Goodbye Friends!
By Bethany Reinhart
In loving memory of Dalton Ray Skeens, Rest In Peace Friend
By Bethany Reinhart
In loving memory of Dalton Ray Skeens, Rest In Peace Friend
Yes I’m right in the middle of life and death. At the point of heading for the Light and I’m scared. ***
I heard the sirens, and I knew something bad had happened, I just knew. It was February 21 a Monday and school was canceled, a day truly deserved off. Somehow I knew they were for him, and it was sad, no one wanted to admit it was true. We only started to admit it when we got the call, he wasn’t doing well, and was trying to commit suicide. No one knew, No one saw it coming, and No wanted it to be true. He was young, he was funny, and he was nice. And now he was gone. He was 16, a junior, and a friend, everyone liked him he knew how to make you smile when you were down, but no one knew he needed to smile because he was down. It made us all sad. He was a part of everyone’s heart, a forever memory.***
I don’t know what to do I’m at a place I never knew, a place I never dreamed was real, and now I must face alone. ***
The day was snowy and sunny, but it didn’t fight the mood. We didn’t leave the house, he didn’t leave our minds. The first day without him and we all had to face it alone. The lucky ones had sibling to share the pain. He was funny, smart, and talented. Oh Dawson Ron Steen, why must you leave the world this way. I would miss him he was kind funny, and a big part of my physics lab group, a part of my quiz bowl team, a band member, a runner, and a Students Against Destructive Decisions aka SADD member. To many, he was a fallen comrade and to others a missed friend, but to most everyone he was both. Oh why must you go this way, why.***
“Goodbye” sent to Mom. This was the last thing I said to anyone.***
The Tuesday following was brutal, school was back for a full day, and everyone was happy they didn’t have to deal with it alone. A day surrounded by friends, a school day without him, DRS we will miss you. A day of memories, a day with no classes, a day of sadness, for most people, there were two girls who walked into school laughing till they realized the sadness around them. Some were happy he was gone, but didn’t show it, me, I missed him. First period passed without little in the way of anything. The school motto that day was LOVE and all the students were asked to write LOVE on their arms in honor of him. Second period, College Algebra was a downer. The friends him and I had in common were in that class, and most of them left to go other places. Me, my sister, and his best friend didn’t want to sit in the room anymore so we went to the choir room. We were talking to the choir director telling her about missing him.
She told us, “Why don’t you write notes to him on post-it notes and stick them to his locker.” She gave us the post-it notes, the markers and a mission. Our mission was to pass this around the school. The three of us wrote him something like RIP or we miss you or drew him a picture. The one that stuck out the most to me was Sam’s purple flower. After we stuck them to his locker, we went from classroom to classroom passing around the idea and a pad of stick note.***
Why must this journey be so long and so lonely. I just wanted the pain to stop and it’s following me here, into death. ***
By fourth period his locker was almost full and an idea came to me, why not a picture for him, in memory of him. A picture on his locker of the love all the students shared for him: a picture of his joys in life, of his love of life, a picture of his poke’mon and D.S., his drum sticks, and words of his memories. A picture of the love we shared for him. I asked my teacher if this would be ok and she said yes, she loved the idea. Fifth period and lunch were quiet, a room filled with 80 people quiet was shocking, but a lunch room of 120 was amazing. If people were talking it was quiet and it was sad. The joys of the gym time after lunch were not quite as playful without him. I spent half of sixth period and all of seventh in her office, she was our fearless Quiz Bowl and SADD leader, we had over 10 people in her office which was only meant to fit like five people. We actually had so many people in there we had to go to the lunch room, and we were talking about are favorite memories of him.
For me it was in physics, he was one of my lab partners, and one day he spent the whole time responding with things like “I can’t do everything” at the end of every sentence whether or not it fit that statement. Oh how it made me laugh, the fun times with him, that’s what I would always remember, the jokes about my panda bear lunch boxes being bulimic and having the name Beanie. Those things I would remember, not the pain I felt then and now. The day was long, and Quiz Bowl was hard. It was the first day without him and the first Quiz Bowl without him, he was a ninja. We didn’t even practice that day, the guys went out to a truck to drink, and the rest of us stayed and reminisced, over are Quiz Bowl times with him, his Valentine’s day hatred, and how a week before he said “Happy Valentine’s day” to one person, Deb leader. I also told everyone my picture I was going to make in memory of him, and they gave me ideas of what to put on it.***
I see them crying and I see my sister in tears. How could I know what I did would hurt so many people. How could I know the impact***
Wednesday was the end, we learned and did work, by the end of that day his locker was covered in post-it notes, and we actually had two poster boards covered as well. At the end of the day we gave all of them to his parents, and I spent the evening painting my picture in memory of him. He was gone and it was helping me move on. He was young, he never got to go to prom, and he will never get to graduate, he was 16 and loved. He had touched the world around him and continues to even though he has passed away. ***
I hate this feeling, the hurt that I feel. I’m walking to this light, regretting my decision. Wish I could take it back.***
I heard the sirens, and I knew something bad had happened, I just knew. It was February 21 a Monday and school was canceled, a day truly deserved off. Somehow I knew they were for him, and it was sad, no one wanted to admit it was true. We only started to admit it when we got the call, he wasn’t doing well, and was trying to commit suicide. No one knew, No one saw it coming, and No wanted it to be true. He was young, he was funny, and he was nice. And now he was gone. He was 16, a junior, and a friend, everyone liked him he knew how to make you smile when you were down, but no one knew he needed to smile because he was down. It made us all sad. He was a part of everyone’s heart, a forever memory.***
I don’t know what to do I’m at a place I never knew, a place I never dreamed was real, and now I must face alone. ***
The day was snowy and sunny, but it didn’t fight the mood. We didn’t leave the house, he didn’t leave our minds. The first day without him and we all had to face it alone. The lucky ones had sibling to share the pain. He was funny, smart, and talented. Oh Dawson Ron Steen, why must you leave the world this way. I would miss him he was kind funny, and a big part of my physics lab group, a part of my quiz bowl team, a band member, a runner, and a Students Against Destructive Decisions aka SADD member. To many, he was a fallen comrade and to others a missed friend, but to most everyone he was both. Oh why must you go this way, why.***
“Goodbye” sent to Mom. This was the last thing I said to anyone.***
The Tuesday following was brutal, school was back for a full day, and everyone was happy they didn’t have to deal with it alone. A day surrounded by friends, a school day without him, DRS we will miss you. A day of memories, a day with no classes, a day of sadness, for most people, there were two girls who walked into school laughing till they realized the sadness around them. Some were happy he was gone, but didn’t show it, me, I missed him. First period passed without little in the way of anything. The school motto that day was LOVE and all the students were asked to write LOVE on their arms in honor of him. Second period, College Algebra was a downer. The friends him and I had in common were in that class, and most of them left to go other places. Me, my sister, and his best friend didn’t want to sit in the room anymore so we went to the choir room. We were talking to the choir director telling her about missing him.
She told us, “Why don’t you write notes to him on post-it notes and stick them to his locker.” She gave us the post-it notes, the markers and a mission. Our mission was to pass this around the school. The three of us wrote him something like RIP or we miss you or drew him a picture. The one that stuck out the most to me was Sam’s purple flower. After we stuck them to his locker, we went from classroom to classroom passing around the idea and a pad of stick note.***
Why must this journey be so long and so lonely. I just wanted the pain to stop and it’s following me here, into death. ***
By fourth period his locker was almost full and an idea came to me, why not a picture for him, in memory of him. A picture on his locker of the love all the students shared for him: a picture of his joys in life, of his love of life, a picture of his poke’mon and D.S., his drum sticks, and words of his memories. A picture of the love we shared for him. I asked my teacher if this would be ok and she said yes, she loved the idea. Fifth period and lunch were quiet, a room filled with 80 people quiet was shocking, but a lunch room of 120 was amazing. If people were talking it was quiet and it was sad. The joys of the gym time after lunch were not quite as playful without him. I spent half of sixth period and all of seventh in her office, she was our fearless Quiz Bowl and SADD leader, we had over 10 people in her office which was only meant to fit like five people. We actually had so many people in there we had to go to the lunch room, and we were talking about are favorite memories of him.
For me it was in physics, he was one of my lab partners, and one day he spent the whole time responding with things like “I can’t do everything” at the end of every sentence whether or not it fit that statement. Oh how it made me laugh, the fun times with him, that’s what I would always remember, the jokes about my panda bear lunch boxes being bulimic and having the name Beanie. Those things I would remember, not the pain I felt then and now. The day was long, and Quiz Bowl was hard. It was the first day without him and the first Quiz Bowl without him, he was a ninja. We didn’t even practice that day, the guys went out to a truck to drink, and the rest of us stayed and reminisced, over are Quiz Bowl times with him, his Valentine’s day hatred, and how a week before he said “Happy Valentine’s day” to one person, Deb leader. I also told everyone my picture I was going to make in memory of him, and they gave me ideas of what to put on it.***
I see them crying and I see my sister in tears. How could I know what I did would hurt so many people. How could I know the impact***
Wednesday was the end, we learned and did work, by the end of that day his locker was covered in post-it notes, and we actually had two poster boards covered as well. At the end of the day we gave all of them to his parents, and I spent the evening painting my picture in memory of him. He was gone and it was helping me move on. He was young, he never got to go to prom, and he will never get to graduate, he was 16 and loved. He had touched the world around him and continues to even though he has passed away. ***
I hate this feeling, the hurt that I feel. I’m walking to this light, regretting my decision. Wish I could take it back.***