In my life, the rising sun, which I love, comes every morning, and with it, new hope. Even when I wake up and know it is going to be a difficult or terrible day, there is always hope. It has never failed, the sun rising, and the hope.

There have been ten instances in my life where people have attempted, or been successful in taking their own lives. Sadly, more successes than failures. I do not know if that is a lot for one person, average, or below, but to me, it is far too many. One is too many. I would venture that the majority of us know of at least one person that decided that with the rising sun, there would be no hope.

There was recently a young man, aged sixteen, whose mother committed suicide, and he, a few weeks later, followed her. It saddens me deeply to know that there are young people aged in their teens that cannot see the brightness of tomorrow and exercise a little faith that the rising sun will bring a new day, and with it, new hope. I struggle to understand. Teenagers tend to be more impressionable and it is not uncommon that when one in a group, such as a high school, takes his or her own life, another will follow unless there is quick intervention. That is what I hope to accomplish here, because no matter how dark the night, the sun always rises.

I was close enough to a survivor of two attempts on her own life to be able to ask why. She told me that in her depressive state that she became convinced with a surety that her husband and three children would be better off without her. I am still shocked at that, but it is a revelation. I suppose there are as many excuses as there are attempts, but I still do not believe there is ever a reason, because the sun always rises.

We have all been affected by celebrity suicides whether overt attempts, or destruction from abuse of substances. I am still angry with Ernest Hemingway from my youth, and if I ever get to see him in the next life, I am going to ask him why. Maybe by then, I will understand and won’t need to ask.

I recently watched a very good movie titled “My Old Lady.” In it, Maggie Smith’s character, a ninety-two-year-old ex-patriot Brit living in Paris, is in a serious conversation with Kevin Kline’s character, Matthias Gold, a fifty-seven-year-old American who watched his mother take her own life, and who himself, attempted the same. She says, “You have life left. There is no greater wealth.” My heart sings at the hopefulness of that statement. The sun always rises.

Like many of you, I have been so far down that I have had to look up to see the bottom, and I have thought I would rather be dead than continue, but I have never one time ever thought that it would not be better tomorrow. I know there will be dark days ahead, and I do not look forward to them, but I also have faith that the sun always rises, and with it, hope.

If there are any of you thinking self-destructive thoughts, or know someone who is, stop it, stop it right now. You have life left. There is no greater wealth…and the sun always rises.

David Wilson Atwood is a local writer whose human-interest columns offer a unique perspective. He may be contacted, at www.starchasers.us or david@starchasers.us.