My Morris Catholic friends graduated from high school earlier this month of June. It's exciting to know that the 2017 graduating class can now move onto new experiences. Still, there was something missing–a girl named Madison Rae Torres. Madison passed away on October 20th, 2015. She tragically took her own life that day; therefore, she was unable to attend her 2017 graduation. I read about how distraught her parents were on a Facebook post. They graciously asked for the school to save an extra seat in honor of Madison, to call out her name that day, to remember her spirit with the class of 2017. There was so much that could have and should have been done, but being the Catholic school that it is–they chose not to do anything.
So..... Say you could just go back
Say you could go back to the day before she took her own life, that you could have done something different to change her mind. Perhaps you called her or sent her a beautiful text saying, "I hope you had a wonderful day." So much you could have done that night before. Maybe she would be here today. What if instead of an honorary mention and a seat, she could have walked up on stage to receive her high school diploma in front her classmates, friends, and family?
Suicide is a serious matter that not only affects the person hurting, but also those who love them. Most of us would say, “if I had known that they were going through such depression, I would have helped them"–but that is not enough.
Say you could have just gone back.....
Back to those school days, those days where you saw people picking on someone else. Would you have stepped in to defend that person? Back to those days, where you could have had a sit-down meeting with everyone to simply tell someone how you felt–the deepest confessions. Just maybe, maybe someone would have reconsidered taking their own life.
It is not who to blame for it, it is why need to blame ourselves as a whole for it, rather it is in schools or not, it is about that one nice thing we could have done even if it is just a smile. Calling someone just to ask them how their day was, holding the door for them as they walk in a building. Little things mean more to someone than you think.
So finally to end this, the graduating was great for some people but just remember there was an attended family that could not see or hear their daughter graduate from high school. From one graduate to another, I know how it feels to go up there and get you and hear your family scream when your name is called. I feel the Torres’ family pain not getting the chance to do that. As you read this article, think about what you can do to avoid seeing another person miss out on the big moment of their lives.
