An overdose awareness and memorial vigil/walk is being held tomorrow (Saturday, August 23) in Eddystone, PA at 5:00 pm.
The walk will begin at 1000 E. Fourth St. and conclude at Dom Marion Field, behind Lighthouse Hall, where a candlelight vigil will commence to remember loved ones lost to addiction and overdose.
Pre-registration is $25. Same day registration is $20. Children under 12 are $10.
Please contact Christine Cocker at 610.803.6934 with any questions.
It may not be just a ‘city thing’ but growing up in New York City taught me a thing or two about public transportation. Some are obvious social cues – you know, don’t put your wallet in your back pocket, stand clear of the closing doors (please) – that sort of thing. Others are vestiges of a more primitive time, when any and everything could become a step in a dangerous direction. One thing my father, who’s lived in a city all his life, taught me growing up was more reminiscent of canine behavior than human. “Keep your head down but on a swivel. If you look someone directly in the eyes, they’ll take it as a challenge,” he’d tell me on the Brooklyn cross-bound local (The next stop is… a life lesson.) Whether he was right or not I never questioned his sage advice for fear of him not being wrong, and so I learned to keep my head down and grind forward. But somewhere in the “be aware of my surroundings” initiative I forgot to be aware of my surroundings in a literal sense.
When I relocated to Philadelphia in September 2006 I continued the well-worn habits of my NYC self. It wasn’t until recently that I began to really look and take in what I was seeing. There’s a SEPTA bus that takes you all the way down Chestnut from Wycombe to Penn’s Landing. I ride this bus often enough the route has rendered itself habitual to the extent I can signal my stop through muscle-memory alone. All those times I neglected to look outside the window of that bus as we passed 31st and Chestnut, I missed a most marvelous mural dedicated to a cause near to my heart.
The mural, ‘Finding the Light Within’, is meant to be a conversational piece about mental health awareness and suicide prevention. Created by lead artist James Burns, a member of the Mural Arts Program, the painting tells a story of all faces, races, and ages – not just of those who’ve lost a loved one to suicide, but of a community struggling to come together during times of crisis.
Whether we think we do or we don’t, we all know someone struggling with mental health issues. Oftentimes the stigma masks and blurs the hurt on a familiar face. Visit the mural. Contemplate it. Then go on the website and tell your story.
Finding the Light Within
Horizon House
120 S. 30th Street, Phila, PA 19104
website: http://www.storytellingmural.org
Image courtesy of afsp.org
Katie Cleary receives a kiss on the cheek from actor Leonardo diCaprio in Cannes, June 2014. Credit: TMZ.com
Andrew Stern [40], husband of ‘Deal or No Deal’ suitcase model Katie Cleary, took his life by a gun shot to the head at a San Fernando Valley shooting range this past Sunday. Authorities discovered through investigation Stern was suffering from depression and anxiety due to marital stress. His estranged wife, Cleary, was recently photographed cuddling up to Leonardo di Caprio and Adrian Grenier in Cannes last month.
His failing marriage with Cleary was also a motivator for a suicide attempt in April, days after the couple began the arduous process of filing for divorce. He had returned to his parents’ home in Ohio for a respite and tried to take his life at a shooting range there. Staff at the shooting range turned the clearly disheveled man away and his mom had Stern taken to a hospital to evaluate his mental stability.
Cleary denied the Cannes photographers had anything to do with her estranged husband’s suicide.
A spokesperson for the family issued the following statement:
“It’s extremely upsetting that our family’s private tragedy has become public, and we’d like to ask the media to please respect our privacy as we grieve our only son,” the statement reads. “This unwanted attention has resulted in several false & hurtful speculations that do not truthfully describe the devoted, unselfish, accomplished & proud man Andrew was. Andrew was an adored son, cherished friend, successful businessman, adventurous athlete, passionate animal rights activist & humanitarian. No one is without flaws, but Andrew was a giving & generous spirit who touched so many lives in a positive way. For those of us who loved him, there will never be an answer to ‘why?’ We choose to honor his memory by remembering how he lived, not how he died.”
Andrew Stern in happier times with estranged wife Katie Cleary. The “The Millionaire Matchmaker” alum Andrew Stern died by suicide on June 22, 2014. Credit: Us Magazine
Atoms & Empty Space: Your 'Shatter the Stigma' Database 