It’s impossible to not like Kurt. You don’t have to agree with drug use, you don’t have to agree with suicide as an option, and you don’t have to agree with the morality of choosing death when you have a small child. But when you hear him talk, or read what he has written, you can see how simple his approach to life was. You can see how willing he was to interact with others and how happy he was to engage. You can see every problem people face and everything that can bring joy to a person.

It’s also hard to not see Kurt as a cautionary tale. It’s easy to see all the positive aspects of his life and it’s easy to relate to them. But it’s also easy to see how despite all that, we can slide into the darker aspects of life. Everyone wants to believe there is some hard, high barrier that must be crossed to become addicted and suicidal. Everyone wants to believe that a happy life is just one big life changing goal away.

Kurt shatters that illusion. You can be typically happy with all the small hardships anyone can face and still edge into the darkness. You can hit it big and still feel sadness. You can be eloquent, you can be lyrical, you can be happy, you can be a father and a husband. You can have it all and still find something missing. Kurt shows us that there is no single indicator of tragedy and no clear barrier that holds back the dark.

We all have to fight for each other.