A Blog Community and a Sad Loss

I learned this weekend that a healthy, 20-something, avid reader of this blog passed away earlier this year.  A relative, coping with the loss, and the stunning development that authorities now believe the death was a suicide, was looking for a connection to her loved one.  She emailed me with the news.

I didn't know the young woman personally, but her death has hit me very hard.  The young woman found this blog because she was grappling with her Mixed experience.  She was embarrassed to talk with friends about her struggle of trying to figure out where she fit in black or white communities.  She read along for a long time before she ever commented.  And she only commented once.

It's still unclear whether the authorities are right.  I hope they're not.  But it's so difficult to think that maybe she thought her struggle was too difficult--and heart-breaking to think that she thought she was alone.  

A beautiful, curious, and vivacious young woman was lost.  She will be missed.