On June 2, 2018, I have the distinct honor of participating in the Honor Bead Ceremony before the American Foundation of Suicide Prevention's Overnight Walk in Dallas. As part of the Ceremony, I was asked to come up with 3-5 sentences explaining "Why I Walk". I sat down and tried to come up with 3-5 sentences, but it went way beyond that. Here is Why I Walk:
I walk because Peyton can't. Peyton is my forever 13 year old son who took his life in October of 2014. I was not only to keep Peyton's memory alive, but the memory of Jack, and Cathy, and Josh, and Jonald, and Hannah, and Cassidy, and Steven, and Ronnie, and far too many others that left this world too soon.
I walk for me and the mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, grandparents, aunts, uncles, friends, acquaintances, class mates, and total strangers whose lives will never be the same because of suicide.
I walk for all of those who battle with mental health conditions. These conditions beat them down with a crippling pain that makes them think that the only solution is to end their lives. These issues have convinced them that everyone they know an love is better off and happier without them in their lives.
Finally, I walk for me. In the three plus years since Peyton's death, I have realized that there is a need for me to walk. I cannot sit by and turn a blind eye while more than 40,000 people in American take their lives every year, I cannot sit by while suicide becomes the second leading cause of death in young people, and I cannot sit by while people continue to ignore causes and effects of suicide because the thought of discussing such a sensitive subject makes them uncomfortable. I have news for those people, burying a loved one lost to suicide is a hell of a lot more uncomfortable than talking about it. I'm sorry if they are uncomfortable, but if talking about suicide can save even one life, then they are going to have to deal with it.
And THAT is why I walk.
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