11 Comments
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Obsidian Blackbird.'s avatar

yeah bro. I could see that If many of my friends kept on their track they would die... so I moved away and started living clean and eating well. If I diddnt - I would have died at exactly 27.

Now Im also watching many drop like flys on facebook. A mate of mine who I went to boarding school with at 10 and partied with as a teen - went like this -

More drugs and booze,

Singing in a black metal band, working as a tiler...

Kids, One of the kids dies - due to neglect.

Spousal Abuse case.

Suicide at 41

I was explaining to a guy today that You have to start paying attention in your early 30s... when you can still move and change. Once the bad habits lock in... its a downward slope.

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Autumn Widdoes's avatar

Is this fiction or nonfiction? I assume it's nonfiction. I can also count on my hand a number of fentanyl or heroin related deaths. We are around the same age, so I think our generation has been greatly harmed by what's happened societally over the past 20 years. Facebook does help us recognize how many people we once knew are dead. But I do think our generation and the generation coming up just below ours, is dealing with so much death and loss. I'm not sure its really about social media as it is about waves of death, either by suicide, drug use or cancer.

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Ray Downs's avatar

Nonfiction with names changed.

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Wendy Varley's avatar

That is tough, Ray. I’m sorry to hear about Big Joe. It’s particularly sad when old school friends die relatively young. A lot of tragedy there.

I agree, old photos on Facebook can be a jarring way to find out who has gone. (When I first noticed it on my own feed I only half jokingly started calling it ‘Griefbook’.)

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Ray Downs's avatar

Griefbook definitely fits.

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Clancy Steadwell's avatar

this was beautiful Ray

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guttermouth's avatar

I'm 31 and have lost maybe 15 people. Thank you for this. I know I'm far from alone but it is telling who is going through this and who is not and will not. Ignorance is bliss and every smile feels like a crime.

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Ray Downs's avatar

It’s crazy. Thanks for reading 🙏

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Logan the Lobotomizer's avatar

A sad, but great story!

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Emil Ottoman's avatar

if I read this, it’s gonna hurt me isn’t it.

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Ray Downs's avatar

I was trying to say something profound about social media but it just came out an obituary. 🤷🏻

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