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The loss of a friend Coping with the loss of a close friend
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Leanne - 11/06/2009 22:40:04
   
Suicide
I have recently found out that my dear friend’s daughter committed suicide a few weeks ago. We now live on opposite sides of the world with me in New Zealand and her family in South Africa. I guess that with the great distances now between us, we have inevitably lost the close connections we had when we saw each other often. I just feel gutted that I didn’t find out earlier and also feel somewhat left out and guilty about not being there for her and not even being close enough to her now for her to let me know.  
 
I don’t know what I can do from here other than regularly call and support with emails but it seems so inadequate. I can’t imagine what she must be going through and how anyone comes to terms with the enormous loss.
 
Leanne

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jodie - 11/06/2009 22:40:38
 
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RE:Suicide
I feel compelled to pass on my own experience with a friend whose son committed suicide. Even though we were in still in regular contact, my friend seemed to turn away from any support from close friends – she even found it hard to let her husband and family ‘in’. I continued to visit and call her often and now a year later she has told me how valuable the ongoing support was to her. She said that even though she didn’t want to connect with other people, it was good for her and kept her in ‘the real world’ from which she said she was desperate to escape.
 
Jodie

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Patsy-Ann - 11/06/2009 22:42:05
 
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RE:Suicide
Hi Leanne – my experience was much the same as Jodie’s. Hang in there, keep supporting and phoning your friend even though you are so far away. She will get through this and will once again see the world as a little bit normal.
 
Patsy-Ann

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tara - 11/06/2009 22:43:35
 
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RE:Suicide
My heart goes out to you – and anyone who is left behind after suicide. My mum committed suicide and I really admired her strength and determination. She was a beautiful woman who had been through so much. I think of her often and wish she could have been able to use the support of her friends before she died. Everyone was so good to our family and me and my dad and brother were so supported by her friends.
 
Tara

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