[New post] Humans of Calvert County: “You’re not alone…”
David M. Higgins II, Publisher/Editor posted: " "They say that suicide loss is the hardest to get over. Because you don't know. You're always searching for the why. And Mental health has no face. It doesn't care what gender you are, race, sexual orientation, if you're outgoing, or if you're not, it" The Southern Maryland Chronicle
"They say that suicide loss is the hardest to get over. Because you don't know. You're always searching for the why.
And Mental health has no face. It doesn't care what gender you are, race, sexual orientation, if you're outgoing, or if you're not, it affects us all.
Do I say something because how is somebody going to perceive me? Do I say I'm struggling with this? Do I say I'm not feeling accepted? Do I say that I felt like you hurt my feelings? And if they don't say it, do they act differently?
Sometimes it's a matter of seconds, minutes before it can escalate.
Sometimes it takes a village to get something started. Sometimes it takes a village to put a foundation down. And sometimes it takes a village to make something grow. And we have to realize that we have a problem in our community. We're losing too many.
We're losing too many friends; we're losing too many coworkers, and we're losing too many kids in our schools. It's a community effort. We can all make this a priority because We all deal with our mental health, which is just as important as physical health.
I have experienced this loss. I experience this loss every day.
Tyler Bland was my son.
He was 16.
He was a 10th grader at Huntingtown Highschool.
He was goofy. He was wild. He was crazy. He did have a big heart.
He played sports. I heard some of his friends say he could be the life of the party. May 12, 2016, was something that we were blindsided about. We never expected this to happen.
When I say this blindsided everybody, everybody was blindsided. It was not someone that you would have thought of. I was with my son for a series of hours that day, and it never crossed my mind. And it happened in a matter of minutes. Just spiraling out of control.
It was a moment. It feels like everything is crashing down. Overwhelming. And you don't know how to get out of that. I can only imagine that's what it was. It's the only thing I could think of. You don't know how to cope with getting out of that.
He was dealing with something that was in the moment, and it escalated. He didn't see over the top of it. And so many people cared and loved him, and still do.
In short, it took his life.
I lost my son in May 2016. And We went on our first walk down in Charles County probably four months after. We formed as team #TeamBland.
Everyone has been affected by mental health or the loss of someone by suicide. To have an event here in our home county, in Calvert county. It is important. We're showing support to others. There are people here who care.
You're not alone.
All of us have felt this way at some point.
All of us have our struggles.
All of us are in this battle.
And we're here, and we're coming together, and we're coming together as one.
And if we can touch that one, we're making a huge impact.
Through this walk, I would hope that they know they are loved. I would hope that they know that they have support. I would hope that they know they have resources in their community. That they know that people are here and they have these connections. And they have to keep pushing.
You are a piece of somebody's puzzle. Everybody is a piece of somebody's puzzle. And you are loved.
If Tyler could have just held on for just a little longer. Things do pass. It passes. The emotions are temporary. The reaction is final.
So now it's a part of my purpose.
To bring awareness. To encourage people to educate themselves. To break the stigma. It's everybody's business.
It just keeps occurring. It's noticeable. And it's something that cannot be ignored.
This is the first walk. But I feel like it's going to be something.
I'm ready to see what He brings. I'm ready to see what we bring.
We planned this walk 45 days from the time it came up. And so many things came into place that we're like, this has to happen. The universe was telling us you have to do this!
You can read more about One More Light below in a previous Southern Maryland Chronicle article.
I'm nervous, I am excited, I have anxiety about it! We all want it to work. We all want people to understand that it's important. We all want the community to come together. We all want to unite. Hey, we are one.
I will take this leap of faith, and everything will fall into place." ??
The walk tonight is completely free. It is a short .75-mile walk that all can do. Registration is not required for this event; however, if you want to pre-register, you can do so at https://linktr.ee/becomeoneproject.
If you want to help get the word out to those who may need it, you can share the event on the BecomeOne Project Facebook Page:https://fb.me/e/1Sjp5z7KE.
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