your right, foo, it is such an unfortunate situation! my aunt committed suicide when i was about ten years old and some of my family have taken the opportunity to figure out what they could have done better in that situation. and do the soul-searching that was necessary to change their modus-operandi and be more sensitive or whatever it was they needed to do. but i've also seen others go into a deeper state of denial and numbness sometimes self-medicating with alcohol & drugs. with my own kids i always have nightmares if they are going through something difficult in their lives. i guess that's one of the benefits of having neptune on my scorpio rising, four planets in pisces and neptune transits for almost ten years! and i also find with my boys that i just have to be around for them to talk to when they feel like it. and not just say "here's your ten-minutes". i decided when they were young that i would work from home. so when they come home from school, we hang out while i'm cooking dinner and just chat. and i've also noticed that driving them to their sports activities offers good opportunities for chatting...