Students and teachers have been hit with the loss of people closest to them.  Communication Arts Teacher Pam Thrasher has known the pain of loss through the loss of her husband, John Harden. He passed away from a heart attack at the age of 41.

“I met him at church and we were in a musical together. We were the leads, and had to sing together. We played the parts of boyfriend and girlfriend,” Thrasher said.

To cope with the loss of a loved one, many people  think about their most memorable memories of that person, instead of dwelling on their loss.

“There are so many memories I have of him.  I loved every time we went skiing, especially with the boys. He took me to his ‘happy place’ at Keystone. Seeing how much he loved it, still makes me smile,” Thrasher said.

Losing a first love through a breakup can be hard, but losing them through death can prove to be even more difficult.

“I cried a lot, some for me, but mostly out of fear and worry for the impact it had on my sons. I talked to him; I felt like he was there. I still miss him because we were great friends,” Thrasher said.

To protect her children from knowing that their dad died on his birthday, she told him he had died the day before. Her two sons, Michael and Charlie took the news of their dad’s death hard.

“The oldest one, Michael, threw himself into school, work and politics. The youngest one, Charlie, was very angry at the world, God and his dad. He put a hole in a door once.  He rebelled his senior year and then got on with his life,” Thrasher said.