Harriette Cole: All I remember of this horrible event is my friends whispering together

Back then, we didn't talk to our parents much, and we weren't equipped to deal with it.

DEAR HARRIETTE: Several students in my daughter’s school have died by suicide in the past two years. Now we are hearing of college presidents and other professionals who are taking their lives. This trend is frightening.

Though I can turn off the news at home, my daughter is still aware of these tragedies. I am so worried for her and her friends.

The school has made efforts to support and protect them, but I need to help as well.

I’m at a loss. What in the world do you say in situations like this?

— Dealing With Suicide

DEAR DEALING WITH SUICIDE: This hits close to home for me. My best friend in high school died by suicide on her 16th birthday.

It was a horrible experience for all of us, and her parents shut down completely. They couldn’t handle it, and the friends were left to fend for themselves.

Back then, we didn’t talk to our parents much. All I remember is our friends whispering together, but never understanding.

As an adult, I have done my best to talk to my daughter when these tragedies happen and to look for support in any way that I can find it. There is a lot of help around.

It seems to be most important to acknowledge what happened, to be close to your children and to listen to them. You should watch their behavior to notice if they are acting differently, especially if they start using substances, locking themselves in their rooms or acting out. Get counseling for them if there’s any inkling of emotional crisis for them. That means you really should get professional help, at least for a while.

For more support, go to:
childmind.org/article/supporting-children-after-the-suicide-of-a-classmate.

DEAR HARRIETTE: The economy has not been my friend in the past year.

I have my own company, and I lost two clients at the end of last year. I realize that I cannot keep all of my employees now. I just don’t have the resources to pay their salaries.

I am hoping that I can take advantage of new technology to support my business, but I’m not even sure how to do all of that. What steps can I take to stay alive?

— Need Help

DEAR NEED HELP: You are correct that technology can support you in your business, even though you will have to learn a few things.

You can use services like ChatGPT or Otter.ai to record your meetings and give you action points immediately after. You can use calendar organizing tools like Calendly or TidyCal to help you schedule appointments without an executive assistant. Project management tools abound. Two that are popular are Asana and Monday.

Go online and search for the services you need. You can even find an affordable virtual assistant through services that are much like the temp agencies of old.

Do not despair. You need to be organized and clear about the services you need. Then you can find many of them affordably without having to pay all of the costs associated with full-time employees — at least during this lean period.

Harriette Cole is a lifestylist and founder of DREAMLEAPERS, an initiative to help people access and activate their dreams. You can send questions to askharriette@harriettecole.com or c/o Andrews McMeel Syndication, 1130 Walnut St., Kansas City, MO 64106.