What I learnt in the last conversations with my Mum
And a moment of gratitude
In the weeks before my Mum’s death, we were fortunate enough to have our last conversations, knowing they would be our last. One evening, for the first time since it happened, we spoke about my Dad’s suicide.
It sounds silly, but we hadn’t realised we were all struggling through the same thing, failing to talk about it properly in the moment. We were literally and metaphorically living under the same roof but in different rooms.
Shared experience creates connections, and sharing our stories builds on them.
My Mum, my Sister, and I went through the exact same heartache with my Dads death. We shared the pain and regret associated with suicide, but we didn’t share our stories until those last conversations with my Mum.
In those conversations, our bonds became stronger. We had not only lived through the same ordeal, we’d endured and recovered in similar ways… and by realising this, it helped us overcome our pain just that little bit more.
Sharing stories helps us comprehend what we’ve been through and helps others going through something similar. If you’ve got a story you’d like to tell, please email hello@runningforresilience.com
Before we move on…
Matt sits down with Jess Peil for a conversation about all of her community work with Bravehearts, Menslink, Running for Resilience, and why she does it. We also hear about her running adventures and who she'd like to interview most.
And coming up…
A grateful moment
It’s easy to get carried away with excitement. Running for Resilience has 10 different runs and walks, not including the newly launched Recess for Resilience going into schools throughout Canberra.
And this is only a glimpse…
It is well and truly all happening and as I was running yesterday, I had a moment of gratitude. R4R has made my life better, we know we’ve helped save lives from suicide, and it’s been such a fun journey with all those involved.
As momentum with our community builds, we should always remember why we started… to save one life from suicide, as many times as possible. We should remember all the work we’ve done so far, because lives have been, and are being saved.
And by remembering why we started and where we’ve been, we’re giving ourselves the foundation to go even further…. where no one is destined for suicide, and a suicide-free Canberra is possible.