So, the neighborhood where I used to live in Tennessee was very tight. (WARNING: suicide discussion!Not mine!)

[OldBaldy1701E]

We were the kind of place that looked out for each other. Regardless of whether or not you were on the best of terms. There was the usual local squabbles and then there was "Who is that pulling into Dick's driveway?". We once hired a dog sitter for our two four-legged roommates and the girl told us when we next met that she had to say hello to each neighbor when she first arrived. (She was unaware that my hubby and I had emailed everyone with the info as well as her website so that they would recognize her when she arrived. Otherwise, they would have been over there in droves. LOL.) That place was tight and we often did things together. Halloween was a big one for us. The entire street was very popular due to much decorating and much candy given out. Christmas was another one that got everyone involved with block parties and mulled wine and egg nog and gag gifts. It was a great place. We lived there (in different houses but always in the same two blocks) for fourteen years.

So, I received a text this past Tuesday from one of our good friends and neighbors who we were very close to. He lived across the street from us. His brother and that family lived to our right as you faced the house. Their son was a firebrand who was always a handful but still was a good person inside, regardless of his childish d**k waving. Our good friend informed me that he had hung himself the weekend prior. I am a bit shook. He was either in his late twenties or early thirties. He was 16 when we met.

I confess to being torn about this. If his soul has found peace... then good. I am hardly the person to be disparaging his methodology when a part of me is right there with him. But, his family. I must say that this outcome was very unexpected. He never struck me as the kind who would do this. He as always the one who wanted to fight, not the one who decided to withdraw.

So, I am rather shaken by this news. I thought he was a great dude and he and I always got along very well. He was even cool with my 'family' and he liked my husband as much as he seemed to like me. (The family seemed your typical southern family, but they did not have issue with gays or non-christians. Very DLP. Go figure.) Our dogs played together all the time. (Theirs would often escape just to run over and stand by our gate until one of us would let him in to play with our two. They loved each other.) I did what I could to help him whenever he asked for it. He was known for a bad temper, but he never did that around men even when we got really drunk on holidays. (Some of those holiday parties were epic.) It is just really strange to me.

I miss that neighborhood and its vibe every day. To hear that one of the mainstays of that place is now gone is tough, as we have already lost two earlier in the last decade.

Thanks for the time. I am really thinking about all this.