Junior year of college. It was a Wednesday and I had two tests on Thursday, so I knew it was going to be a long day. I just didn’t realize how long. The phone rang, and my life changed. My older brother Mark was gone, and it was a suicide. I didn’t handle that very well and increased my use of alcohol and other substances. Not a great way to handle a stressful life event, and I wasn’t the only one struggling.
Eleven years later the phone rings again, and my younger brother Matthew decided to follow Mark. Matthew also made a forever decision. I lost two brothers to suicide and this thrust me into a very dark place. Therapy and sobriety lightened the room, but I still did not talk about my brothers publicly until 2010.