My faith is humanity is restored. (RIP, NZV)

I think I regained my faith in humanity. I wish it wasn't this way, though. A 16 year old junior at the high school I attend died. Overdosed, on bars. I couldn't believe it. He was one of those guys that could be friends with everyone, you know? He was nice and sweet to everyone he met, he was always easy going and happy. He always had a smile. He didn't have enemies, because everyone loved him. It was impossible not to love him. He just had this light. And even though he did drugs, he was smart (in the National Honor Society) and did sports (football, cross country, track, that sort of thing). He wasn't a bad kid. It felt like a punch in the stomach when I read the news. I never was friends with him, but I knew him. Everyone did.

I wish you guys could just see his Facebook page. There's hundreds of posts on there of people posting everyday, talking about memories and telling him how much everyone misses him. I'm not just talking about one group of people. People who never would've talked to each other (stoners who barely stay in school, popular kids with everything going for them) have come together to remember this one kid. This group of people I know have absolutely hated each other for as long as I can remember because of some big dramatic story involving the cops, but at his memorial service, they came together and resolved their problems. The same day he died, someone made a memorial page. Do you know how many joined in less than a hour?

More than 700 people.

This was in a time spam of about an hour. And there was, once again, hundreds of people posting on this wall. Talking about their love.

The story gets better. His family isn't rich, and they couldn't afford a funeral for him. So instantly his friends started putting together fundraisers to get money for a funeral. From just one fundraiser, they got over a thousand dollars. Over a thousand dollars from a bunch of broke teenagers washing cars in front of Chicken Express. I'm not sure how much they got from the other ones, but it sounds like they were just as successful.

I can't believe my classmates have pulled together to do this, in such a short amount of time. The viewing is tonight and the funeral is tomorrow. It's... beautiful. I've finally experienced, first hand, the extent of their love and compassion. And even though I never knew him like his friends, I feel inspired to know one boy could be this loved.

He didn't deserve to die. My heart is breaking for everyone, especially his girlfriend (their 3 month anniversary is today) and family.

I'm not religious in the slightest bit, but a boy this beautiful almost makes me wish I believed in a heaven, just so he could be up there watching how people everyone loved him.

RIP, NZV. I won't be forgetting you anytime soon.