Pictured are some of the thousands of mourners who participated in a candlelight vigil in remembrance of college student Carly Henley two days after her suicide of October 6, 2010.
In addition, three days after her passing a handful of past and present students from her high school sat together outside and under shelter on a rainy Seattle night to sing songs in Carly's memory. One student there spoke of having recalled Carly playing "Traveling Soldier" at an assembly and of observing people reduced to tears all around the gym that day. Upon learning of Carly's death nearly 3 years later, the same student went home that evening and taught himself to play "Traveling Soldier". He then played it among friends on that aforementioned rainy night before doing same two weeks later at a local coffee shop's open mic night dedicated to Carly Henley.
Although I did not know Carly it sure seems to me that someone who marched into young adulthood with so very many things working in her favor likely had a support system the likes of which most suicide victims can't match.
Admittedly I'm trying to use logic in an attempt to make sense of the illogical but Carly Henley was simply far too capable at expressing herself to seem a candidate to take her own life without a significant assist from the powerful drug Zoloft, which Carly reportedly had been prescribed as of a couple of weeks before her death.
The music you can find online combines with a significant amount of video footage of Carly to suggest that she basically lived to express herself in one way or another. She was good at it, too, and that assures that those all around her kept reinforcing her instincts that way.
Carly grew up in a nice neighborhood outside of Seattle as the daughter of career-driven parents who provided quite suitably for her and her siblings. To me it seems a nice touch that Carly went to a public high school, and every available vibe suggests that she remained a humble and grounded student who was noticed and admired by nearly everyone.
An interesting observation to an outsider is that there are never any direct references to boyfriends in the online footprint of Carly Henley, although some of her music hints at romantic interests. Indeed she may have had a steady stream of suitors but they just aren't prominent and well-indicated despite scores of online references to Carly both before and since her passing.
She was a nice mix of grounded individual, church-goer, and sorority sister during her time at university and the makings of a dream life are there when you combine those with her various music performances. Summer jobs were typically at local coffee shops in the area within a mile or two of her high school and it never hurt her to have an 'in' at such places when wanting to play her music for others.
The vibes which flow freely from the videos of her musical performances (highlighted two entries back) really suggest that this was a woman who took great pleasure from the little things. At certain moments in those videos it just seems that Carly Henley was 'in the zone' in ways that the average kid down the block just can't expect to experience so early in life (not that often, at least).
Bravo for her for having somehow let her desire to play her guitar and sing overcome her nervousness about going up on stage. It seems the young woman was surrounded by a great group of friends who supported her at any and every venue where she played. It would have been difficult for lots of people to remain grounded after knowing some of those moments in front of welcoming audiences, but Carly seemed to have her feet and her persona firmly planted on earth.
As is the case with college life there are scores and scores of photos online of many of her friends in the company of the requisite bottle of alcohol, but it probably isn't a coincidence that I've not even stumbled across a single such picture with Carly in such a group. The greek system at university certainly assures that alcohol is seldom far away and it may be more difficult to randomly be out of view in all such photos than it is to land in a few of them.
To me it appears that Carly and her family did a great job of balancing her life and inspirations to produce a well-rounded person who treated others wonderfully and who was fully fortunate enough to consequently view her own dreamy reflection in the eyes of everyone in her path.
I should make it particularly clear that there isn't too much online to represent the final three months of Carly's life, and I admit that a very significant turn for the worse may well have exacted a giant toll on her, even before the introduction of Zoloft. Of course I wish I knew whether, say, there had been a break-up with a boyfriend in early summer, or something like that which would seem logical.
Her song lyrics and the videos of her performances combine to make it obvious that Carly Henley possessed deep and wonderful feelings. The family around her seems the sort who were considerably engaged in Carly's life and in the things which were important to her. A touching video segment can be found here (fast-forward to 20:45 in the video) wherein Carly's family members reflect on her life.
The family members outwardly hint at being just as surprised by Carly's choice as most everyone else is, but this simply wasn't a woman whose motives were akin to wanting to get back at anybody or anything like that. Consider all of those family members in that video and observe that, while each is quite successful elsewhere, all spoke with complete sincerity and matching emotion of the sort we'd all probably like to have surrounding us. I never get a hint of a vibe that those family members weren't nearby and willing to listen, and Carly Henley is one person who was well rehearsed at self-expression. I took considerable comfort from her father explaining that Carly was among the best huggers out there. People who condition themselves that way just aren't the types to run out of friends and people who care, when times get rough.
The "Zoloft" factor is the weakest link in all that surrounded Carly D. Henley near the end of what was quite the wonderful life for twenty years.
I thought of you, Carly Henley, when taking a picture of this otherwise drab, empty doorway a couple of days ago.
Rest in Peace
"LOVE WINS"
I can not understand how someone so cheerful, nice and with so much enthusiasm to do things has this sad end, I can not believe he committed suicide! I closed.
ReplyDeleteIf you read her song lyrics, there were signs pointing to her suicide...
ReplyDeleteWhether you read her lyrics or not has zero bearing on what they say or what they mean.
DeleteSecond, it is a far-fetched and crazy notion to suggest such a thing, especially two years after she died. You're surely the first detective to draw such a conclusion. Have to admit that many other self-professed detectives have opined that Carly was murdered, particularly after a "drug deal gone bad", some said. The notion that Carly made subtle indication that she was soon to take her own life is as far-out as was the idea that she was murdered after a drug deal gone bad".
Do familiarize yourself with anti-depressants before embarking on such an imaginative journey.
Just how many 'song lyrics' did Carly write during the last two weeks of her life?