My mom was always walking - around the house, through the neighborhood, with friends, on her own, she was walking. And she had great legs to prove it! Five years ago, coming up on my birthday in September, she decided to stop. After years of mental health, personal, and addiction struggles, she stopped walking and ended her life.
Many said it would take 5 years to feel "normal" again. I can say I feel many things, and after three years I felt happiness again. But I don't know that anyone returns to normal after a death like this. Especially because life keeps happening.
The best advice I received after my mom’s death came from a woman I had walked with for a short time at the first church I served – “How do I do it? How did you do it? How have you made it through being a refugee in Africa, through horrible abuse, homelessness, raising three kids, back into a new life with a job, a home and stability?” She told me – I always told my girls, you gotta keep walking.
And so I do. Every day I try to walk. I continue my practice of pilgrimage both near and far. Sometimes I walk specifically for suicide prevention. Wherever you are, whatever you’re going through, know you're not alone and try to keep walking.
