Fr: mid-50s, friend of my family, like an uncle, hung himself in his closet. Me: 10 Shocking to all of us; he was very successful, very powerful in state government.
Ma: 70s, my favorite aunt, OD on sleeping pills (probably N, given the era) at home. Me: 13 Sad, but not surprising. She missed her husband, who had died from lung cancer years before, and she ctb on their wedding anniversary.
Co: 14, friend in high school, partial in our dorm. Me: 15 Lived for a while, but eventually his family turned off life support. Made a mess out of the entire (small) school.
Ro: 18, close high school friend, went off the GG bridge. Me: 19 Insanely talented musician, his gf dumped him. Shocking, but not surprising. He had been on lithium during high school, and we weren't surprised losing his gf was too much.
Jo: 18, high school classmate, suffocation w/bag in his apartment. Me: 20 I wasn't in the area, but it sounds like it was pretty awful for family and my cadre.
Ed: mid-60s, my father-in-law, CO in the family car. Me: 25 Fucked with the family, especially his son. He was an alcoholic, PTSD from time as a LEO and FF, depressed; badly broken, starting with a truly fucked up childhood. My wife suppressed a lot of it, since they'd had an antagonistic relationship, but I know it hit her hard.
Ma: 25, distant friend, shot himself. Me: 29 I wasn't in the area, but it messed up his cadre. He botched the job, blew out hif frontal lobe rather than his brainstem, but his family eventually took him off life support.
Je: 31, close friend, shot himself at home. Me: 32 Complete surprise. Rattled the hell out of us all.
Er: late-40s, friend, shot himself in his truck. Me: 44 Alcoholic, life falling apart, had just gotten busted for DUI; his wife looked out the window and saw he was still parked in the driveway when he should have been at work. Shocking, but not surprising; mostly we all looked around at each other and said, "damn, yup, that makes sense."