My heart feels heavy as we have learned our dear friend, John Holmes, made the decision to take his life. John was a person who had never met a stranger, he knew everyone in Prescott and could be easily found enjoying coffee at one of our local hangouts. People loved him. He was kind to everyone, completely nonjudgemental and I can honestly say I had never heard him speak badly about people nor did he speak an unkind word about anyone, ever. He accepted people just as they were. He always made the best of a bad situation, from finding himself homeless and in other difficult situations, but he always bounced back and found things to become passionate about again. I found his resilience remarkable, as he fought to overcome being dealt a bad hand of mental illness. He was always full of hope, even during the most difficult of times, or problems he was dealing with. He was brilliant, outgoing, hysterically funny, passionate, handsome, loved, a complete joy to know. He was an amazing storyteller, finding humor in even the most saddest events of his life. He was truly a one of a kind. Even during his darkest experiences, he had a positive attitude and found the light in his darkness. That was John, lighthearted, warm and one of the smartest and witty people I have ever known. He also had a heart of gold and would lend a helping hand at a moments notice. I wish he could have worked through whatever caused his decision. He battled with issues that were not of his own making, and some that were choices, but he knew those decisions only made matters worse, and would get himself back on track. Over the past 20 years, we saw him find his way back on the path several times. I'm glad he was our friend, that he spent a lot of time with us because he was special and we loved him. I'm grateful to have had a long conversation with him recently, and I am glad I told that I loved him, and how happy I was to hear his voice. He shared the events of the past year, with his wit and humor thrown in for good measure. It had been tough, but he was doing well and looking for work. He asked if he could use us as a referral, and I told him he could, and that should say that he managed the shop, was paid more, and had worked there longer than he did. He said that wouldn't be necessary. He was incredibly honest. Customers loved him when he would fill in for us. It was great to listen to him sell soap, lotion, perfumes and other things to people. He was a natural born salesman. He needed no training, he could pick up anything very quickly and run with it. He had seemed to have disappeared about a year ago, and that concerned us. We were worried about his noticeable absence. Getting his recent call was a relief and he sounded great, happy to be in contact, but missed Prescott, terribly. He had moved to Payson to be near his parents. Seth is devastated, they grew up together. Seth loved John like a brother, and is sad beyond words. John will be sorely missed by us, and I'm sure by many, many other people. I wish we had the opportunity to have visited with John one last time. We had just talked about making our way to Payson to see him a couple of days before learning of his death. This news came as a complete surprise, and has us both feeling deep sorrow. He never spoke of harming himself, or of taking drastic measures of ending his life. We could have never imagined him committing suicide. We do and will miss him beyond anything I can express into words. Please send love to John, say a prayer, meditate, light a candle or think a good thought for him while he makes is way home.