Aviously

One year ago today a life was removed from this Earth, and it’s tough to express the thoughts that have ranged inside over the year about it.

When I wrote my post the morning that I found out about it all I promised the following:

But so many of us suffer. So many of us just can’t admit (whether to ourselves or to those around us) that depression, loneliness, whatever you want to call it, is eating away at us.
Making us miserable on the inside, regardless how we appear on the outside.
And I don’t know what the real solution is, but I’m gonna try my hardest to figure it out.

And I am pleased with the strides I have taken over the last year to help those around me and help to break the stigma that exists. I’ve reached out where I thought necessary to friends and strangers, just to make sure they knew someone was there if need be; and just two weeks ago we held an event, attended by over 200 people, and viewed by hundreds more online, in which experts came together to talk to the community and help expound on what most people turn a blind eye to.

But there’s the other side to that coin too. The feeling of emptiness and loss, and I’ll admit that it’s now rare for me to drive over a bridge and not have that fleeting thought of loss, specifically yours.

Rest in Peace Rebecca Wasserstrum, on the first anniversary of your death, as we know that that you are up there looking down helping us through the ups and downs of life.

Sometimes I feel my heart is breaking
But I stay strong and I hold on cause I know
I will see you again
This is not where it ends
I will carry you with me
~See You Again by Carrie Underwood~

As my memory rests
But never forgets what I lost
Summer has come and passed
The innocent can never last
~Wake Me Up When September Ends by Green Day~

PS. I encourage everyone to watch the panel discussion from two weeks ago, it’s worth the time spent, and as always feel free to contact me if you need an ear to vent to.