Leah Marie King
Two weeks ago, I saw a post on Facebook telling one of my “friends” how they miss her. Then I saw another, expressing sadness. What the hells going on? I wondered. I went to my friends page and saw dozens of posts expressing shock and grief.
So of course I’m wondering what happened. She died? That’s horrible! What happened? We’d never met face to face, but had chatted on Facebook, and just about five weeks earlier we talked on Skype for a radio interview. I was still hopeful that this was just one of those Facebook misunderstandings or a cruel hoax. As the day went on dozens of posts came in from people who actually knew Leah, not just as a Facebook friends, but actual loved ones.
The one thing that wasn’t mentioned was what happened. A few asked, but no one was saying. This made me think that it wasn’t a car wreck or sudden illness. I began to get a bad feeling. Accidents or natural causes aren’t usually kept quiet. One person did make mention of taking ones life.
NO! No way! I just interviewed her and she was so up. She was passionate about playing guitar, about songwriting, and about working with horses. We were going to do another interview in the future. She talked about coming back to the Pacific Northwest on tour some day. Just not what you usually hear from someone who would want to commit suicide. A day or so later this was released.
Raven Child Music and Leah’s family are deeply distressed to announce the passing of Leah Marie King. Sadly, on Tuesday, June 24, 2014, Leah decided to end her life. She will be sorely missed by all the people who knew and loved her. Information about memorial services will be forthcoming.
In lieu of flowers, donations in Leah’s memory can be made to her favorite local charity, a dog rescue organization (Stevie, the LMK tour dog, graduated from Snooty Giggles) near Nashville, Tennessee or American Foundation For Suicide Prevention or Canadian Association for Suicide Prevention
For someone I never met face to face, Leah’s passing hit me hard that week. We always think that we could tell when someone was in so much pain, that they couldn’t bear to go on. Of course we could tell… Think again. We can’t always tell. All we can do is be willing to hear. Be willing to pay closer attention If you are one who is in so much pain, let someone know. PLEASE! Or contact one of the organizations linked above.
