The Big D.

My former next-door neighbor committed suicide a few days ago. Very shocking and extremely thought-provoking. It definitely makes you put your own life in check. He was reported missing for a while. The Sheriff’s Department issued a flyer that contained the statement “recently diagnosed with Depression”. That’s what really got to me. I suffer from Depression. Not a whole lot of people know that. It took literally years for me to accept it. For me it felt like admitting weakness and defeat. I finally woke up one day and let it sink in that if it were another type of affliction, say diabetes, I would never have thought I could take it on without the aid of medication. Today it is totally under control. Today when I found out about my neighbor, I couldn’t help but compare myself. I don’t mean to take away from his life and I have no idea what has going on in his head that lead him to this conclusion. All I do know is that I was headed down that path and I had no idea why. My problems in life were no more or no less than the average person. I knew that yet I was powerless in dealing with them mentally. With the help of my friends and a therapist that I literally owe my life to, I finally realized that the most intelligent thing I could have done was to treat it. Fuck Tom Cruise and his religion. As if religion isn’t a drug in and of itself. Dalton will be missed. He was one of the Huntley gang for a long time. He had a Pug he named Huntley. At the time I wasn’t very found of Pugs but Huntley was cool. After all, he was the street mascot! Then Della came along; Dalton’s female Pug. Della was a huge roly-poly who even as a pup outweighed poor Huntley. Eventually, Della went to live with Dalton’s parents and Huntley’s life was back to order. Then, the Bitches bought the property I rented. The neighbors banded together even closer. Dalton, along with all of the rest of us, had many issues with the Bitches, especially when they decided to put a camera on their rooftop angled directly at his pool. It was legal because it was not hidden. Anyway, through the years life on Huntley was part of what made me happy. I never took for granted the fact that it was so abnormal for neighbors in the heart of West Hollywood to not only know each other, but to look out for one another as well. Dalton was one of those neighbors. I wish he could have dealt with his Depression.