He Left It All Behind

He left it all behind.

Aaron left behind his cologne which I now wear every day.  It smells amazing though I fear the day the bottle runs empty in that it symbolizes yet another ending. 

His brown leather wallet detailed with tan stitching and embossed with the John 3:16 scripture verse sits on a shelf in the closet next to one of his favorite baseball hats.  His prescription glasses haven’t moved from the bedroom windowsill.  His shirts hang untouched in the closet. His boots are frozen in place on the floor. His razor has been in the same exact spot for 40 straight days.

The florescent green kayak he purchased at REI is stacked under mine in the garage.  He never drank from the Dutch Bro’s thermos which I believe he purchased the day before he died.  I eventually removed the cardboard wrapping, washed it, and placed it in the kitchen cabinet.  Every time I see it I’m reminded that when Aaron bought it, even he didn’t know he’d take his own life the following morning.   He loved Dutch Bro’s coffee. 

He also loved music, the state of Arizona, and photographing beautiful sunsets.  He had a loyal following on photography websites.  He loved going to the cabin, riding his Buell motorcycle, and hiking.  

He left it all behind.  Along with his mom, his dad, his brother, Aunts and Uncles....and his best friend in the whole world.

He left behind the the love I had for him.

The love we had for each other.

Our relationship.  Our friendship.  

Our everything....

Everything that was good in his life...

He left it all behind.

Acceptance is hard.  Trying to escape the constant itch and irritation of the questions I have to which I will never receive answers is torture. 

His decision and his absence have left me deeply sad, devastated and confused.   I continue to live in a state of sheer disbelief.   He just left so much undone, so many promises unfulfilled and plans that never came to fruition.  He just simply left it all behind.

How horrific his pain must have been to cause him to commit an act so grossly against human nature.  A pain so enormous that it consumed and eventually dismissed his will to survive.

A pain that rendered him hopeless in the moment and for the future.  He must have thought he was a burden to his loved ones.   I would bet he dreaded bedtime knowing his thoughts would haunt him and keep him awake at night when I so easily drifted off to sleep. The extreme highs and the depressing lows must have been exhausting as he fought to find neutral ground.  But I don't think he could.  Neutral ground didn’t exist for him.   The sadness, distress, torment and suffering always a returning and unwanted guest in his mind.  He fought for happiness.  He fought for stability.  It all seems so clear now.  Looking back I can tell the demons were stronger; the depression was relentless.  

And so....

he left it all behind.

Forever Changed

When you lose someone to suicide, you’re called a “survivor”.  

I never even knew the phrase “survivor of suicide” existed prior to June 23rd of this year.   

I belong to an online support group and some put “survivor” next to their name like a post-nominal title.  Instead of seeing Jane Doe, PhD and John Smith, CPA like I’m used to seeing, I spot signature lines that read “Michelle Jones, Survivor”.   

Is that what I am? 

I’m not feelin‘ it.  

Frankly, I am not surviving Aaron’s suicide very well, at all.  It’s been a living hell.  

Destroyed by Suicide might be more like it.  Or crushed.  Or forever changed...

I can’t do a damn thing in my waking hours without having Aaron on my mind.  I’m either wishing he was with me, missing him more than I’m capable of explaining, replaying the horrific events of June 23rd, or, in moments of acceptance, I’m talking to him knowing he can see and hear me while being fully aware of the inequity of my not being able to hear or see him. 

My life and the lives of those who deeply love Aaron have been completely shaken, turned upside down and shattered into a million pieces.  Life still moves forward for everyone else, but for us we’re stuck in a time warp.  We’re stuck in a place where we can’t seem to move forward despite time whizzing by like the days are in some sort of sprint, like the end of the month is some sort of finish line.

Do suicidal people get online and become aware of the term “survivor of suicide” to describe those they’ll leave behind?  Because that term seems so....pleasant.  Like, “Oh, see?  They’ll survive without me!”  I’m used to the term “survivor” to describe people who have beat cancer.  That makes sense to me. They most likely felt broken and defeated at times by their diagnosis but they overcame.  They beat the odds!  They survived and are whole again.

I don’t feel I’ll ever feel whole again; how could I after this experience and after a loss this severe?  I’m completely broken.  I won’t always feel as broken as I am today but my heart will never be whole.  Yes, I will create a new normal.  I will carry on.  But I’ll do so carrying a void I will never be able to fill.  

I think “survivors of suicide” should describe the people who contemplate or attempt suicide and are still upright today with their hearts still beating; their family and friends still able to see them, hold them and tell them how much they are loved.  Those are the real survivors of suicide.  To describe those of us left behind as survivors?  I'm just not feelin' it.  

Signed,

Lisa Ruggiero, 

Forever Changed by Suicide

Piece for Peace

I feel like my heart has been ripped into tiny pieces of emotion, each piece baring its own label:  Denial.  Sadness.  Depression.  Despair.  Betrayal.  Anger.  

It's that last piece - Anger - that I hate the most.  It feels like an unwanted guest.  I'm okay sitting with sadness...that makes sense.  And, give me more moments where I just don't believe Aaron's gone; denial being the 1 or 2 minute vacation I take daily when I spray his cologne and could swear he's in the next room.  Depression, while not my favorite, is my new normal.  And, yes, I sometimes feel betrayal over the way Aaron left me, but sadness and depression win the emotional war so often that I forget betrayal even exists.

But that feeling of anger that washes over me and causes me to purse my lips and shake my head in disgust...

I don't like it.  That can emotional piece can go straight to hell.

I do not want to be angry at the man I loved the most in the world.   I just want to feel love, compassion and empathy toward him. 

But, I do feel angry more than I care to admit.  I feel my hands tightening over the steering wheel as I drive away from my post office with mail addressed to Aaron; mail I'll eventually give to his dad and it breaks my heart every single time.  His dad doesn't want his son's mail.  He wants his son.    

I feel angry when I remember the promises Aaron made to me that will never be fulfilled; promises to take me back to the Grand Canyon, to ride our bikes to Zion National Park, and to be married someday.  He said he would never leave me and promised to love me forever.

I'm angry that my cabin, the place to which I'd escape to rest, recharge and center myself now feels like a black hole containing a void so large that I'm almost positive it can never be filled.

I'm angry when I see his mom cry over the loss of her son.  I'm angry Aaron didn't ask for help; like he was some puzzle we were just supposed to piece together and now it's like it just sits on a table unfinished....all of us feeling like failures because we didn't get it right.

But, I still can't stay angry at him for long.  

I remember his green eyes that lit up with his smile, the way he would look at me when I told him I loved him and all the times he would act goofy to make me smile.  

And, I remember that all I ever wanted for him was for him to be happy.

No, I don't sit with anger very long.  I just love him too much.  That piece of my heart that wants to surge with anger is always quickly replaced with compassion and love.  It's a tradeoff that I easily make every single time.  My anger piece for his emotional peace.  

Love wins every time.  

From the darkness....into the light

It was like being in the ocean, getting pummeled over and over again by massive, crushing waves.  I had no energy to try to stay afloat nor could I - the ocean was that relentless.  I couldn't breathe.  Each wave came with an undercurrent that pulled me under water.  I felt like I was drowning.  

This was my life after I witnessed my boyfriend take his own on June 23, 2016. 

On 6/23, everything that once provided me joy and comfort was stripped away.  My boyfriend, who I love more than anyone on the planet, was gone.  No "goodbye's".  No "I love you's".  Just gone and in the most sudden, violent and tragic way imaginable.  

My house became a crime scene.  The bedroom in which I peacefully slept for the past 15 years was the set for the horror flick that would play in my mind at every waking moment.  My dogs were whisked away to be boarded for an undetermined amount of time.  I was whisked away, too.  For seven nights, I altnernated staying with Aaron's family or with close friends who immediately took me under their wing.  I often times woke up disoriented.  I lived out of a grocery bag. I got dressed in the same clothing I wore the entire day prior.  I never did my hair; I don't even remember caring enough to look in the mirror.

The mornings were the worst but not in that split second where the cobwebs veiled my current reality.  Instead, it was the moment the cobwebs cleared that I was catapulted back to hell on earth. For a split second things seemed normal and then I'd grieve Aaron's death, as if for the first time, all over again.  It was unbearable.  When my eyes opened to reality in the morning, I would immediately wish it was nighttime so I could close them again.  I would only sleep for four hours a night but it was a blissful unconscious freedom.  The nights were short and the days were long, though.  And, I hated being awake - every waking moment felt like torture and mental anguish.

I wanted the pain to end.

And, I thought about suicide for 16 straight days after the incident.  The literature says this is normal, especially after losing someone you love in the same way.  But it felt far from normal to me.

When you're in a seemingly inescapable hell, you'll do anything to break free.  This knowledge is why I can't stay upset with Aaron.  I know his pain and torment reached a level much bigger than his ability to cope with the onslaught of his emotions.  My anger toward Aaron always quickly turns to compassion.

For me, a day wouldn't go by where I wouldn't beg God to take me Home.  When I wasn't negotiating with Him, I was thinking of my own exit strategy.  One day the thoughts were more intense than usual  - it was the first time I had been in my room since Aaron died and I had a major melt down.  My friend Tresea just happened to text me as I was lying in a broken wreck on the floor, in the same spot Aaron drew his last breath.  She asked me what I was doing and I texted back "In my room...I'm not doing well".  She came right over and held me for over 20 minutes while I broke down in tears.  I think she saved my life that morning.

But, those kinds of moments were fleeting and my thoughts to end it all were not.   I have other guns in the house.  I could do exactly what Aaron did and be with him and my mom.  Aaron went instantly... 

...Fast forward to today.  

It's been a month and four days since Aaron died and here I am authoring a new blog entry.  I get up and shower every morning.  I wear clean clothes.  I do my hair.  I get outdoors to meet people for lunch and dinner.  I weight train.  And, I even catch myself smiling and laughing at people's jokes.

So, what happened?

The grace of God happened.  I learned that grace can live in the space we call hesitiation.  When someone says "I hesitated", it often carries with it a negative connotation.  But that slight pause in my thoughts allowed grace and then logic to enter the picture.  

I'm done, I just can't take this anymore...

...but....what would that do to Aaron's parents? - I love them so much!  What would my dear friends think?; I love them so much, too!   How can I be so sure things won't get better?  

Those are the questions that reveal themselves in moments of grace and hesitation. Those moments that hang in the balance...those few seconds that make way for the important, logical questions to follow, I believe, keep more people alive than we'll ever know.  

Looking back, I fell prey to two very big lies: 1) that I wasn't strong enough to pull through and 2) that life wasn't worth living.   I knew I no longer wanted to fall prey.  It was crushing my spirit; Satan was winning the battle.  

So I did the only thing I could think to do.  

In the early morning of July 9th, when I had finally had enough, I reached for my Bible. I retrieved some index cards and a pen out of my desk and began feverishly writing down scripture verses to help me grow stronger.  On Face Book, I posted a picture of the first 5 index cards I wrote out and asked friends to comment with their favorite verses as well.  

Many friends commented with verses.  And, I ended up with an arsenal of scripture on which to meditate when I felt weak.  A dear friend of mine would later gift me with a small photo album which included more verses in addition to sentimental photos she retrieved from my Face Book page.  She left some pockets intentionally empty so I could insert my own index cards.  Today, I carry this everywhere I go.

By the afternoon of July 9th, I felt free from suicidal thoughts, though I worried if they would return.  They never did.  I haven't had a setback since.  Sure, I believe therapy helped.  

But, God saved my life.

The reason this Blog is called Pray To Not Fall Prey is to honor the struggle that I went through in the early days but more importantly to serve as a reminder that praying and reading scripture was the light that penentrated the dark days.  (John 1:5)

Matthew 26:41-42 ~ Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

He went away a second time and prayed, “My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done.”

God is bigger than our doubts. He is bigger than our struggles. He is bigger than our pain.  I went through 16 days of hell but I'm grateful for the experience because it has changed me for the better.  I know the road toward healing still stretches out for miles and miles and there will be more lows than highs. But, not always.  And, I am never alone.  My friends and family provided me strength when I felt weak and God carried me when I could no longer walk.  

He is a good, good Father. It's who He is.  

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June 23, 2016

The 23rd is represented as a tiny square among 29 other squares in my day planner for the month of June.  I know in 2016, few people use day planners.  But I do.  And, I find myself staring at the June 22nd square as if trying to find some indication of the tragic event that would reveal itself the following day.  Yet the contents of that square only serve as a reminder for the Isagenix Headquarters tour ~ an event I was excited about for weeks prior. I had wished Aaron could join me but I knew he would be working his pool route.  That evening, though, I remember telling him in great detail about the tour; what a state-of-the-art building it is and about the Harley Davidson motorcycle that is on display in the lobby, literally smack dab in the middle of a water feature, its two tires and kickstand precariously placed on individual small cement pillars that elevate the entire motorcycle above the water.

The June 23rd square in my calendar is blank.  I clearly remember Aaron asking me that morning what my plans were for the day.  "I have training at 11 at Joe's.  I want to run by the post office and check the mail, and I need to go to the Vet to get a copy of Cinnamon's vaccination records...".  I continued explaining that the place I board the dogs didn't have her current records and we'd need those for when we boarded the dogs for the Tucson trip we had scheduled for July 9th and 10th.  I was seated on the couch drinking my coffee; he was standing in the living room directly in front of me.  All seemed normal.

I wish I would have asked him what his plans were for that day.  I assumed I already knew what they were - he'd go to work and return home to me.  But that's not what happened.   And, little did I know that my plans would be nothing like what I explained to Aaron that very morning.  No. Not only did my plans change for that day but I changed.  I knew I would never be the same person I was...for all the remaining squares on every day planner I'd ever own, I would be forever changed.

Aside from the detectives who interviewed me on Thursday morning, only my therapist and two other people know in grave detail what transpired on the 23rd.  I knew I needed to talk about it.  Lord knows my brain wouldn't stop playing the events over and over and over again in my minds eye.  I hoped saying it aloud might quiet the movie-loop that was playing in my head.  And, I was selective about who would be on the receiving end of such graphic detail.  I sought out friends who are stoic and strong enough in character to allow me to say what I needed to say.  And they listened intently, their eyes welling up with tears as my story drew to an end.

Yes, looking back, Aaron seemed a bit more agitated than usual that morning.  Aaron woke up like he did every morning but indeed he grew more agitated as the minutes passed.

But, I still never saw that coming.

Aaron woke up at 5:00 a.m, right on time like always.  He popped right out of bed like a champ and began his normal routine of getting dressed, loading up the truck with his pool equipment and supplies, downing his bowl of oatmeal and enjoying the cup of coffee I made him that morning.  By 6:15 he should have left the house to meet his dad.  By 6:41 Aaron took his own life.  I was standing right next to him.  He never said goodbye.  I never got a chance to tell him goodbye.  And, all those who love Aaron would never get that chance either.

I know Aaron is at peace and free from the bondage that caused him so much pain. But, knowing this doesn't at all diminish the sheer pain and grief that I feel at every waking moment.  My darkest days which lasted for the good part of two weeks, I believe, are finally behind me.   Now it's just a matter of choosing to breathe when I feel like I can't.  Pretending to be whole in this life while being shattered into a million pieces.  Trying to negotiate the days in spite of my heart having been ripped out of my chest.  So you can imagine what the darkest days were like...

I grieve.  I cry.  I mourn.  I'm in disbelief.  My emotions are a roller coaster.  And, from where I sit now, I don't know how I'll ever feel better.  It doesn't seem possible.  Yet I know it is.  But, I have to choose healing over and over again.  I have to choose to fight for it.  I have to choose to overcome, and I have to choose the light over the darkness.  And, I do.  I choose life.

John 8:12  ~ When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”