class photo as a junior at TAHS
It’s been almost 10 years since Luke Prairie took his own life. His mother continues reaching out to students to remind them there are ways to get through difficult times.
By Per Peterson
Fay Prairie doesn’t know how to feel when she enters the Tracy Area High School gymnasium.
It’s the place where her son, Luke, battled on the wrestling mat for the TMB Panthers. And it’s the place where his life was remembered after he committed suicide on July 16, 2009.
Last Friday, she stood on that same gym floor and once again relived Luke’s short life and sudden death at the age of 17 in an effort to educate today’s students about depression and the importance of perspective — theirs and from others they know.
It wasn’t easy.
“A lot of memories in this gym,” she said. “When I walk into this gym, at first I remember the funeral … and I can’t do that. I have to remember the good times. I have to work at choosing my own thoughts — remembering all the great memories here — but it takes a conscious effort to do that.
For more on this article, see this week’s Headlight-Herald.