I just went to a 16 yr.old's wake

How heartbreaking, Deb - we need better education in this country on the symptoms and patterns to look for.  I had a friend complete suicide at the very same age when I was in high school. His was one of two that year and I was just reflecting on how no one had any sense of the depth of either boy's despair.  So sorry for your friends.

Oh dear, sending my prayers to you and his family.  Wish I knew what more to say....

That's just awful.  The shock of seeing a young person in a coffin is something that stabs right through you like a cold sword.  The circumstances that got your friend's grandson there just wrenches your heart right out of your chest.
Families are crumbling lately - there's not enough centeredness in a home and family where the members really connect and share.  It's so sad.  If we invested all our good energy into family instead of work and social obligations and bringing this kid here and that kid there and all that junk, we might hear and see those subtle little things we would normally be attuned to.  There's just so much else drowning it out.
I hope the families that know this boy, or those that learn of his death, take some time to refocus on eachother.  Deb - I'm so sorry for his loss.  We're sharing your grief in support of you and his family.

God, that's horrible. My thoughts are with his family.

Two guys in my graduating class committed suicide. Then after high school I ran into a friend in the grocery store. He gave me a big hug and we talked happily for a long time and made plans to get together. Later that week I saw a missing poster with his picture on it in a convience store, it was dated before I'd seen him so I called the number and found out they'd found him in a field, dead of suicide, a day before. It was so crazy. This was a happy-go-lucky ministers son who never acted like he had a care in the world but he got into some drugs and they totally screwed his mind up.

Im so sorry,..thats just so heart breaking.

God be with you and his family in this difficult time..

So sorry to hear about the death of one so young.  I've been where he was at and by the grace of God managed to come around.  Please let his family know there was nothing they could have done - I know they will beat themselves up for it.   I wish I could heal your heart.
 
Please keep talking so that someone around who may be feeling the same way understands that this is not the answer and the devastation is causes those who are left.  I think so many try to sweep it under the rug and it just makes it worse.
 
Prayers for you and his family. 

Good thoughts and prayers for the family.

Thanks everyone.
Robin, I am so sorry. And you are right the first thing Shane's father said was, I couldn't do anything I tried everything, and I know  I went through it w/ my son too, thank God he is alive. But they are talking about it and there is no sweeping at all which is great, especially for the hundreds of  kids that were at that wake, maybe it will save one of them.

Thank you Deb but it was a looooong time ago.  I just remember that adolescent angst all too well.
 
I am glad that the family realizes there was nothing they could have done.  It is a very internal and personal problem which has external and wide-spread repercussions thoughout the community. 
 
I will continue to keep you and your family/friends in my prayers and that some peace and comfort find it's way to all of ya'll.     

Robin thank you

Deb, I am so sorry to hear of this. I hate to hear of young kids dying. I do medical billing and see a lot of it.
 
I lost one of my friends when I was 15, he was playing with guns with a friend and pulled on the gun while his friend had his finger on the trigger and shot himself in the head in the process. I lost one of my best friends when I was 17. A hard lesson for the rest of us that drinking and swimming don't mix. I said all that to say that I at least hope this kid's death has a profound impact on his classmates and they are able to learn something from it.

How sad. So sorry.

Deb I am so sorry. I understand how you feel.
 
Last August I lost one of my kids from work to suicide.  Jon had found his older brother who had commited suicide when he was 13, and then attempted suicide himself shortly after that. After his attempted suicide, Jon was placed with us twice. We ended up having him for more then 2 years. I worked in the dorms at that time, and spent hours every day with him. When Jon finally went home he was doing well, he was calling to check in, going to school, and was no longer involved with gangs. He was a very sweet boy, who had a really crappy home life. Last August DH called to tell me that Jon had died. He was only 16. He had commited suicide by hanging himself from the same tree, where his brother had died. I will always wonder if I did enough. It still makes me so sad.
 
A week ago one of my kids from the same town was discharged. I had a really hard time with him leaving, because I was his group leader for almost 3 years. It's hard getting this really angry child, working with him everyday, watching him turn into a more responsible person. Then they go home, and all you can do is hope that they remember the skills they have learned, and have truely changed for the better. Anyway the day Drew left, I went to say goodbye to him, and I noticed that he had lots of pictures of Jon in his locker. We talked about Jon for a while, and how we both miss him. When someone young dies, it touches so many people.

Oh Karin
That is so terrible! I am sorry that you had to go through that.