Having everyone here today and all the donations … it just shows the support we’ve had when it comes to addressing mental health.”

Angel Duclos, PHS student

What the plaque says

What the plaque says

Under Nathan’s name, birthdate and date of death, the inscription on the memorial plaque reads:

In loving memory of Nathan R. Bruno

Nathan — You will continue to always brighten our days. The smiles and jokes, the catchphrases you used.

The things you loved — baseball and the Red Sox, snowboarding, vineyard vines, Martha’s Vineyard and sneakers.

The chance to call you our friend.

The memories you have left us will leave all of us with a lifetime of happiness.

Love you always — your boys, all of your friends, and family.

Be great for Nate

PORTSMOUTH — Angel Duclos said it was a fitting tribute to his late friend, Nathan Bruno, who was memorialized Monday afternoon with an engraved plaque, stone bench and a cherry blossom tree outside the Portsmouth High School’s field house  

“It really means a lot because this has been a long time coming for us,” said Angel, a PHS student and vice president of Every Student Initiative (ESI), a student group formed in the wake of Nathan’s suicide at the age of 15 on Feb. 7, 2018.

ESI, which falls under the umbrella of Be Great for Nate, a nonprofit started by Nathan’s father, Rick Bruno, advocates for more mental health resources in the schools.

“This is something I’ve been waiting for over a year. It shows the impact that Nate on our community and everyone around us,” Angel said. “Having everyone here today and all the donations … it just shows the support we’ve had when it comes to addressing mental health.”

Richard Carpender, a board member of Be Great for Nate, led the ceremony. Nathan, he said, was “a young man who left us too soon, but his memory has not.”

Speaking before dozens of friends, family members, school staff and other local officials, Collin Cord, ESI’s student outreach coordinator, struggled for words. 

“Nathan was our best friend. We miss him every day,” said Collin, adding that Nathan’s friends and family members were grateful for the memorial. “Thank you very much and be great for Nate.”

The School Committee voted in March to establish the outdoor memorial, which was made possible by private donations.

Rep. Terri Cortvriend (District 72) was chairwoman of the School Committee when Nathan died. While she didn’t know Nathan personally, his sudden death had a profound effect on her and the rest of the school community, she said.

“I was sitting with my fellow School Committee members that tragic day,” she recalled. “It’s a day we will never forget.”

Rep. Cortvriend addressed the members of ESI directly. “These boys, I’ve felt, have really reached out to their community through Nate,” she said, adding they’ve done tremendous work in advocating for more open talk about mental health issues. 

(In March, members of ESI and Be Great for Nate turned out to the State House in droves to testify in support of a suicide prevention education bill bearing Nathan’s name.)

“It’s OK to be sad and it’s OK to lean on someone when you need help,” she said.

Rep. Cortvriend recited a poem by Joanetta Hendel, “Don't Tell Me,” which addresses the struggles some people have when communicating with others who are grieving the loss of a loved one. It begins: “Don't tell me that you understand/Don't tell me that you know/Don't tell me that I will survive/Or how I will surely grow,” the poem reads. 

The poem ends with the lines: “Accept me in my ups and downs/I need someone to share/Just hold my hand and let me cry/And say, ‘My friend, I care’”

Connor Perry, ESI’s communications coordinator, thanked those who made the memorial possible, including The Nathan Bruno Memorial Committee, Deacon John Silvia and the Rev. Peter Andrews of St. Barnabas Church, Mike Ward, Mark Gurney and Jake Fougere, and the wider community for its “support and love.”