Post by Tracie Marcum on Oct 14, 2015 8:58:51 GMT -5
When I was 7, my Mom took her own life. I will never forget that day, as long as I live, it was one week before I started the first grade. For the last 30 years, that moment has defined my entire life. Maybe I didn’t know it at the time, but I now realize that it changed my life and the life of my family forever. It took me a very long time to come to terms with my grief, and it wasn’t until a couple of years ago that I started my own journey to find answers.
My search took me to the AFSP website. I signed up to join an “Out of the Darkness” walk. I wanted to be able to talk about it, for the first time, out in the open with people who understood what I was going through. Everyone at the walk was so sweet and understanding and so willing to talk about a subject, that over the course of my life, had been too taboo to discuss, nobody in my family ever really talked about it. That walk brought me out of my own personal darkness.
I felt like doing that walk was something I could do to “Honor” my mother instead of constantly being ashamed of what she had done. The members of AFSP and everyone involved in the walk, helped me with this process. Because these people made such a huge impact on my life, for the first time in a long time, I felt like I had found a purpose in life.
I became a field advocate because we need to erase the stigma associated with suicide and bring awareness to people so that they can help their friends and loved ones in their times of need. I want to do everything in my power as an individual to spread awareness.
Did you know that every year, suicide claims more lives than war, murder and national disasters combined??? Every day approximately 112 Americans take their own life.
If we save one life, if we save one person and their family from a lifetime of pain, then everything we have done is worth it. Please donate to this worthwhile cause. Be the voice, be the light in someone else's day.
afsp.donordrive.com/participant/tmarcum
My search took me to the AFSP website. I signed up to join an “Out of the Darkness” walk. I wanted to be able to talk about it, for the first time, out in the open with people who understood what I was going through. Everyone at the walk was so sweet and understanding and so willing to talk about a subject, that over the course of my life, had been too taboo to discuss, nobody in my family ever really talked about it. That walk brought me out of my own personal darkness.
I felt like doing that walk was something I could do to “Honor” my mother instead of constantly being ashamed of what she had done. The members of AFSP and everyone involved in the walk, helped me with this process. Because these people made such a huge impact on my life, for the first time in a long time, I felt like I had found a purpose in life.
I became a field advocate because we need to erase the stigma associated with suicide and bring awareness to people so that they can help their friends and loved ones in their times of need. I want to do everything in my power as an individual to spread awareness.
Did you know that every year, suicide claims more lives than war, murder and national disasters combined??? Every day approximately 112 Americans take their own life.
If we save one life, if we save one person and their family from a lifetime of pain, then everything we have done is worth it. Please donate to this worthwhile cause. Be the voice, be the light in someone else's day.
afsp.donordrive.com/participant/tmarcum