24-Hour Walk Out of the Darkness
In March of 2013 our lives were turned on their heads. That was the month we discovered just how serious our daughter’s struggle with depression was. That was the month that I began breathing for two. That was the month that everything changed. Four months later, I found myself in the psych ward struggling with my own demons. But in the months in between, Meg and I made one very positive move. We completed the Overnight Walk Out of the Darkness to raise money and awareness for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. This year, although like is still topsy turvy, Meg and I have decided to step up that challenge. Because we cannot complete the organized Walk Out of the Darkness, we have organized a self-supported 24-hour walk.
On July 3rd at 4am we will begin our walk along the C&O Canal in Maryland, 24-hours later we will complete our walk in Pennsylvania. Anyone who has ever completed an endurance event for charity knows that the challenge is not the event itself. Instead the challenge comes in raising awareness and funds for the event. We have set a goal of $2500. It is an aggressive goal but depression in an aggressive illness.
As we began our journey through depression last year I was completely overwhelmed. I could not understand why I was so stressed out. Why I couldn’t get a grip on Meg’s depression. Finally, I spoke with a therapist and he said something that set things in perspective while scaring the bejeebers out of me at the same time – Depression is a life-threatening disease.
From the beginning Meg and I decided that hiding our depression was not okay. We understand that we are not alone and we believe that sharing our stories will help others realize they are not alone. This sounded like a reasonable strategy in the beginning, but would it work? Wow, did it work. On a weekly basis we receive calls and emails from people throughout our community and from across the world sharing their stories and asking to hear more about ours. Together we are stronger.
This walk out of the darkness is just one more way to show people they are not alone, one more way to raise awareness about this life-threatening disease. Please help us to meet our goal. Please donate to the 24-hour Walk Out of the Darkness. In addition we are asking that you share our story with others and ask them to donate on our behalf. Please help us to put an end to this disease that takes our mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, husbands, wives, and children. Please help us to shed light on this cause.