Another high school friend sadly chimes in, though I can't add anything new to the beautiful things that have already been said about my long-ago confidante and comrade-in-adolescence. Still, it's worth reiterating...Steve, as we knew him then, was trully a gentle soul with fathomless depths of empathy, sincerity and sweetness. His warm humor never slid into meanness, his friendship was never duplicitous.He was a rock of reliable goodness, impervious to pettiness and social dogma. Evidently, he remained so, and refined these attributes throughout his remarkably productive and creative life. High school would have been a much tougher, colder place without his comforting, steady friendship. His losses and his loss are heartwrenching.

We lost another friend to suicide not long ago. In his eulogy, my husband noted that, while some survivors succumb to anger, none of us can comprehend the intensity of pain that would move a sensitive man to seek such final relief. The grief of the survivors would be something he would remorsefully contemplate, but insufficient to stay his hand from ending that awful pain.

To his family, friends and survivors, thank you for this amazing memorial. As you cherish your memories of Stevenson, you will still see him in your dreams, with that sweet smile, which could soothe countless ills in others. He was so cute. With heavy heart, I've scoured my yearbooks for every picture of him. It seems like yesterday...My deepest condolences to all of you...Annie Halpin
halpins@augwest.com