I grew up surrounded by love, but always battling with my mental health.  Depression, anxiety, and attention deficit disorder are challenges I’m very familiar with.  I’m a ‘be kind, but take no crap’ kind of person, and when I’m passionate about something, neither hell nor high water will stop me from reaching my goal.  After losing Trent in June of 2022, my strongest devotion in life has become mental health and suicide awareness.

My goal as part of Stay; For Life was to help just one person to stay alive, to help just one family avoid the tragic loss of a loved one. I know we’ve succeeded in reaching that goal. Going forward my focus will always remain on helping just one more person, and one more family. There will always be one more person we can help with suicide prevention and men’s mental health resources.

Stay; For Life was created in the aftermath of tragedy. Our world was rocked to the core after losing our sweet nephew, Trent, to suicide in the early summer of 2022. After picking up the pieces and being left with a fervent desire to do something, our mission at Stay; For Life was born. I feel driven to spread awareness of the importance of mental health (specifically men’s mental health) and the message that there is always hope and with help, things can get better.

My goal for being part of Stay for life was simply to try to help others through my experiences. Suicide is an epidemic today and have lost more friends than I can count. I have struggled with suicidal ideation much of my life. I’ve always felt like I didn’t fit in to polite society. I am a misfit, an outlaw one who has always felt more comfortable on the fringes of society. As a recovering addict and alcoholic and having survived an attempted Suicide myself I know I have valuable insight that I hope by sharing can have an impact on someone else or others.

Angela and I became friends more than 10 years ago when our boys began wrestling together on the Wells Rec wrestling team.  We have gone on many adventures together over the years, they are our chosen family. She is my soul sister. I love her boys as my own, just as she loves my children as her own.  When Trent died, it shook us all and we were left feeling helpless.  Stay; For Life has given us a purpose and a way to move through our grief to help others.