Simon was the odd kid, he was different. But he was unique and probably wouldve created some cool invention if he hadnt left us. I heard a rumor that he commited suicide , and that he had been bullied. I hope that wasnt true. Simon I still remember you and I used to wonder what you were thinking. Im sorry if we didnt know you were suffering inside.
Lynne, I am so thankful you wrote your note about Simon. I believe he did commit suicide and It made me sick to my stomach when I heard he had died. I had seen and heard so much of what caused his pain and when you're just a kid like you and I were back then, there is so little that we could do. I didn't know how to respond. I was just sad and sick. Simon did not deserve any of the torment he got. I just hope and pray that those who brought his pain upon him learned something from the tragedy and never, ever treated another human begin with such intentional and unintentional cruelty.
When Simon arrived at Jordan in 8th grade, he was a very different and strange kid. I remember him speaking to someone/something we couldn't see and making fun of him. Later in high school, especially in Alternative School he and I became very good friends. In the A-School I think he finally found a place to be, to be safe in his oddness, be accepted for his creativity. We did many fun and crazy things together and he enriched my life. He went to college in Santa Rosa, and that first Christmas when we all got together, something was wrong. At UC Santa Cruz, I remember still the morning I went to my mail box and got a letter, I think from his father perhaps, or maybe Rosie Early...I don't remember, saying that Simon had killed himself. Apparently he had schizophrenia and voices telling him to do some terrible things. In the suicide note I recall he wrote something that the voices he was hearing were telling him to do terrible things, and he didn't want to do them, or hear it anymore....So he took his life. It was a terrible shock for me, and it was really the first person I knew that had died. Several years later on my way back from Israel, I visited his grandparents in England and they took me to his grave....Oddly, I remembered later that on an A-school trip to Big Sur, we visited a cemetary and there was a very large gravestone with just SIMON written on it it big letters, no birthdate or death date, no last name. Simon laid down in front of it and someone took his picture. I always felt it was precient. Anyhow, he was a wonderful, strange, unique, and brave soul, and I still think about him often....
Lynne Armstrong
Simon was the odd kid, he was different. But he was unique and probably wouldve created some cool invention if he hadnt left us. I heard a rumor that he commited suicide , and that he had been bullied. I hope that wasnt true. Simon I still remember you and I used to wonder what you were thinking. Im sorry if we didnt know you were suffering inside.
Lynne Armstrong
Mal Schoen
Yes - both Simon and later his sister Sarah took their own lives. Very very sad...
Joe Grebmeier
Simon was kind and bother no one. I am sorry to hear that he left us. I can only remember good things about him.
Rose McCarty (Emanuel)
I remember Simon and his sister Sarah. They were both kind souls. I wish them peace.
Ted Hicks
Lynne, I am so thankful you wrote your note about Simon. I believe he did commit suicide and It made me sick to my stomach when I heard he had died. I had seen and heard so much of what caused his pain and when you're just a kid like you and I were back then, there is so little that we could do. I didn't know how to respond. I was just sad and sick. Simon did not deserve any of the torment he got. I just hope and pray that those who brought his pain upon him learned something from the tragedy and never, ever treated another human begin with such intentional and unintentional cruelty.
Bill Strubbe
When Simon arrived at Jordan in 8th grade, he was a very different and strange kid. I remember him speaking to someone/something we couldn't see and making fun of him. Later in high school, especially in Alternative School he and I became very good friends. In the A-School I think he finally found a place to be, to be safe in his oddness, be accepted for his creativity. We did many fun and crazy things together and he enriched my life. He went to college in Santa Rosa, and that first Christmas when we all got together, something was wrong. At UC Santa Cruz, I remember still the morning I went to my mail box and got a letter, I think from his father perhaps, or maybe Rosie Early...I don't remember, saying that Simon had killed himself. Apparently he had schizophrenia and voices telling him to do some terrible things. In the suicide note I recall he wrote something that the voices he was hearing were telling him to do terrible things, and he didn't want to do them, or hear it anymore....So he took his life. It was a terrible shock for me, and it was really the first person I knew that had died. Several years later on my way back from Israel, I visited his grandparents in England and they took me to his grave....Oddly, I remembered later that on an A-school trip to Big Sur, we visited a cemetary and there was a very large gravestone with just SIMON written on it it big letters, no birthdate or death date, no last name. Simon laid down in front of it and someone took his picture. I always felt it was precient. Anyhow, he was a wonderful, strange, unique, and brave soul, and I still think about him often....