letter from a dear friend

To whom it may concern,

My name is Josh Henderson. I am just addressing you as a sort of reminder. I know you've all heard phrases like, "hold on to the ones you love," or, "you never know what you have till it's gone." I can't force the realism of these, or any such statements, into each and everyone's heads, all I can do is reiterate such cliche statements, fully realizing for myself why they are said in the first place.

One year ago today I lost my best friend. My best friend also just so happened to be my older brother, Jake. I looked up to him and we did everything together, up until he moved out. Though he was out of the house, we still kept in close contact; we worked close together, and he didn't live that far away. I would visit him every day at his job after I got off from mine, and I would often hang out at the place were he lived. I could talk to him about ANYTHING and he would be so tender, so compassionate, and loving, always helping me and many others through various trials. Many of Jake's friends and co-workers would also come to him when they were down. What's more, Jake was quite perceptive and could tell if something was bothering someone, not needing an approach. If he sensed that you were troubled, selflessly he would try to uplift and encourage you, though not realizing that it was he who needed the help. Myparents would try to reason with him, but Jake was stubborn and did not take heed, this ultimately cost him his life. Losing someone that close to me made a huge impact on my life. I no longer had a best friend, I no longer had someone to talk to as intimately as I could Jake, and most importantly, I no longer had a big brother.

Shortly after my brother's suicide, (about two weeks) I decided it was time to try to move on with my life. I went back to work, and went back to school. One day during my lunch break at work I recieved a phone call from a friend. His tone was ominious with sketchy audibility. He had called to inform me that after a high school football game (to which I was originally invited) he and one of our friends attended, out friend was murdered. Having only been a few weeks since the death of my brother, this struck me hard! The viewing was indeed a difficult one.

As I initially stated, I am just trying to get a reminder out that the people you love won't always be around. Sometimes they are only around for a short time, then they are out of your life completely. Just like with anyone you love, love them every day as if it were their last, because one day it will be. In conclusion to those of you pateint enough to have read my entire passage, I leave you with this overstated cliche:
Hold on to the ones you love, otherwise, you'll never know what you have until it's gone!

In loving memory of Jacob Henderson, and Jonathan Bryant.

-Joshua Henderson