"Talk about it": Kronlage family hopes sharing son's tragedy saves lives

Ty Kronlage loved being outdoors, was popular with his friends and colleagues, and was committed to his job as an operator with Top Grade Excavating; following in his father's footsteps to join the construction industry.
So it was surprising when he didn't show up for work one morning last fall.
"Still didn’t have the inkling at all that anything was really, really wrong until they walked in the door. And then I knew something was wrong… It just was like, ‘No, not him,'" Ty's mom Jodi recalls.
October 6, 2023, Ty Kronlage got his gun out of a safe, drove to a nearby quarry, and took his own life.
He was 21.
“You can’t make any sense in your head. You can never put those together, the why," Russell Kronlage said of his son. "I’m trying like a detective to get to the bottom of it since. Did you know? Did you know? Girlfriend, friends? No indication. He was the one laughing all the time.”
Now, the Kronlage family hopes sharing the pain and anguish they're going through with Ty helps people who are struggling get the help they need, preventing other families from going through the same thing.
“Talk about it. Because the alternative is way worse. It leaves a lot of carnage and a lot of people hurting for, probably forever," Russell said.

[@DDBBK]

Thank you for sharing such a personal story. I am so sorry for your loss. I hope it touches many lives.

[@lindaopperthauser2284]

So sorry for your loss.
Sometimes its the people who smile the most to cover up the pain inside.
I wish he had asked for help😢