3 months, finally over.

It was a hot Auguest evening in 2001 as a walked into the empty white gym awaiting my dad's return. The smell of a freshly waxed floor overwhelmed me as I walked in. It reminded me of how it smells when I step out of an airplane and get that first intake of the outside air, it was friendly and familiar. I could hear all the different families chatting in suspense. I heard whining babies because it was well past their usual bedtime and their mothers quietly hushing them. I look behind me at all the women holding banners reading things like "Welcome home!" and "We missed you!". I could taste the flavor-filled Juicy Fruit gum my mom had just handed me. My mouth started to go dry with anticipation as I turned my head to face the corner of the gym as the door pushed open. One by one soldiers dressed in light shades of camoflouge began to file in. I remember hearing the crowd's booming cheers elevate as each family spotted their loved one(s). I rapidly scan the soldiers for my dad. I finally separate him from the others, he was much tanner than he was before but I recognized him in a heart beat. I could feel my face light up as I catch his eye. His neatly pressed shirt wrinkled as I hugged him. My sister, being only about three years old, just stood there for a minute, unsure of who he was. My mom walked over to hug her husband, by this time my sister began to realize who he was and he lifted her up into his arms to carry her. Holding my dad's hand, we walked back to the car as he began to tell me stories of all the things he saw in the middle east. My dad was finally home.

The suicide pact.

The other day, I came across an article that really caught my attention. It was about two girls who were killed by a speeding Amtrak train in Pennsylvania. In reality it was a suicide, according to a witness and the autopsies. Vanessa Dorwart and Gina Gentile were only fifteen and sixteen when they took their own lives. A third girl was said to have planned to join them but backed out last minute. The girl said Dorwart and Gentile hugged and stepped out onto the tracks just as an Acela from Boston turned the corner. Apparently the reason for the group suicide was because Gentile's boyfriend had just recently died in a car accident and both girls were extremely upset about it. Police said they think up to seven other teens were involved in the suicide pact.
This article just really upset me, I can't understand why two young girls about my age would just suddenly take their own life over a boy. It is heart breaking that the boy died but there's no reason to die too. Friends are supposed to help each other through grievances, not just give up and end everything that is yet to come. It's terrifying how many single and group teen suicides you hear about today. It seems like there's at least one that makes it to big news every few weeks. I just can't comprehend why someone with so much time left to accomplish the world would just drop everything and take their life. I could never imagine I alone, or with a friend commiting suicide for any reason what so ever. I'm sure that if the boy wouldn't have wanted Dorwart and Gentile to jump in front of that train either..