World Suicide Prevention Day 2016 #StopSuicide

I lost Heather to suicide on October 26, 2015 and my life has not been the same since. Some days are good, some days are unbearable, but each day, I try to go forward and figure out who I am now. You see, I died that day too. The pain that ripped through my soul killed me. There is no other way to say it. I have 3 beautiful daughters, and that night, my youngest, my baby, decided that she didn't want to live in this world anymore.

Heather was not alone. Each day, there is news of more death around us. We hear the news stories of young teenagers deciding that they don't want to live in this world either. Is that what we are leaving behind as our legacy to our children? Our grandchildren? Are their lives not worth it? We need to wake up and make some changes, or the headlines are going to increase.

I'll be honest. I fear that we are going to see a revolutionary war in the near future. More and more of the people that live here are hurting. More and more are living hand to mouth, if that, as the economic divide widens between us and them. When they were talking about raising the minimum wage to $15, I know that Heather was ecstatic. Heather was a hard worker. She worked in a group home taking care of Mentally Disabled adults. She, and many other people, taking care of those that really need a loving hand, were being paid peanuts. They were being paid poverty level pay, but no one wants to raise the minimum wage. She was also taking classes at the local college to become an EMT. Again, another very worthwhile and caring job that pays ... poverty level - way below the cost of living.

Heather and I talked about some of the large corporations, with all their tax breaks for hiring people and giving them jobs. While the citizens were being charged income tax, these corporations were being given a free ride with tax credits. They are paying their employees wages that are below living standards, and using the taxes paid by other citizens, to give them benefits, food, rental assistance.

If the minimum wage kept up with the productivity levels, the minimum wage would almost be $22 an hour! People could live on their means by working. They wouldn't need your tax dollars to help them get the food they needed, medical care, etc. I don't want to go on and on with this, but people need a wake-up call. We need to make this a world that people who are willing to work, can live, comfortably. Working a full-time job should not be able to equate with living in poverty.

We've all heard the arguments. The big box stores can't afford that. They will lay people off. Yeah, so what? Remember the days when you had Mom and Pop stores all over? You went to those stores and the owners knew you by name. Customer service was excellent - you were neighbors. Want customer service back in your own hands? I sure do. Anyway, enough ranting.

We need to make some serious changes in our world. We need to put a stop to suicide and one of the best ways we can do that is to work together to make this a world that more and more people love being in. Work towards that.