A kind spirit gone

I received a call this morning that a friend committed suicide.  She had 26 years of sobriety but had suffered terribly over the past year with depression.  She was a dog lover, a kind person who sponsored others. She became the sponsor for a young woman that I know who needed her firm guiding hand. That young woman today has several years of sobriety and is working a full time job.

I would see K. walking on the beach with her little dog.  She was a quiet person who didn't open up to many people.  I am glad that she died sober but am so sorry that she was taken to the depths of despair by depression.  I know that each of us who knew her will wonder if there was something that we could have done.  But the answer is that there is no way to know when a person has run out of options and has decided to make the final decision. 

If she had reached out, a dozen or more hands would have been there ready to grasp hers.  But she chose not to do that.  For whatever reason, she chose to leave this life.  I often feel helpless after something like this happens.  I want to ask the why questions over and over.  Yet, I realize that does nothing. I can't take back time or bring her back.  She is gone. Rest easily K.  There are many of us thinking of you today.