Tuesday morning, a local high school senior passed away (of natural causes). He was one of my younger sister's best friends and the first boy that she ever loved and she is absolutely devastated. The whole community is devastated. He was in the top five of his class, he was a star wrestler going to college on three athletic and academic scholarships, and everyone remembers him for always having a smile on his face and living life to the fullest. He did his best to surround himself with people and to share his happiness with them. He and his long-time girlfriend won prom king and queen this year at their senior prom. It seems so unfair that such a promising young man would have to die so soon and that so many people should have to suffer this loss.

Is it wrong that I would trade places with him in a hearbeat? I know for a fact that I haven't impacted nearly as many people as he did- I've kept to myself and was never very popular or unpopular. Sure, there are people that care, but not the way the whole community is hurting for him. I hate to see all of these people suffering. He had a girlfriend who loved him dearly, I don't have a significant other that would be missing me. I'm going to college and paying for it out of my own pocket, doing average work and moving at an average pace. I'm always kind to people, but I believe it's the kind of kindness that's forgotten as soon as the instance has passed. This young man could have done so much more for the world than I can. It's not fair that everyone needs to miss him now…it would have been easier if it could have been me.

Is that not selfish and foolish? I mean, I'm just looking at this as logically as I can and that's just how I see it. It breaks my heart to see his life end so early when he was living it SO WELL. I've always, always believed that everything happens for a reason, but this year our community has lost 2 teens to suicide, 1 teen is now paraplegic from a devastating accident and now THIS. We are a very tiny nowhere town, so that's quite a ridiculous amount of loss for us to bear. Why did all of this have to happen? I'm starting to worry about everyone…how much can we take…