It is easy to lose your heart in San Francisco with the little trolley cars climbing to heaven, but last month a younger friend disappeared in the City by the Bay.

Upon leaving for a writing sabbatical in the Far West he had asked me to check on his mail.

I did so, but failed to send the packages in a timely fashion and in June I received an email accusing me of ruining his life.

“You have played a significant role in destroying my life and as a result left me with so much less money in June that I am now destitute and unable to even drive back across country. I am homeless and hungry and left with nothing. Whatever slim margins of error I had in my life, you’ve pushed into the red.”

His wouldn’t be the first life I had ruined by my actions and I reached out to him without any reply, until he send an email attached to a disturbing video from San Francisco.

“i have decided to stop continuing to live in pain; pain from ongoing medical issues and pain from a long pattern of sustained cruel behavior from my own family. both of which have directly led to the destruction of my life, my health, my financial/credit history and everything i wanted to realize in my life. it is my belief that these results were intentional. meaning, my family and extended family willfully wanted to inflict these results upon me.”

The video was pain-filled with images of the Golden Gate Bridge wreathed in fog,

I phoned the San Francisco police and Golden Gate Bridge.

They reported no suicide by a man with my friend’s name.

I pray for his survival.

I know the pain.

Many of us do.

I pray for us all.