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My health teacher divided our class into eight separate groups and gave each one an age range. He told each group to come up with four huge milestones that one would experience at that age. He also told us to be specific, but to have fun with it.My group got 70–80, and as this was the last age range, we obviously had to create a hilarious death, along with three fun other milestones. We came up with:Birth of a third grandchild—a girl named IvyRetiring from being an awesome health teacher (we were hoping that’d give us some special treatment if we didn’t do well on a test)Traveling around the world with a spouse, who we named Gavin, after our teacher’s first nameDie from being sucked into the engine of the president’s private jet after skydiving at 80 years oldComing up with all of these actually turned out to be a lot of fun, and we were all laughing as we lightheartedly argued over which milestones to choose. Soon, our teacher had every group put their milestones on a huge timeline that would cover someone’s lifetime, and we did so.Now, there was this huge timeline on the board and, after we voted to pick the person’s name, he read off the many things that happened in this life.There was the first steps that ended with a face-plant, graduating high school, having her first margarita, getting married, a bunch of hilarious divorces, and so much more. By the end, we were all laughing and smiling—it seemed like a pretty great way to end the school day.Then, our teacher looked at us, all laughing, and walked to the end of the timeline. We all followed his movements carefully, curious to know why his face had gotten so much more serious.He erased the 70–80 age range, the one I had helped create. He asked us, “What if this never happened?”Then, it was the 60–69 age range. He said, “I guess she never won that Bingo tournament.”Next it was the 50–59 one.And 40–49.Finally, he erased 30–39 and stopped.We were all still laughing, but it was a bit quieter now, almost forced. Still, we had no clue what was coming, and were still in a great mood.Our teacher turned around and looked at us, almost guiltily. He placed the tip of the dry erase marker on the world and drew half of an “S” before I heard a strangled cry escape my mouth.I knew what he was about to write.S-U-I-C-I-D-EThe laughter stopped abruptly, and everybody’s smiles suddenly vanished as we either stared at the teacher or the ground. Everybody sure listened real close to what he said next.“When I was in college, I remember how stressful everything got. We were all trying to make the right decisions to set up a good life and future—almost everybody, anyway. Well, one night, I got a call from my mom, who told me that one of my old classmates, the class clown of the school, had let the stress get to him. One night, he drove his car out by the railroad, parked it, and left a suicide note on the driver’s seat. Then, he jumped in front of a train.”The classroom was dead silent. Nobody moved or dared to make a sound, and all eyes were on our teacher. He continued.“That year, three more of my old classmates did the exact same thing at the exact same train station. Just like the person we made up and created fake milestones for, he could’ve had a future. They all could’ve had futures, but instead, the stress ruined and ultimately ended their lives.”At this point, I felt tears welling up in my eyes as my mind fought with itself. Part of me was so against suicide and could only feel bad for these people that my teacher was referring to, while the other part told me that I knew I wanted to make that same choice, and that I wanted death, too.The bell suddenly rang, and we all silently shuffled out, still too shocked by that change of events and numbly thinking about suicide to make a sound.It was the end of the day, so everybody was walking to the buses. As I was walking, I felt someone’s hand reach behind me, set itself on my shoulder, and pull me closer. I turned my head and saw my friend/ex looking at me kindly as I quickly became hysterical over health class.He said, “Yeah, I know, I had the same lesson today. It kinda hurt, as I’m sure it did for you, to think about suicide when we’re both yearning for it so much. You okay?”I, of course replied, “Yes.” I would never willingly admit to hurting so much.He just looked at me for a second, and I saw his face soften before he said, “We both know that’s not true. You’re in pain, and you admit it over text. So, lemme try to help, at least a lil bit.”I looked at the pavement beneath my feet and asked, “How?”After so long of silently wishing for one, I got a hug. I was pleasantly surprised at how much damage it could heal.It was a quick hug, we both had to get on our separate buses after all, but it meant a lot more than I’ll ever admit to. It was like I wasn’t so alone anymore.I silently walked to my bus, slid into my seat, and, whether because of the suicide lesson or the hug, I felt tears silently rolling down my face.

HAfter 20 years of doing everything in my power to get my daughter off of drugs, I knew it really was time to let go. She came home from college an alcoholic. But she hid it from me for many years. She married and had a baby girl. Things got worse and worse until one of her friends finally told me. I really thought that if I helped her get into a rehab that all would work out. It didn’t. She was in and out of rehab many times. Her daughter was taken by Children and Youth many times. Her husband was also an alcoholic. So many holidays were ruined by fights and drunk people. I had temporary custody of my granddaughter due to another episode where my daughter was passed out in the front yard with my granddaughter laying next to her. But as usual C&Y gave the baby back to them. I had minimal contact with them for several months until the day I received a call from the local hospital ER. Her husband gad died of a heroin overdose in their living room. I prayed that without his influence and the baby to care for alone that she’d sober up. Not a chance.Her husband had half a million in life insurance and she would get Social Security for her and the baby. I kept a close eye on her which I guess she couldn’t take. She moved to Florida to live near her drug using aunt on her fathers side. She met the scum of the earth down there. They had no money, no place to live, no car and not even an I.D. Much less a drivers license. With them she graduated to using meth. It would take days to tell you all that took place. But they blew through her inheritance in less than 10 years.She currently has no money, no job, no car and is barely hanging onto her house. My granddaughter is following in her footsteps. She’s 12 with a boyfriend, swears like a sailer, and no sense of right and wrong. But she knows exactly what to say if interviewed by C&Y.In July I got a call stating her boyfriend was arrested in her house possessing heroin, meth, marijuana, scales, syringes and other drug paraphernalia. The cops had called C&Y,. My daughter wasn’t arrested, nor did they take my granddaughter. She asked them if she sent her daughter to PA with us if they’d let her alone. They agreed. So we dropped everything and flew down to pick up my granddaughter. Now bear in mind she is miserable. She doesn’t want to leave her boyfriend or mother. She stayed with me a month. Every day she asked when she was going home. My son lives in Europe and he took his niece with his family on a six week vacation all over the world. Still, every day was when was she going home.Now my daughter has nothing. She’s sold almost all her possessions, has no car, no boyfriend or any other reason to stay in Florida. She agreed to come live with me until she got her life in control. I bought her a plane ticket, sent her $150 travel money and another $200 to pay off a loan. The day of the flight I couldn’t get her to answer the phone. Finally I get a text saying she wasn’t coming today, I should switch her flight to next week. It was at that point that I lost my mind. I told her the bank of mom was now closed. It has been 22years since this addiction journey began. I’m not sure that in that time she ever said she WANTED to get clean. I plan on spending the remainder of my golden years in peace, something I can’t do with her in my life. Every day I seem to get less stressed out.I can’t tell you how this will turn out, but I doubt there will be a happy ending.EDIT: I never believed I’d write an answer that would get so many likes. Thank you. I just wish it would have been for a happier story.

Shortly after graduating with my master’s degree, I got a very good job at a small engineering firm. I’d been working there about a year, when a co-worker and I traveled to the nearby big city for a seminar on the changing seismic codes.Since this was a seminar on the updated codes, all the other engineers taking the class were older engineers. Younger engineers already learned about the new codes in school. This was specifically a seminar for people who hadn’t been to school in a while and needed a refresher. So, I really didn’t need to attend that seminar, but my boss wanted to make sure I was fully trained, and since he was paying all my expenses at the fancy hotel where the seminar was held, I wasn’t going to complain.It was an all-day seminar, and I got there early. It was held in one of the hotel’s banquet halls, and they had a spread already laid out for the attendees. There was a continental breakfast, coffee dispensers, pastries, etc. I was just perusing the food selection when an older man approached.“Excuse me,” he said. “There’s no more coffee.”“Oh?” I said. “Well, thanks for letting me know.” I genuinely thought he was just warning me about the coffee. So, I went back to looking at the fruit selection.“Miss,” he interrupted. “Did you not understand me? I said there’s no more coffee.”“No, I understood.” Again, I thought he was kindly warning me. “Don’t worry, I wasn’t planning to drink any.”“Well, I should hope not. Are you going to do anything about it?”“I don’t see what I could…” Suddenly, I realized that he thought I worked here as catering staff. I was slightly annoyed by the implication, but I figured it was no harm. After all, the seminar was mostly for older engineers, and he probably wouldn't expect someone in their early twenties to attend. Besides, my professional attire didn’t look that far off from what a formal server might wear. “Look, I don’t work here,” I told him. “I’m here to attend the seminar.”“Right, sure.” He obviously didn’t believe me. But just then some actual catering staff started replacing the coffee it was pretty obvious that I wasn’t with them. I thought he might apologize, since I obviously didn’t work for the catering company, but instead he turned to me and said; “Look, if you’re going to crash a banquet to try and score free food, don’t try crashing a place where you obviously don’t belong.”My jaw dropped. I knew I would be younger than the other engineers attending, but I didn’t think I would stand out that much. Just then, I swung around to look at the other attendees. Not only was I the only person in the room under 40, I was also very obviously the only person of the female persuasion. Apparently, this complete clod didn’t even think I could be an engineer.Now, normally I would sit toward the back and keep my head down, especially since this was a seminar I didn’t really need. But not today.I sat at the front of the hall. I made sure everyone could see me. And guess what? Since I had already covered this material in grad school, I knew every single answer to every single question. So I sat there I raised my hand every single time the instructor asked anything, and he usually called on me, since most of the older gentlemen didn’t know the new codes yet. I got every single answer right.It was probably silly, and I probably didn’t need to prove anything to that one idiot. But I just couldn’t help but feel I needed to make a point that I belonged.