Hello Friend,

   Recently a lady came into the store with some telescope equipment that she wanted to sell.

Upon examination, it looked like mice had gotten into one of the boxes and foam and had made a real mess
with sunflower seed shells, and chewing up a few wires and foam as well.

        The equipment was rather old, and somewhat dated, so I called her up to find out a bit more about it.

Turns out it had been stored for several years, in a storage locker.

Her husband  had many intellectual interests, astronomy being just one of them.

      I inquired as to why he was selling the equipment, and wanted to discuss the damage done by the mice
on some of the equipment.

That's when I was told that he had actually committed suicide several years ago, at the young age of 52,
and that the equipment had been put away into storage since.

     I then inquired as to his name, to see if I could remember him, or any of my dealings with him in the past.
In this case I couldn't so it was likely another staff member that had sold him the equipment originally.

     Seems the fellow suffered from depression and mental illness.

Stargazing can really sometimes help, with reducing stress in life, at least that's my experience.

 Most of us know someone who may suffer from some kind of mental illness.

It's a really tough spot to be in for anyone.

      Best thing we can do is to be compassionate and understanding in these situations.

Help is available, and unfortunately sometimes people do fall through the cracks, and that's a really
sad situation.

It pays to be kind to one another.

Clear Skies,

Ray Khan