Over the years, I've watched him grow. Through the baby stages to death. I've seen the struggles, the joy, the despair. It was all clear. He never gave a thought, that he wasn't alone in his room. He was never alone, I was there. I was there in the walls, the dirty carpet he refused to clean, in the posters, the holes, in that stinky boy smell he emitted as a teen. I was there …showed first 75 words of 407 total…

…showed last 75 words of 407 total…the gun. I was the one who hid the ammunition within my walls. I was there to cool the room so frigid, he could barely manipulate that gun. I was there. I am here. I am here, watching as he pulls the feeding tube and IV's from himself. I let him die this time. There's nothing I can do, except be there. "Thank you" he calls out on his last breaths, "I know you're there".