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Showing posts from November, 2016

As a Suicide Survivor, Your World Tilts to a Different Angle

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I have found that one of the hardest parts of my daughter taking her own life is that your views of the world truly change. It is like the plates of the Earth has done a huge relocation and nothing is the same anymore. Many people have said it's time to move on, get over it. Well, it's not that simple. How do you just move on when your entire world is different? The answer is simple, you don't move on. You learn to adapt to your new world. It's a world of new views and emotions. It's a new view on what is important and what really doesn't matter at all. When I hear of someone taking their life, my heart hurts not only for them, but for the family and friends that this will hurt. When I hear of someone turning to drugs, I feel the pain that they are trying to hide behind drugs, etc. We need to wake up and realize that suicide and overdoses are the symptoms of the disease that is killing those that we love. The disease is Mental Illness. The disease hides,

Experience is a Hard Teacher

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They don't want to take their own lives. They don't want to get addicted to drugs. They just want to find a way to make the pain stop. Since losing Heather, I have learned much. Since losing Heather, I have heard some very cold comments from people. Since losing Heather, I have also seen some really good people. I have heard people say that suicide is not a disease. I have also heard people say that addiction is not a disease. I will agree with both. The disease is Mental Illness and it is killing too many people that we know and love every single day. Why are we losing so many people that we love and that love us in return? I can't answer that for everyone but I can answer that for me. Back when I was in high school, I tried to take my life. I didn't succeed, but I did learn something. I saw that my Mom's heart broke a little bit that day when they brought me back to life. Her pain didn't end my pain, but through seeing her pain, I knew that no matter what

Sticks and Stones May Break Your Bones, But Words Could Surely Kill You

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If I could wish for one thing, besides wishing for my daughter Heather to be back with us, would be for people to mind their words. Words can cut like a knife, and in some cases, can drive someone to end the pain of those words by taking their own life. We all have people in our lives. Some are family, some are friends, some are friends that we feel like family with, and some are just random acquaintances. If any of these people can cause you the pain that will drive you to take your life. STOP. Get that person out of your life. KNOW that you are so much better than the pain they are causing you. This past weekend, I had to kick one of those people out of my life. While it is hard, I couldn't listen to the pain that their reckless comments caused. I was told to get rid of all of Heather's things and pictures, get over the suicide and just forget about it and move on. Those are some of the cruelest words you could say to a person, especially someone that has lost someone

This Was Not a World Heather Wanted To Be In

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I read a very painful article this morning. More of the kids in middle school are opting to take their own life by suicide than die in automobile accidents. So sad! You can click here to see the full article . There are so many causes and the signs are hard to notice. Look at the smile on my beautiful daughter's face. She hid the pain because she wanted everyone else to feel better. She didn't want to share her pain because she thought people would think she was just seeking attention. No matter how many times I replay everything in my mind, I can't bring Heather back to us. She made a decision and our lives are all changed. These days, it's like you can't open up the news and here about another person ending their life. So many agree with Heather - this is not a world they want to be in either. They want a world that cares. Next week is the election for President. To me, that's a very scary election. The truth of the matter is that most of the politi