As Bill mentioned Ron's father passed away a week earlier.
Ron and he were VERY close.
Add health issues, a struggling business and an over fondness for the bottle and it was all more than he could handle.
Ron was fiercely independent in all ways. It's a literally crying shame that he didn't reach out for help.
Crushed to hear this terrible news. It seems we have had a lot of tragic loss the last few years. Auto accidents , cancer and now this. It's also a huge wake up call that we must be very diligent in our friendships, doing what we can to walk hurting folks back. Life can be a challenge for any human being, add in the sheer independence of the owner/operator / PRIVATE business owner and wow, you have all the ingredients for what has happened here.
Having experienced the murder of my closest friend, and the suicide of two dear friends I know a small bit of what Ron's family and close friends are feeling and that's NOT going away anytime soon. My heart breaks for his mother, I can't imagine the depths of her pain and will certainly be praying for her.
For the last 25 years I have volunteered 3-4 night a month answering what is called a crisis intervention line. They don't even want suicide in the name / description. In the last 2 months there has been a huge uptick in calls from business owners. Some weeks, 3-6 times the normal volume. I have personally had calls from several carpet cleaners and a janitorial contractor. One guy was sitting in a business park at 3am, done with the job and literally praying asking God's permission to to end his life with the handgun he had with him. He is now in the safety of a closely monitored counseling arrangement and doing much better. The ending of a relationship, tough year with the business and frankly the isolation of cleaning for 11 hours by himself put him into a state of full blown hopelessness.
Suicide happens when the sum total of what is going on in our lives exceeds our coping skills. Sometimes a chemical imbalance can play a role, but most of the time it's just they hit the tipping point and make a dreadfully permanent decision based on lots of what we call overwhelm self talk. Very quickly a person can go from consistent, mild depression to planning self harm. If you are constantly depressed see a doctor. If you are feeling the least bit suicidal (seeing it as an option, seeing it as a source of immediate relief or planning it in your mind / toying with the idea of how you would if you would ) please reach out. There are very dedicated people, most of whom have experienced what you are dealing with more than ready to speak with you. Please do not let yourself slide down the despair spiral, it's unnecessary and always temporary if you reach out. Call a crisis line, talk to your pastor, priest, rabbi, Imam or other religious leader, whatever just talk to someone. Don't isolate yourself or tough it out. We lose more tough guys than anyone. Whatever you do, don't self medicate with alcohol or drugs (even "just weed") it won't help and often makes already suicidal people paranoid and beyond help.
I hope to God above I never have to read another thread like this. Be good to yourselves folks and each other. You never know where someone is at in a particular moment.