My friend Julie started a tradition a few years ago that a bunch of us would take a hike on New Year’s Day. Then we eat and drink afterwards. We volunteered our home to host the event starting last year since we are so close to the river. It was just 3 months after we moved in and 6 months after we lost Charles to suicide and it was a great distraction for us.

Six of us in this picture have lost a child and I want to take a moment to mention the names of these children. Jackson Ramsey, 16, died by suicide; Logan Neale, 19, died in a truck crash; Dawson Pettit, 26, died from overdose; Charles Rogers, 20, died by suicide. Despite our losses, we had a great time.

I have a lot of goals for this New Year in terms of suicide prevention and mental health awareness. I intend to spearhead a lot of changes for a broken system. Stay tuned…..

What is the #griefheart project?

I explain my #griefheart project here.

See all #griefhearts so far on pinterest or on this blog by #griefheart category.

7 reasons I think we are seeing more teen depression