish you could have seen how much you were loved and the lives you affected since you’ve been gone.