Adolescent Suicide #3 Killer of YOUTH

My son committed suicide at the age of 21, following an altercation with his allegedly cheating girlfriend. With the gun blast that took his life, the life of his loved-ones was also blown apart. He had much to live for: was a brilliant artist and thinker, a handsome man with brains. It's been many years since his premature death. It has become easier to speak of the loss, but still, emotion gets caught in my throat, even here now, as I attempt to write.

With loss, comes, hopefully, growth. Having spent weeks lying on the floor, sobbing, not washing, not eating, deciding whether or not to follow my son into the unknown abyss, I finally got up, went to my keyboard and began to write. A madwoman, I wrote thru days and nights, and through the pain and confusion of losing a child. I thought, and I wrote. I purged. The result was, Blessings In The Mire, an extremely candid book about the miracles and signs that both preceded and followed my son's death. Writing the book saved my life, and now that it is published, it is also healing others.

Eventually, the book, Blessings In The Mire, evolved into a website by the same name. Visitors now post tributes to loved-ones who have committed suicide. Some write poetry, others write a line or two about the deceased, or about their feelings towards the loss. It's a new (free) service that seems to be catching on quite rapidly.

Now the website also includes a monthly e-zine that keeps folks hooked into a sort of community. It's all new, and still blossoming, but is also free.

Free articles are available for download, as are flyers which can be posted around campuses and coffee houses, or where ever anyone can think of to hang them. It's a great way to get the word out, to raise awareness of an issue that the masses like to pretend is non-existent.

Suicide is the #3 cause of death in adolescents ages 15-24. It is the #5 cause of death in children ages 5-14. Can we, as a society, really live with these statistics? It seems that suicide is at crisis levels, and few are talking about the truth. Every 16 minutes another suicide takes place. If you are still reading this, please, take a moment to pass it on to anyone with children, to those in the media, to your legislator.

What began as a mother's anguish, evolved into a book, and blossomed into a website, has now become a non-profit corporation dedicated to preventing adolescent suicide. Raise your voice with ours at Blessings In The Mire, Inc. Challenge the schools, the media, the government. Write letters to the editors of newspapers. Talk with youth at every opportunity. Save a life.

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http://www.suicidehotlines.com assistance for locating local suicide prevention.

http://www.BlessingsInTheMire.com for survivor support, awareness and prevention.

http://www.ReachingYouthArtNetwork.org for aRt programs and contests that support awareness and prevention of suicide.