Thanks from the Cincinnati Chapter of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention

[moiety6892]

I am new to RedsZone forum, however, I am not new to being a REDS FAN!

My full time volunteer job is as Board Chair to the Cincinnati Chapter of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. We are a working, volunteer board of 12 members who have all lost a loved one to suicide.

All of us on the board of the Cincinnati Chapter of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention THANK ALL OF YOU! When we recieved the message in regards to the funds raised in memory of Ryan Freel we were honored to have been choosen for this donation. We are all sadden by the loss and our thoughts and prayers go out to his family and friends. The rippling effect it creates when we lose a loved one to suicide is never ending.

It takes effort and courage to raise money for Suicide Prevention, thank you all for having that courage to talk about a difficult subject, but more importantly to honor Ryan Freel's life. It is not in how we die that should be remembered, but how we lived.

My story started in 1995 when my husband and father to our three children then 7, 9 and 11 took his life. Our lives were forever changed that night in February. His family blamed me for his death, so I lost an entire family when he died. My family begged me not to talk about it. I chose to educate myself on suicide and I was determined, not only for me, but for my children to bring about change. I started telling my story, which opened the door for others to begin telling there stories. There is NO shame, there should be NO stigma. My three children are now 30, 28 and 26. We miss him every day but it hurts most on those special occasions when graduations are here, weddings without their father walking them down the isle, and grandchildren without knowing their grandfather.

All of you are now a part of our Cincinnati AFSP Chapter family, by your generosity in donating to this worthy cause. We are here for you, for support, education and advocacy. We all strive to have a world without suicide!

Once again, thank you from the entire board of the Cincinnati Chapter of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.

Fondly,

The Chapter Chair

[lefty4reit]

For those who would like to join us for Cincinnati's, Out of the Darkness walk, on October 20th, please follow this link:

http://afsp.donordrive.com/index.cfm...t&eventID=2184

[remdog]

Very nice post, moiety. It puts a personal face on what happens with those who are left behind. It also points out the loss felt by those that can never again talk, touch, laugh, cry with and enjoy you. I've lost a couple of friends to sucide over the years and I've never understood why it happened. They were bright young people with their futuress ahead of them----all seamingly fun and happy. Why would they do this to themselves? I still don't understand!