Did you know that according to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention approximately 47,173 Americans died by suicide in 2017? 3,778 were in Texas alone. My 16-year-old son was one of them. How about them apples?
After our tragic summer, I was tagged on Facebook about an event. A walk. How on Earth would I be able to participate in something that will constantly remind me of the heartache we are still going through? Apparently, it was easy. I immediately went to work on getting signed up as team captain and announcing our team on Facebook, TEAM #flyhighzane for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention Out of the Darkness Walk Lubbock chapter.
My cousin Nelda introduced me to a wonderful lady whom I quickly became friends with. Marcia designed our team shirts. We were able to sell over 270 #flyhighzane shirts in 2017. This began the campaign to get my walkers signed up. From that moment on I decided to raise my head a little higher and fight for my son. He was so worth it.
October 14th rolled around and over 100 walkers participated on TEAM #flyhighzane. It was a beautiful sea of purple, Zane’s favorite color. We had the largest participating team in 2017. That told me right there how much my child was and still is loved. We also well exceeded our $1000 goal of getting donations.
The walk offers different colors of honor beads, each representing something different. The one everyone wears is blue, for suicide awareness. I remember not being able to get near the bead table. Loss of a child. Who wants to wear white beads? Shaking, Erica placed the white beads around my neck. I can’t say I wore them proudly. In my sea of purple, I was the only one wearing white ones.
I wouldn’t have been able to pull it all off without the help of my best friends Kerri and Julie, my sisters, my friends, family, and my Zane’s boys. We did this all over again for 2018. New shirts and a few new walkers on the team, we had another good turn out. 2019 is amongst us and the walk is getting closer.
This year the Out of the Darkness Walk for Suicide Prevention and Awareness will be on September 15th at Texas Tech. I invite each and every one of you to walk with me. Walk with my husband. Walk with Daniel. Walk with my family. Walk with my friends. Or you can simply donate as little as a cup of coffee (ok well Starbucks coffee that is ?) to the AFSP. We will also have new TEAM #flyhighzane shirts available!
July 26th is the day we will never forget. Help the AFSP educate others on how to prevent or help families from having the same fate.
https://afsp.donordrive.com/participant/Carrie-Timmons
