I never understood suicide until I lost a very good friend a couple of months ago. I couldn’t understand why anyone would take their own life. I realized the truth of depression and the reality of the struggle, but never how someone could take that tragic step to end it all. The irony is I don’t know why my friend took his life. He left no note and no indication. Yet, by knowing him I understand the pain had to be so great and completely inescapable for him to decide that death was the only way. He was the happiest person I knew, with enough friends who cared deeply about him to last a lifetime. There isn’t a day I don’t think of him, and there isn’t a day I’m not more vigilant of the actions and moods of people around me.
A local group, HOPES — Helping Others Prevent and Educate about Suicide is asking us all to Look Closer and Listen Harder. They’re doing it with the help of Ad2 Madison, a group of young advertising professionals who chose them from a group of local non-profits to get a marketing makeover.
Ad2 selects a local non-profit each year to receive the makeover, which this year included much more than a new logo, a few brochures and fliers. A billboard is part of the mix. There are TV Spots, radio commercials, a brand new website. Business cards? Stationery? No problem. The complete package would be worth hundreds of thousands of dollars if HOPES had to pay for it. All of the work — including air time — was free.
I ask all of you to Look Closer and Listen Harder. Learn the warning signs. Suicide doesn’t always have to win, sometimes the question you take the time to ask might save a life.
