Ramone, this is the part of the story that becomes uncomfortable to share. Uncomfortable but important. I owe it to you, to paint a full picture of who your dad was. It is necessary for you to know my flaws and to know my struggles. You need to know what helped me overcome them, so you can avoid going down the same dark path I was once on. Poor coping skills don’t need to be hereditary.

The breaking point of 2012 happened at 2:45 am on November 26. I was drowning and I lost sight of the life preserver. In the words of Tegan and Sara, “it’s a silly time to learn to swim when you start to drown”.

On November 25th, I started to seriously contemplate committing suicide. I spent large portions of the day in constant and fervent prayer. In my prayers I basically ended u...

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