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'Love is the answer'
The idea of belonging has always had significance in my life. My deepest desire is to see everyone around me as family, and I think that everyone deserves a sense of belonging and love.
My focus on belonging deepened in college when I learned my younger sister had committed suicide. Her passing was startling, but I had been aware of her pain and also struggled with the idea of killing myself. Suicide suggested itself as a way to end the misery I was living and to lift the burden I felt I was to others. I was often taunted and teased in elementary school, even by adults, so I learned to minimize the pain I suffered by reading people and figuring out what they wanted from me. I reasoned that if I was able to give people what they wanted (within limits), they would like me and treat me better. Sometimes other students would copy my tests or otherwise use me, but I didn’t care. Any positive attention, even fake, was accepted.
About the author
Holly Safronoff lives in Traverse City, Michigan.

October 8, 2012 issue
View Issue-
Letters
Anna Willis, David Cornell, Tempie Stahlin
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'Life needs you'
Jeff Ward-Bailey, Staff Editor
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You have a better friend than suicide
Michael Pabst
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Beyond remorse to healing
Roger Gordon
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'Love is the answer'
Holly Safronoff
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Breaking the spell of suicide
Dorothy Estes
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Stopping the cycle of fear
Doug Brown
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Student debts: a spiritual solution
Edward Little
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When a friend committed suicide
Sierra Morehardt
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Nothing in the way
Bonnie Larson
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Clear knowledge
Judith Cordray
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'Never really over!'
James Shepherd
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A commitment strengthened
Ken Jurgensen
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A good investment
Lona Ingwerson
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Humble prayers for peace
Ralph W. Emerson
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Drawing close to God
Kathleen Collins
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The 7 ways of God's children
Kaiana Bradley
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Bible game show aims for religious audience
Chris Lisee
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Screening for loneliness?
Don Ingwerson
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Heart condition healed
Lindsay Catlin
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No more back pain
Robert B. Scott
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No need for glasses
Helen Liscomb
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Victory over a food allergy
Christine Parker
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Wherever you're coming from...
The Editors