My friend Steve Meyer, died on September 14, 2005.

His wife Robin, came home from work and found him in their basement. He had taken his own life.

I was called shortly thereafter, and immediately went to their home. It was an emotionally brutal evening and night. The police were there doing an “investigation.” Later the Medical Examiner’s office came and took Steve’s body to the county morgue in order to perform an autopsy the next day.

All dear Robin could do was keep asking the “Why?” questions, over and over. It was the saddest, heart wrenching scene I have witnessed in recent years.

I met Steve in 1997. He was running for Republican Committeeman for Oak Park Township, in Illinois, where we both live. I helped him with the graphic design of his campaign literature, as well as building him a campaign website. This was very “ahead of the times” back then.

Steve was a very warm and friendly guy. He would give you the shirt off of his back if you needed it. He was a conservative Republican in the style of Ronald Reagan, his political hero. We worked together for many years in local, county and state politics.

Steve and I also shared an interest in music – playing guitar to be specific. Steve loved the Beatles and the blues. I preferred country, folk and rock – but we made it work spending hours “jamming” together.