Cathy Gettle awoke on the morning of April 16, 2002, and walked to her 14-year-old son’s room to wake him for school. He had jazz-band practice and needed to be at school early — he was in charge of bringing doughnuts for the band’s breakfast.

But when Cathy got to his room, her son wasn’t there.

Guessing that he had decided to leave early and ride his bike to school, she went to the kitchen and discovered that the doughnuts were still there. Cathy decided to drop them off, so she hopped in her car drove to the school.

As she carried the doughnuts from her car toward the school, something stopped her in her tracks. It was a sight that would change her life forever. Hanging dead from a beam outside the school was her son.

“We didn’t see any of the signs,” said Cathy recently while sitting in her South Lebanon home. “When he came home, he was always happy.”

Jon Gettle was a kid whose life didn’t bear the trademark signs of teen suicide.

He was active in the school band and Boy Scouts, loved to go camping and fishing with his father and hung out with other kids.

“He had friends come over to play video games,” his father, Mike Gettle, said while sitting in his living room with his wife. “It’s not like he just sat in his room by himself all the time.”

Jon’s parents had no idea that he was silently suffering at the hands of bullies and depression — until they discovered his suicide note revealing his pain.

“Bullying is a problem,” it stated simply. “Depression is a problem.”

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It’s been three years. The pain, frustration and shock still linger. It will most likely never fully go away.

But as time passes, the Gettles find ways to cope.

Like talking to kids and teachers about bullying. Like moving to South Lebanon this past Easter, trying to leave some baggage behind. Or joining with others who have felt the sorrow of losing loved ones to suicide.

At dusk on Saturday, the Gettles will embark on a 20-mile trek through the streets of Chicago, walking through the night with thousands of others as part of Out of the Darkness Overnight. The event raises money and awareness for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.

So far, Cathy said, their six-member team — which also includes their 20-year-old daughter, Jenn, and three people from Illinois — has raised more than $8,000 to fight the third-leading cause of death in teens and young adults in the U.S.

This is the second year for the event. It originated in Washington, D.C., in 2002, raising $1.2 million and bringing together 2,400 walkers from across the nation.

Returning to Illinois for the event will be especially meaningful for the Gettles. It was while living there, not far from Chicago, that they lost their son.

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“I lost my friend. My fishing buddy. My camping buddy. My son,” Mike Gettle said, fighting his tears as he thumbed through a photo album filled with pictures of Jon.

Camping with his dad was something Jon loved to do, and Mike loved having his son tag along. Jon even got a few chances to help out with some of the more important details of the trips.

“We woke up, and we told him it was his turn to make the coffee,” Mike recalled.

The only problem was, 7-year-old Jon had never made coffee before. He filled the percolator to the brim with coffee grinds and started warming it up, making possibly the strongest cup of joe ever invented.

“We had to drink it,” Mike said with a smile. “That was some of the most hyper fishing we’ve ever done.”

The weekend before he died, Jon passed up a chance for more outdoors fun for a different kind of opportunity, his mother said. While his fellow Boy Scouts set up their camping gear, Jon prepared for his first school dance. After cutting a rug with his date, Jon was whisked away to join his buddies in the woods.

It was that sense of innocence and eagerness to help others that endeared Jon to so many — whether he realized it or not.

On the day of his funeral, his mother said, a group of local Boy Scouts left their weekend camping trip to come pay their respects to Jon.

“They just packed up and came,” she said. “A bunch of them hadn’t had showers, but that was OK. They all came.”

In all, more than 1,000 people attended Jon’s funeral.

“He affected a lot of people,” his father said.

The Gettles are hoping Jon’s story will continue to affect people, teaching them about the impact of bullying and depression.

“There are a hell of a lot more geeks than football stars,” Mike said. “We’re losing the sensitive ones. The artistic ones. The intelligent ones.”

“I want to get across a message,” Cathy said. “Number one, why my son died. Number two, bullying does go on, and there is no reason for it.”

One of the most important things parents can do, Cathy explained, is talk to their kids, and make sure things are going all right. If there are problems, she said, make sure they are documented. Talk to your kid’s teachers and school administrators. Even the police, if problems persist.

“It sounds drastic,” Cathy said. “But it could save someone.”

“It’s OK to ask for help. It’s OK to talk about it,” Mike added.

Jon, unfortunately, was never able to ask for that help. He was too focused on the feelings and needs of those around him.

Some were included in his final thoughts. Scribbled at the bottom of his suicide note, written in a rush as he left the house that fateful morning, was a simple message:

“Mom, don’t forget the doughnuts.”