Dates trigger memories. Two years ago on Aug. 2, Karina Fritsch lost her best friend.

“My person. My cousin.”

As a senior, she reflects on one fateful day two summers ago. When her dad calls her that morning, she immediately knows something is off. Her intuition proves right. Her heart sinks as she learns of her cousin Tanner’s passing.

Tanner, 16, takes his own life late in the night.

Karina speaks with Tanner a few hours before he passes. He seems perfectly fine. Now, left in a cloud of confusion and anguish, Karina wonders. She thinks of warning signs and what she misses. Did he not trust her? Did she ask the wrong questions? Did he not know she offers to help him through it all?

She reflects:  “My mind was all over the place, and I kept blaming myself.”

At the funeral, Tanner’s grieving family and friends wrap around the casket like a string wrapped around a finger, reminding the family of the gaping hole in their lives. The family mourns together. No one can understand or accept how the teen, so loved and wanted, can truly be gone.

Today, she is left with one of his sweatshirts and endless, treasured memories.

Moving forward, every bright smile and hearty laugh reminds Karina of Tanner. Karina knows that Tanner is watching over her: a guardian angel. Tanner changes Karina’s world, and strengthens her faith. Not only is he is watching over her, but when she wraps herself up in his sweatshirt, she can know for sure that he is right next to her.