I learned of the death of college student Carly Henley two days after her passing, on October 6, 2010. In the days soon to follow it became clear that scores and scores of people were wounded to the core by the loss. Wonderful evidence around the internet serves to almost suspend Carly Henley's personable allure, her impressive musical talent, and a short life the likes of which most anybody could envy.

Various reports tell of her short term struggle with depression of perhaps three months in duration. Significant in that was the introduction of anti-depressant drug Zoloft via prescription some two weeks before Carly took her own life.

Not lost on me now, finally, is the wording in the "Black Box Warning" with Zoloft, which states that antidepressants may increase the risk of suicidal thinking and behavior in persons younger than 25. Risk is especially heightened during the first two months of taking anti-depressants.

The labels on anti-depressant drugs in the U.S. were altered to reference young adults aged 18 to 24 just three years earlier - in 2007.

It is my belief, now, that Carly just happened to land among the small percentage of anti-depressant users who are susceptible to being so affected by a powerful drug such as Zoloft.

One need not ever have known such a remarkable woman to feel the pain all around at the loss of Carly Henley.


So many life lessons are so well represented by Carly Henley's compelling spirit. Let me see if I can help some to gain fuller appreciation for a woman who continues to inspire everyone who ever knew of her.



10-6-10 to 10-6-16 = 6 years since the world lost Carly Henley


People who really knew Carly Henley while she thrived on this earth may be especially challenged in the 2016 present by the fact that Carly's peers are beginning and continuing to thrive in directions more unique and often remarkable than were their scholastic paths shared with Carly herself.

The challenge seems to be heightened by the fact that so many of Carly's peers are branching-out and really succeeding in life in far-away places with each serving as a unique fingerprint for those individuals.  For Carly not having her own evolving fingerprint over the past six years, the tendency is for casual observers and those near to her to be and seem in-awe of every single little pebble along the individual paths of all of Carly's peers.  This human impulse serves largely to greatly magnify the perceived potential for what is and has been missing for six years as of today.

Even though many of Carly's peers are making considerable or even great names for themselves in spots dotted all over the country, it remains true that had she lived, Carly could only be on 'one' individual path right now.  So without that lone path to appreciate and put/see in the best possible light, it is just too easy for those missing and wondering about Carly to magnify the sadness by somehow expecting that Carly's aura would have somehow known all of those great successes instead of an individual path mostly of her own choosing.  It only serves to magnify the pain and sadness, marked significantly by today's date of 10-6-16.

Every now and then this writer Googles some of those names once associated online with Carly Henley's name, with most such searches revealing very normal, but also impressive career/life paths. One such name that came to mind today is actually someone who now works for Google.

Magnifying the challenge of being fair to oneself when thinking about and remembering Carly Henley is the idea that the human imagination tends to accent the positive and max-out the potential for anyone not alive to at least keep her own image both on the ground and in one unique spot.

Add to all of that the idea that so many would give most anything just to know...  just to know what a living and thriving Carly Henley would be doing with herself in present-day 2016.  We want to believe that she would be singing and performing regularly in front of larger and larger crowds somewhere, and Carly's cousin, Tess, allows that vision to test the limits of anybody's imagination.

I wonder how many people ever really got a chance to explain to Carly just how greatly they were affected by Carly's earthy and sincere personality.  Even those who got to know her for most or all of Carly's lifetime may eventually have come to take Carly's presence for granted, and never had a 'prompt' of any sort to really stop and point out just how much Carly had likely meant to them, or to others.  Of course those of us who had never even known of Carly until after she died couldn't have had such an opportunity, yet if given such an odd chance to let Carly know, there would be no shortage of people reporting to Carly of her own influence over their worlds.

Doesn't the loss of Carly Henley still make us want to open our eyes and minds wider to the possibility that things with others aren't always as they seem on the surfaces we so eagerly over-rate, for better or for worse?

And while I don't know about others, the mention of anti-depressant drugs still makes me cringe with concern over the possible reactions and side-effects of such substances, especially by those under age 25.  Just now Googled "Carly Henley" and added the word "Zoloft", and the first several references were to this very blog...  so perhaps the two subjects aren't together on the radars of too many other people these days.

It still seems so odd that somebody so adored by every person whose life she touched is both gone and has left such a considerable representation of herself on the YouTube for all to witness.  It would be so nice to have a list of the number of 'views' for most or all of Carly's videos as of six years ago, to compare with the numbers of today.  Clearly Carly is still impacting new viewers just about every day and hopefully this blog has helped some of them to learn more and be inclined to watch just a few more of those many videos.

Carly's original song, "Star", sometimes dedicated to her younger sister, Blake, and performed impeccably since Carly's death by cousin, Maggie, is so impacting, and it's what this writer is listening to while finishing this salute to Carly Henley to mark six years since she left this earth.

Wish society all around could have another chance to appreciate and let you know how significant you were...




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