Charles Marlon Michel 1948-1967

Charles Marlon Michel (1948-1967?)


Charles arrived for the fall semester at Franconia College where he was a student. About ten days into the fall term, he got into his VW Beetle and drove from northern New Hampshire to his home in Towson, Maryland-about a twelve hour trip.



When he got home it was late at night. He entered the breezeway between the house and the garage, sat down in a chaise lounge, and shot himself in the chest where he bled to death.
His mother found him in the morning. She saw his car in the driveway and figured he hadn't wanted to come into the house and disturb people.


Charles had arrived a little late in his parents' lives so he was kind of special to them. He was special to a lot of people who struggle to understand this phenomenon. You might as well ask someone with no knowledge of it to read arabic, if you want to know why people don't understand it. I sure don't.


All I know is that he cut his life off short. I struggle every day with lots of things-I'm 59 and showing some signs of age, I've got two kids and two grandkids, a wife, an ex wife, and my life is a work in progress. I've kept Charles' memory alive, and every year about this time I start thinking about him.