NEVER ALONE

A little while ago, I wrote about The AMAZING Campaign — the campaign that I created to help me keep the spirit of my best friend alive, and the campaign that ultimately changed my life and the way I go about my day.

I recently launched an August-only campaign through the same platform because the three year anniversary of my best friend’s passing is coming up, and honestly, I’m not dealing with it too well. I’m hiding it a bit, or masking it maybe. But running AMAZING helps, to be honest, because it really does help me remember my wonderful friend — her kindness, her wit, her beauty — just all the really lovely things about her. And it also (selfishly) helps me feel like I’m making the slightest bit of difference in the world.

Back to my point — NEVER ALONE. Those Facebook posts of “Share this so you know someone is always listening” with the phone number of a suicide prevention hotline have been everywhere for the past year (at least on my news feed). And I never share them. I KNOW — this seems like the complete opposite of what I would do! But I don’t think they’re all that effective. I’m not saying my AMAZING shirts are effective either, but at least they’re raising money for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.

But one of those Facebook posts did stick with me — it said to remember that you’re NEVER ALONE. There is always going to be someone that’s willing to listen to you, someone that loves you, and someone that cares about you. And this made me think. I’m truly never alone. I have the most wonderful angels watching over me. I have friends and family that care about me — even if we’re fighting, I know they’d put it aside if I were really in trouble. So why not put that on a t-shirt? Why not say that we truly are NEVER ALONE right over our hearts? Where the souls of our loved ones — here and in Heaven — live constantly. Where others can see that we are willing to support them?

NEVER ALONE is important to me because I want people to know that there are other options. That people love them. That people care about them, even if it’s incredibly hard to see that sometimes. I know how depression works — it’s a blinding darkness, it’s the overpowering force that tells you that this world doesn’t need you anymore. It’s awful, terrible, and a million other adjectives. It hurts like crazy and it pulls you down. But seeing the light, finding one voice that will listen. Remembering that one angel that’s fighting for you. That’s what can help pull you out sometimes. Somebody cares about you at all times, even if you don’t know it or you can’t see it. You’re NEVER ALONE.