I spoke tonight with a man you'd never assume had ever considered suicide.

      He's got his head on straight, seems to have it all together. He's one of the smartest guys I've ever met. He's the type of man that when he decided, in high school, to take some trade-school-esque classes and shed away the stress of the honors program, the councilors pulled him aside for a little talk. In any group, he's the guy making the jokes. Always. He's always got the jokes to keep you smiling, and the wisdom to keep you thinking and grinning long after he's gone. He smiles and nods at all the right times, and though I had noticed that he was probably typecasted as the friend by way too many girls, I never would have guessed he'd considered taking his own life. That was, before I realized that everyone has thought about it. Everyone. He's found God now, and has a new perspective on life, but the moral of this story is clear.

      I was in Peoria a couple weeks ago and I heard a man tell me that his friend drove his car off the top of a parking garage...backed up at one end, hit the gas, and smashed through the retaining wall. He was looking out the window to the parking garage across the street as he told his story. He told me wanted to jump sometimes. He wanted to jump.

      He wanted to jump.

      If you met this man, you wouldn't think he was ever depressed in his life. You'd think he was always strong, constantly joking or flirting with some girl somewhere. You'd say to yourself, "Damn, he's got it all together, why I am fucked up?" Well he doesn't have it all together, and you know what, neither do you. You know what else? No one does. Well, one guy in the back, but screw him.