Suicide Can Destroy Families

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As some of you may have noticed I have not been here for a week or so. It's been a trying week and thankfully it turned out better than it started. My nephew who is my heart has been married for almost 8 years and has 3 beautiful daughters who are also my heart. Years ago before he got married he was dating a girl and was not horribly happy. He was getting ready to break it off when she told him she was pregnant. He manned up and married her thinking he was doing the right thing and was privately hoping things would get better. He tells me almost everything and I tried to talk him out of marrying her. He could still be a good daddy and be in his child's life. But he wouldn't listen to me nor to his mom, my sister. We both tried to talk him out of it, as we both knew he wasn't happy. For almost 8 years he tried so very hard, working 2 jobs to make ends meet and buying a house for his family. He has been working those 2 jobs for over a year now and has had 2 days off in that time. He and his wife have also had 2 more children since they married. His wife also has a daughter who very soon will be 16 from a previous relationship and my nephew treats her like the rest of his kids and she calls him daddy. He loves her with all his heart. She has been in all our lives since she was 4 and we all love her very much. He has such a good heart. He used to be a volunteer fireman and has saved many lives in that role. He went to New Orleans for 2 weeks after Hurricane Katrina and did an awful job there. Body recovery. The memory of that has haunted him for years. He also saved 57 people trapped by Katrina and I have always told him to think about those he saved. When his wife's mother lost her husband to cancer she couldn't afford her house any longer and my nephew and his wife took her in and she lives there still. That was about 4 years ago. My nephew loves his mother in law and she helps in the household and watches the kids so my nephew and his wife can both work full time. As I said he has a kind heart. 3 weeks ago he told his wife he wanted a divorce. A week ago she took an overdose of prescription medication she had. Very shortly after doing that she told him what she had done and he rushed her to the hospital. My nephew thinks she took 45 pills. The hospital said she took a lethal dose but thankfully he got her there in time and they saved her life. She was in ICU for 2 days and is now in a regular room but she is in lock down. No one can see her until I believe today or tomorrow. They let my nephew and his mother in law see her once since that day. I could tell you all many stories of the selfish things my nephew's wife has done over the years, and how my nephew would bottle those things up inside and tell his wife it was ok, or how angry me and his mom would be when we heard the stories when my nephew couldn't hold them in any more. Or how worried we would get for his mental health. But he is a strong guy and those stories really serve no purpose.We all have treated his wife and her mother the same as we treat the rest of the family because they are family, and his wife and mother have no one else. They are the last of their family. We think she is getting out of the hospital this coming Wednesday but at this point we aren't sure. We will know more today or tomorrow. My nephew told me he talked to her on the phone and she is embarrassed by her actions, and wants him to apologize to the entire family. We are all just very thankful she is alive. He told her the marriage is over and it seems she has finally accepted that. We are all hoping that his wife will never ever consider this horrible decision she made again. Death is so final, you can't say ooops I made a mistake, or I didn't mean it because next time it could very well be final. There is no going back. The kids of course were only told that mommy had a bad reaction to her medications, they don't need to know the true details. So we shall see how things go once she is released from the hospital. I talked with her mom a few times and she is concerned about the holidays and how that will all work out. We have all already said we want the whole family together this year and for many years to come. We all want things to be as normal as possible for the kids sake. Of course her mom doesn't want to lose her only daughter but at the same time she is upset with her because she feels like she didn't consider what her death would do to the kids. While the whole family wants her to live our biggest concern is those kids. Except for the 16 year old the others are 7, 5 and 4. I'm hoping as the whole family is that my nephew's wife will come to terms with the ending of her marriage and moves on. It's the end of her marriage it doesn't have to be the end of her life. That's what we are all hoping for.