This letter below is a actual letter written by a teenager and my daughter read it to me and tears started to swell up in my eyes.  It was taken from the magazine Teen People written by Margaret Nelson called a "Reason to live".  It touched me deeply and I wanted to put the letter here so all can see that it isn't easy being a teenager and the pressures they go through and how sometimes there is too much for them to handle.  I will not put the last name of the person who wrote this letter to his parents but it really happened. I think if all of us looked at the  article maybe it will help us understand teens better and maybe be able to help them out. The teenagers today will someday be our leaders tomorrow so yes they are people and are very important. Many people have said that when they come to my Hompage that there should be a box of Kleenex  supplied well  before  you read this letter go get some because you will need some I am sure. This letter is so touching I am sure you will walk away with a different understanding of our kids.   Dear Mom & Dad,                                         I guess by the time that you read this letter I am already gone. Trust me when I say, you had nothing to do with this. What it was , was all the peer pressure with school. I really don't know what to say in these dam things but...I want you to know that I love mom and dad. Dad  I love you very very very much and just because I used your gun doesn't mean I don't want you to stop your investigation work. I want you to live on with mom. Because the only thing I really wanted was form you guys, is to get married again and for you mom to quit smoking. Right now I'm not in English class so my spelling doesn't have to be perfict. Also I'm putting my will in this letter. Steven V.P., I want Steve all my baseball cards and sports equipment. Jason I want Jason to have all my CD's and my sterio system in my truck. That includes both equalizers, both radios, and my back speakers. Ricky - he can have my B.B. gun collution. Lori can have her CD player, and my present to you mom and dad is to now that I will all ways be with, not just in your hearts, but right beside you guys. This isn't good bye forever, because no matter what I will be back.    P.S. Tell the Princible that he didn't cause this. I would also like you to grant my last two requests. My last two requests are that you guys get remarried and for you to be together for life. My last request is that dad goes and tells all my teachers except ........ and ........, that it wasn't there fault. I wasn't they're fault either, but they made it alittle bit harder on my life. Also tell ........... that remember when we  were in the office and he told me it make every one not listen him because everyone distracks him, it's not true , nobody listens to him any ways and I only   played one game out of the hole year and everyone else has been playing games everyday. Mom & Dad theses are my last two requests that I ask of you, please  full fill them for me. Mom there is also my Minnisota Twins jersey that I want steven V.P. to have.  I also needs to have it washed. It is in my back pack. With all my heart live long and tell the hole family, tell grandma & grandpa That I also love them very very much. I will always  love you , good bye mom. Dad life ends but loves doesn't so , I will miss you most.  And take good care of my cats Smokey and Jr. .   I Love you guys so much!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Love,               Kenny   Like Kenny and million others teens out there in the world these are problems that they face and we need to stop them from killing themselves. They are our future and they need to know we care and we are here for them. Now there are some things that teens need to realize such as parents sometimes can't be together if the love is gone for a husband and a wife that doesn't mean they don't love their children. That just because Mom & Dad aren't together doesn't mean they don't love them it means Mom and Dad don't love each other. Teens need to know they cant always have what they want but they can always have  someone listen to them. I walked away from this article sad but with the understanding as a parent that things are different now than we were were younger although some things are still the same. That when our teenagers say we don't understand maybe we really don't because we go back to when we were teenagers when things really were different and our way of dealing with them is different than theirs is now. Being a single Dad and bringing up my  two girls since one was  7 years old and the other 14 years old I thought I knew when my girls needed me and that I would understand what they were going through but I don't  although I try to. My heart goes out to Kenny's parent for I know I would be lost without my daughters and through their pain we all will or I hope will learn something from this. As parents we want and expect our children to out live us and as we have seen it doesn't always happen.  I did use this article without the Teen People permission and I sure hope I don't get in trouble but if this article saves just one teen  then all was worth any trouble I will get into. So remember parents love them children and try to understand them and don't say " I was a teenager before so i know what you are talking about"  because parents you really don't know.       A Note to Kenny from me   Kenny,                                                                                   I am not sure what to say except I am so sorry that you had to leave this world and leave your Mom and Dad. I am sorry that you felt so much pain and felt you couldn't be around with us here on earth. But I know that you have to be in Heaven looking down at your Mom and Dad and being so proud of them because of what they are doing to prevent other teens  from having to go through what you did. Having a teenage daughter and thinking I knew everything she was going through  now has me rethinking that totally. Kenny you had to be a special teenager after reading your letter I  see you were so giving and didn't ask much from people. Kenny being a Host in a Chat room where I deal with teens all the time now has given me a different insight as to how to deal with them and to make myself available to listen to their problems. As strange as this may sound Kenny thank you so much for making me see things in a different light. Kenny I hope you are well up there in heaven and as the article said in a  few years all you will be a name on a headstone to the world except your family and friends but Kenny that isn't true I will remember you for your story touched my life.                                           God Bless You Kenny                                          Host James