Blog 1: Initial Feelings

BLOG ONE - GOODBYE DAYS 

Written by Aaliyah Strayhorne

The book I am reading, Goodbye Days, by Jeff Zentner, makes me feel pretty sad, as I feel sympathy for the main character. For some background knowledge, the main character, Carver, is experiencing and dealing with the death of his three best friends, and the worst part is, he may be responsible. Not on purpose of course. While I can’t understand how he truly feels, as none of my best friends have died before, it still makes me feel upset. With the book being written from a first person point of view, I am able to perceive Carver’s emotions and thoughts firsthand. He experiences feelings of guilt, misery, anxiety, and mourning. I could not imagine losing my best friend, or anyone I love. I’m very lucky to be fortunate enough to have all my friends still in my life. I’ve lost friends in a way where we no longer talk or parted ways, that’s as much as I can relate. I know losing friends due to death is a much more painful, traumatic experience. In fact, I have a friend who lost their own best friend to an accidental drug overdose. What he had ingested was laced with fentanyl, resulting in his death. It took a great toll on my friend’s mental health, who I’ve known for a little over a year. I didn’t know him when it happened, but after I met him, he was still mourning. Many days, he’d come to me talking about how much he missed his friend. He was devastated. I didn’t know how to comfort him or make him feel better. I felt helpless. But so did he. He didn’t know how to help himself either, and that’s how Carver feels. Carver doesn’t know, nor does he believe, he will ever get out of this dark hole he is in. As I continue reading Goodbye Days, I hope to see healing within Carver as he deals with the loss of his best friends. I hope everyone who has ever lost anyone special in their life heals as well and is able to recover, but never forget that special someone and all the happy memories they made with them.



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