“The night after his father’s burial, both grieving and finally free, Stevie went cruising for men. It was his first time.”
1972 to 1992 | Columbus, Ohio | By LAUREN MORGAN

“My mother stuffed whatever was handy on the counter into her wide mouth any time he made that comment.”
1997 | Norwell, Massachusetts | By GABRIELLE JOYCE

“I should have sent him home, but somehow, we got into a conversation, and I forgot that he was a half-naked stranger.”
1999 | San Diego, California | By SARA IRENE

“One day, out of sheer boredom, I got to looking up people from my past.”
Summer of 2007 | the cyberspace between Vermont and California | By ETHEL SLOCOMBE

“People who knew her ask why someone so beautiful would poison herself; as if beauty alone is reason to exist.”
Fall 1982 | Ann Arbor, Michigan | By MOLLY GARCIA

“My whole world is centered on my backpack, which contains my most prized possession: 105 sleeping pills, carefully wrapped in a towel.”
1993 | Cape Town, South Africa | By SOPHIA HELLER

“At the funeral, my friend seemed old. So much older than her 16 years.”
Early 1990s | Massachusetts | By COURTNEY A. WALSH

“A man I never met killed himself. I’ve been distraught for days. My stomach is a knotted fist.”
2007 | Richmond, Virginia | By JAYNE PUPEK

“I climbed into his bedroom window, shook him awake and asked what he had taken.”
1971 to 2000 | San Jose, California | By KAY OLSEN

“Three days before Andrew hanged himself, he played the part of Mercutio in a scene from Romeo and Juliet.”
April 2004 | Merrimac, Massachusetts | By MELANIE WILSON