Hey, I’m Zight. Well, at least that’s what I go by online. I have a friend named Caleb. He lived in Arizona, and I met him online about three and a half years ago when I was about 14. Today, I am currently 18, and Caleb was supposed to turn 19 next month. Earlier today, I found out that he passed away because he committed suicide by overdosing and is only being held up by life support.
I know to many of you guys it may sound dumb to care so much for someone that I met online, but this guy has taught me so much, and whenever we had an issue, we learned to talk things out. That allowed us to get closer and our friendship to be stronger. I was in a trio with a girl named Bunny, and the three of us treated each other as family. We annoyed each other and pissed each other off, but in the end, we still loved and cared about each other a lot. To many people that have known him, people always thought of him as cheerful and bright. He was constantly going through a lot and had lots of pressure building on him, but he constantly tried making people happy. He was suffering from depression and had anxiety. I always looked up to him, as he looked up to me. He constantly tried getting better and never used his depression or anxiety as an excuse. He eventually was able to go outside more after suffering from anxiety to leave the house. There were many things we learned about each other, and as we got older, we tried to be better as people. Whenever one of us did something wrong, we would have a talk about it. I always saw him as sort of light in the rain since he always tried helping and being there for us when we were down.
He only has his mom, sister, and brother. His mom ended up leaving his dad when Caleb was really young due to abuse, and his dad owed them tons of child support that he hasn’t paid off. Caleb’s family is always trying to make ends meet, living paycheck to paycheck. Caleb constantly tried looking for a job and, after a long time, finally got one. Even though he had that fear of going out, he started with walks and eventually got a haircut. I know it doesn’t sound like much, but to us and, most importantly, him, it was a big step. I was so happy he got a job and proud of him, seeing him feel so accomplished. But sadly, after a few weeks, he was found not moving in his bed and was taken to the hospital. He always told us how he would never do such a thing and he would never leave us alone. But everything happened so suddenly it doesn’t feel real. I just wish it was just a nightmare, as many of his friends want to believe as well. We sat in the call just breaking down, having many regrets and wishing it wasn’t true. His family is in absolute distraught. His mom said how her kids were her prized possessions. I can’t even imagine what they must be going through, but I want them to know that there are lots of people who also grieved and loved Caleb. He will always hold a special place in our hearts.
I made this to raise money to help his family, especially with the hospital bill because of the current events. I hope he is in a much better place now, and I really miss and care a lot about him. Love you, Caleb. We’ll miss you.
