Have you ever thought personally of having a kind of memorial someplace for Richard for his friends who never got a chance to say goodbye? If you do, I would come to it if I could. Maybe, it would help those of you who knew him to memorialize him, just as his friends. If his family is unable or unwilling to do it, I see no reason at all why you can’t do something for him. I know they held a vigil for him at Walmart shortly after this happened for his co workers. Its a thought and I see absolutely nothing wrong with it. I had a lifelong friend once killed by a wreckless driver, not the same situaton, but I was so very devastated by her death and did not grieve properly and it just destroyed me. I learned back then that we all need to grieve and do it as much as you need to. There is no timetable for grief. No one has a right to tell you what or how to feel, theye are your feelings and you have every right to them. Keep his number on your phone forever if you want to! Its okay to do whatever you feel. I know everyone goes on with their lives, but all the same he was your friend for so long and you will never forget him. My dear friend has been gone many years, but I still think about her and still have her picture on my wall.

John Wright has my emal if you ever want it, I’d be more than happy to hear from you. Maybe with some more voices speaking out on the changes that need to be made, we can make a difference. It can’t hurt and you can do something positive for Richard’s memory. I know he was trying to help Seth. So many tried, he didn’t een seem aware of his own mental illness, but if you’d listened to his disjointed pseech or seen the bizarre things he did, you would have recognized that it was very off the norm. I’m really sorry and we have shed tears over this and felt very horrible about what happened too. I wanted to reach out ot you, but didn’t know if you would be able to accept it. I’m so glad you did. My thoughts re with you Rudy and I am very sincere in that.

Of course you will never forget your friend and you never should. Contineu t honor his memory in any way you can think of. I will continue to try to do what I can to change things for the future. Treatment Advocacy Center is a nonprofit working to change our laws. I hope with the new administration that some things will change in our society. Thank you for your response. My petition is still online at http://www.ipetitions/petition/Law4U if you or anyone else might like to sign it. It can be signed totally anonymously for anyone who would like to do that. Every little bit helps. It can help our lawmakers understand that there is a need for change. Richard’s life was important to all those who knew him and should be to society at large. If this could have been prevented, all the efforts in the world would have been worth it. So many of our homeless people are mentally ill and quite possibly a danger. Again, I would never excuse what Seth has done. I was quite frightened of him because of his bizarre behavior long before this happened and would always stay in the background when he would come by. It was so obvious that something was terribly wrong. Again, I’m sorry for your loss and I hope someday that you get the clolsure yoou desire. We know Seth should never be let out, we totally agree with you on that issue.