This happened many years ago, but I’ve never forgotten it.

A colleague of mine took his own life. He jumped. It was shocking and heartbreaking because he was honestly one of the nicest people in the office who was funny, kind, always smiling. No one saw it coming. He never showed any signs that he was struggling.

For months after, the whole office felt heavy. Eventually, life moved on as it always does, but of course, we never forgot him.

About a year later, a new girl named N joined us. She had no idea about what had happened. One day, N, another colleague from HR, and I were chatting near the HR’s desk. The HR colleague had a group photo set as her desktop wallpaper of an old group office photo taken before N joined.

N looked at the screen and casually pointed to one guy in the photo and asked, “Hey, who’s this guy?”

It was him. The colleague who had passed.

The moment she said that, both the HR colleague and I just froze. We looked at each other, and then told her the truth that he had passed away, and how. N’s jaw literally dropped. She went pale and said, “I keep seeing him around the office.”

She said he was always just quietly around. Watching. Never speaking. Just there.

That’s when she told us she sometimes sees things other people can’t. And it wasn’t just once or twice as she’d seen him enough to recognize him in a photo.

It sent chills down my spine.

I don’t know what to believe. But I do know some people leave a mark so strong, it lingers long after they’re gone.

Note: I used ChatGPT to help me write this out properly because I wanted to tell the story clearly. Please don’t come at me for that please! this is a real memory and I just wanted to share it in the best way I could.

Disclaimer: Please don’t make jokes or disrespectful comments about someone’s death especially when it involves suicide. This story is a real memory I’ve carried for years. If you don’t believe it, that’s fine. It doesn’t matter to me. But I’d appreciate basic decency toward the person who’s no longer here.