Let's Talk, PLEASE!!!!!

Saturday, February 23/19

I had a couple of blog entries about my recent experience with online dating and my plans for 2019 almost completed and ready for posting but have shelved them for this blog entry instead.

I was sitting in Baton Rouge reading my tablet and waiting for a late lunch to be served when I heard a statistic over the radio that made me pause and start to get tremors.

This year there will be over 4,000 suicides in Canada, 4,000!!!!!

Suicide is now listed as ranking in the top ten sources of death in Canada, and we aren't even in the top 25 in national rates of suicide per 100K of population.

This is a scary statistic and only gets worse with each passing year.

I'm on Instagram and follow about 90 people, as you can imagine most are athletes or sports teams but one is a comedian named Kate Quigley who goes by kateqfunny and I think is pretty hilarious with her zero fucks given attitude.

She lost a close friend this week in fellow comedian Brody Stevens and has posted a couple of entries about it and her feelings. One takeaway I got was that he didn't express or display any signs of what he was feeling and that everyone wishes he would have called someone.......

I never met Brody and I wish he would have known at that moment the sense of loss his act would leave with his friends though it might not have led him to make a different decision as sometimes that feeling is just too overpowering at that particular moment.

I have someone close to me who recently lost a family member to suicide and I know they are struggling with the aftermath, partially because the person called them repeatedly to lay some massive guilt on them for things they had suppossedly done over the years.

I've reached out to my friend and reminded them that depression does not use logic and that even though the person said some pretty hateful things that there was no true meaning behind the words.

I've called them a few times just to check in on them and remind them that they are loved and I'm only as far away as a telephone call, my shoulder is there to cry on or to punch, a cold beer is always in my fridge and the couch makes a comfy bed if they need to sleep over.

The bottom line is that they are not alone but none of us can read minds so please reach out and talk to us when things aren't going as you want.

The person you pass on the sidewalk who is smiling might be reliving horrible things someone as said to them and the person you pass with the frown might be having a wonderful day, the bottom line is we never know by just looking at someone what is going on inside them.

I may not know any of you all that well but I am here if you just need someone to talk to about things and beg you to reach out to me or someone close to you if you feel like the world is closing in around you.

I've been there myself, years before I moved to Canada, but I know that darkness still lurks somewhere deep inside me and know that should it ever resurface that I have a circle of friends I can turn too if needed, and yes I know how fortunate I am to have them and that is why I am putting myself out there for any of you in need.

Please talk to someone if you ever feel that the only way out is to embrace the darkness by crossing into the abyss as it's not, it really isn't...........

My name is Marcus and I stepped back from the abyss and now you can too!!!!

My email contact is ooasm2018@gmail.com and I get instant notifications when I get new messages