A somber plea for Halloween decorators

I lost my 19-year-old son Skyler to suicide on April 16, 2004. He lost his agonizing battle with depression and hanged himself in his grandfather's garage.

When suicide happens, you are immediately thrust into indescribably crippling, searing pain and shock.

You've never really thought too much about suicide. You've heard about cases in the news and you feel bad for those families.

Until you are hit in the face with the reality that your baby, your child a part of you that you have loved and nurtured and had such high hopes for is abruptly ripped from your life in the seconds when you get that horrible phone call, you can't possibly know about this pain that never ends.

I hope you never do.

I go to weddings and I'm sad that Skyler will never be married. I go to baptisms and graduations and I am sad because Skyler will never have children. I hope he was in love at least once. I don't know.

It's been six years now, and I can talk more about it without crying as much.

Here is my plea to those who hang bodies from trees and porches as Halloween decorations: Please know that there are people who, simply by viewing these effigies, die a little on the inside.

I miss Skyler every single day. But, I choose to remember his beautiful smile, the funny things he did, and the cool kid he was.

I don't want to be reminded of the sad, lonely way he died.

Sue Zimberoff

Elgin