More than 49,000 people died by suicide in 2022 in the U.S.; that is one death every 11 minutes, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Those numbers hit closer to home this summer when I found out that someone I went to high school with took his own life. This was someone I met when we were just in a church youth group. This was someone who was off to do great things after graduation. This was Rush.
He died Saturday, July 13, in Memphis, Tennessee. After high school, he earned an undergraduate degree in biomedical engineering from Georgia Tech and a master’s degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Texas at Austin. He was also currently a research engineer at the University of Virginia.
As his obituary states, Rush was known to be a highly intelligent and spirited person who brought light and levity to every situation. He was eager to engage in long, thoughtful conversations as he would bring his friends and family to tears with laughter.
I remember in the youth group at church, and when we had classes together in high school, he would just start cracking jokes to uplift and make everyone laugh — even if that meant messing with one of his oldest friends to the point where they fell backwards on the field at camp and he broke his clavicle. He was known to have broken a bone or two.
“He was a jester with a poet’s soul,” his obituary could not have said truer words. He knew how to make people laugh more than anything, knowing that sometimes, that’s all anyone can ever ask for to brighten their day.
I did not think I had to do this again. I did not think I had to write a column like this again and so soon — about six months since the last one.
The news about Rush’s death was tragic and sudden, just like it was for Nathan and Tara.
And Doug, who was my brother’s childhood friend that would come over to our house way back when. He stood next to my brother on his wedding day. He was there to help my family move multiple times. The news of his death came the same week of Rush’s — but his cause of death is unknown to many, out of respect for the family.
I just kept thinking, “What is going on?” and “Why does this keep happening to people I once knew?”
I didn’t attend Rush’s memorial service, but I watched the nearly two hour long video recording the next day. It was emotional. I found out that Rush had been struggling with mental illness for the last few years before his death. His dad shared during the service that mental illness started to creep into his life in earnest around 2018. I didn’t know him during that time.
While I did not see or talk to Rush really after high school graduation, I still remember him. I remember who he was when I knew him. I remember who he was when we were young. That’s how I will remember him.
That’s how I will remember Nathan.
That’s how I will remember Tara.
That’s how I will remember Doug.
That’s how I will remember everyone else that I once knew.
We don’t ever truly know what someone is going through. We don’t ever know when our last day is going to be or when our last day with that one friend or family member is going to be. Here’s my plea for you to check in with your people.
If you or a loved one is experiencing suicidal thoughts, call or text 988 (the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline) to talk with a counselor. More information is available at 988lifeline.org.
Navarro is editor of the Hays Free Press and News-Dispatch. She can reached via email at megan@haysfreepress.com.