The body of our son, Robert James Alexander Hoppel, was found hanging from a tree after an all-day search by family, friends, volunteers, and state park rangers on Sunday, May 28, 2001. He did not die at the hands of another. His hands took his own life-hands that used to connect with the God he loved in worship; hands that in an irreversible moment of time succumbed to the pressure of a mind that told him that life on earth was not worth living.

I write this book in the hope that it will help someone who is going through the pain we went through then and now. God has been our Comforter through the years and we want to share that comfort with you as the Apostle Paul directed us to do:

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God." - 2 Corinthians 1:4-5