Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Jeff And The American Dream

Scott, sometimes there's no making sense of what others are feeling or thinking. I lost a good friend and colleague a couple years ago when he apparently decided that swinging from a tree in the backyard was preferable to whatever his life had been dishing up to him. Left behind a wife, 2 daughters and a son who was to be married in a weeks' time as well as countless people like myself who still keep wondering, "what if I'd just happened to call to chat with him that day? Would it have made a difference?"

Yes Scott, that thought has running through my mind too.

Sorry for the loss of your friend.

omg...... Some folks cant hide from their demons. I hope his wife and kids can live knowing it's not their fault. Sorry for your loss..

Sorry to hear your friend decided to go out this way, I will never understand either.

It's such a selfish thing to do, don't get mad or try to understand you will never be able to figure it out, just forgive him for it and try to move on.

My thoughts and prayers are with you. In the short term this will be incredibly difficult to deal with. My father committed suicide 9 years ago and of course I still don't understand why a man who loved his family, career, and spending time with friends would do such a thing.
What has helped my family and I is to continually talk about the wonderful times with him and share our favorite stories. We've never focused on the negatives or dwelled on why it happened. This approach has worked for us and hopefully it will for you as well.

Prayers sent, Scott

Scott, I am so sorry for the hurt and upset - and your loss of a friend. In such circumstances, I would be fairly certain it was not simply about "what's for dinner", but our reasoning never seems sufficient to understand why people take such a step. Please try not to agonize about the reason.

Hell, it (new-found large money) can flip a good stable existence over into the nightmare realm.

Jeff, you had one really good friend (at least), he's done your passing honor, and some fine folk here will be keeping you in their prayer.

Jeff's family,....stay close, and mourn well.

Scott,....I'm at a loss here, and trust you to remain a reliable anchor point / buoy in your good friend's times of adverse tide.

GTC

Scott, my heartfelt condolences to you, your family and of course to Jeff's family.

IMO opinion, mental health gets short thrift in our society. We are too embarrassed by it.

My uncle Glen died at age 47 from liver and pancreatic cancer. His widow, Trish found a nice guy named Mike a few years later. For a few years they made a good couple. Mike was good for Trish. Then one morning I got the call that advised that Mike had passed away after shooting himself with a rifle in a remote area of Kananaskis Country west of Calgary. I didn't even know he owned a gun. He never talked about it even though he knew I liked guns and hunting.

Turns out that Mike had fought mental illness for a long time. This happened in a period of time where he felt good, and not liking some of the side effects of his meds, he stopped using them. Of course eventually they work their way out of the body and in this case, Mike was overwhelmed by what ever was bothering him. Hence the trip out to the boonies and his death.

If we know someone who is struggling with mental health issues, we all need to swallow our pride and help them get the treatment they need, AND we need to help them stay on their treatment plan. It is not a sin to be depressed or mentally ill.

Too many good people take their own lives or harm others because they either do not get the treatment they need, or they deviate from the treatment plan.

Sorry to hear about your friend Scott. There are many things (most things) that God does not give us the ability to understand. Ours is just to have Faith and trust that His will WILL be done.

Small condolence to your's and the family's grief, but that's all there is.

Alan

I'm really saddened for you and don't know what to say except I'm sorry you lost a friend.

I'm sorry to hear of the loss of your friend Scott, my condolences.


happiness is not found in what we have, but what we hold in our hearts and minds

have known a few really poor wealthy folks

and I've known some folks like ScottF that are rich beyond most mens understanding

it's a funny gig this thing called life

Same here.

Very sorry to hear of this Scott. There were other factors involved and eating on him other than the dinner argument, though that could have been the last straw. Are you certain that he and his wife normally got along well? Some folks hold stuff in and don't vent until they go off. I wonder if he truly wanted to move or did he rather have too? When some women get money they can become pretty headstrong. Do you think he may have gotten any bad health news recently?

So sorry Scott. What a crazy world we try to make a home in.
Old, sick, not wanting to put a family through long drawn out departures, it can be a rather selfless act. Young, healthy, with the world by the cajones?
We can never truly know what goes on with people, even sometimes the ones we love and live with every day. I'm not sure I have been any help, (really, what can I do?)but hope these feelings of grief and wonder will be replaced by memories of good times and laughter.

Try to get a good nights sleep.


RIP Jeff.

never underestimate the demons a guy may be battling in his head......i know the feeling quite well

Sorry for your loss.

Sorry this happened for yours and his families. Don't mean to start anything by saying this, but we have an enemy that wants us taken out. I've been there, and looking back I could tell you what I was thinking.
It's not your identity, it's what you choose to believe and what you allow in. For me, I listened to the wrong stuff, the wrong people, thought the wrong things, and believed a feeling of hopelessness that was NOT REAL.
Again, very sorry for your loss.

Scott, in 1991 I had a gud friend do the same thing with a 12 gauge. I will never understand what goes through a persons mind that would cause them to do this.I'm sorry you lost a friend.