Death by Suicide claims more lives than war, murder and natural disasters combined according to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. The goal of this organization is to decrease the suicide rate 20% by the year 2025.
World Suicide Prevention Day is September 10, 2017.
When you light a candle near a window at 8 p.m. this Sunday, you show your support for suicide prevention, to remember a lost loved one, and for the survivors of suicide.
Who are the survivors? They are those who have attempted suicide unsuccessfully.
They come to our Suicide Bereavement Support Group. (SBSNW.org) They are people living with mental illness for whom the anxiety, terror and burden of of every minutes is agonizing. Many attempt suicide repeatedly. Please don’t ever, ever call them weak or say they did not try. Even though the truth is we are never alone, some part of them cannot feel, know or believe that.
Loneliness is constant.
I will be remembering my son, Reed Eggleston as I light my candle. He was a perfectionist and so hard on himself. Parker Bounds Johnson was so similar to Reed. A loving family, support from those who truly recognized his athletic and artistic talent, his heart and caring for others, intervention and treatment were not enough.
Sometimes, we simply become tired.
So I will light my candle for my son, Vincent, Reed’s friends and family and for myself. We are survivors of the horrific grief lived from death by suicide.
I light the candle to remember my acronym for LIGHT: Living in grateful, heartfelt trust.
Will you light a candle this Sunday at 8 p.m. so your neighbors can see it then join Parker’s team as I did this morning? Let us walk out of the darkness together and into the light on Saturday, October 7, 2023 here in Portland, OR. I will meet you at the registration table at 9 a.m. Maybe your ticket will be the one to win a copy of A New Mourning: Discovering the Gifts in Grief and a session with me to listen to the grief in your body. With the wildfires in Oregon, the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey, Irma’s impending destruction, we need to come together in community and remember: We are NOT alone. Ever.
