Paul

I didn't know this kid, but I have been hoping for him and even watching for him since I got the news that he was missing in September. I know the link is perverse, and that I should really link to something more like this, but I just hope we're more than how we end. I knew in my heart that Paul probably wasn't alive--he seemed like such a good kid, and I couldn't imagine him watching his parents and friends suffer and then just kicking back somewhere. But it was still a shock to hear tonight that his body had been found, and to know that he had killed himself. There are so many things I wish were different about this story. I wish we knew. I wish we could re-write it. I wish his friends and family didn't have to go through their grief and anguish all over again, for real this time, with no safety net of hope (aside from the eternal hope, for those who have it). Mostly I just wish this hadn't been a week so heavy with lost possibilities, and that we didn't have to lose things to know how precious they are.