"To Write Love on Her Arms is a non-profit movement dedicated to presenting hope and finding help for people struggling with depression, addiction, self-injury and suicide. TWLOHA exists to encourage, inform, inspire and also to invest directly into treatment and recovery."
I became aware of TWLOHA via my facebook feed: my little sister planned to attend the event. Because I'm nosy, I clicked the link and read the event page, eventually clicking through to the website. This movement hits close to home, particularly the topic of suicide, for a variety of reasons. First and foremost, it's important to my sister. While close, we are not a super-tight family that shares our deep, dark secrets with each other. I know that she has suffered with some episodes of self-proclaimed depression, but if she has seriously contemplated suicide, I'm not aware and that bothers me.
My brother has been depressed to the point that we were all worried about his safety.
I had a very, very brief moment in time when I contemplated suicide.
Chebbar had a dangerous flirtation with suicide as a young adult that went so far as to map out the mode and timing -- it breaks my heart to know that I could have lost him before I found him.
When I was 13 years old, a boy in the grade below me hung himself over a break-up with his girlfriend.
When I was 20, a guy I went to high school with stepped in front of a semi truck on the highway.
It's just so much senseless, tragic loss. Again, it breaks my heart to know that there are people out there who feel so alone, so unloved, so lost, so hopeless that ending their lives seems like the only path. At the same time, I can't help but get a little angry over the perceived selfishness of the act: what about the people left behind? The mothers, the brothers, the best friends, the lovers who have to live the rest of their lives without you? The ones left asking why and blaming themselves for not seeing signs?
Suicide is NOT the only option. You are NOT alone. You are NOT unloved. You may feel lost and without options, but there are so many people willing to help you find your way. Talk to someone -- anyone, even if it's a comment on a blog post or a message on an online forum or an anonymous call to a hotline, but please try to remember that you're not alone and that someone out there is glad that you're alive.
"You are not alone, and this is not the end of your story."
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