Well I decided to participate in the Overnight Out of the Darkness walk on June 9th in NYC in honor of my friend Tom who passed away on Halloween of 2006. It is a 20-mile walk for suicide prevention that lasts from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m.
I am trying to raise $1000 for the event and am about 35% there and that is fine because I have a few months. I also have a few months to prepare myself for a walk that may make my legs fall off. I may have to do some training beforehand. I go to the gym 3 or 4 times a week but I still think my feet are going to be burning. However, this is all for a good cause and it gives me something I can actually do for my close friend who I couldn't help while he was alive. Maybe I will help some other person not cause the same hurt and pain for their friends and family.
Please go to www.theovernight.org/fundraising/20forTom and donate to this worthy cause!
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
Monday, December 25, 2006
The Day the Music Stopped
This is a poem I wrote about my friend Tom's death that I read at his funeral. It was hard to write and even harder to read but with the strength that he and my grandmother gave me that day, I was able to read it without a tear. RIP Tom...I miss you every day.
The Day the Music Stopped
Silence is all we heard this Halloween.
No laughter from children, no festive songs were sung...it was just silence on the day the music stopped.
Until the tears started to pour and we heard the collective sobbing of all who were touched by Tom's unique ability to make you feel special and belong. He connected all of us and when we drifted apart, he brought us back together. He reminded us, and still reminds us, that we all have a link to each other. It is him.
His unwavering loyalty and quirky sense of humor made him one of the best friends we would ever know.
When Tom took his own life, rest assured that he did not die alone. A little piece of each of us died too, but we were there with him. He had us and now we have him in our hearts forever.
This tragedy should teach us all to appreciate eachother because the next time you turn around someone you love may not be standing next to you. You may have forgotten to tell them how much you love them or how happy you are that they are in your life. It happened to us...suddenly. We couldn't say goodbye, we couldn't say anything…on the day the music stopped.
By:
Melissa Gonzalez
The Day the Music Stopped
Silence is all we heard this Halloween.
No laughter from children, no festive songs were sung...it was just silence on the day the music stopped.
Until the tears started to pour and we heard the collective sobbing of all who were touched by Tom's unique ability to make you feel special and belong. He connected all of us and when we drifted apart, he brought us back together. He reminded us, and still reminds us, that we all have a link to each other. It is him.
His unwavering loyalty and quirky sense of humor made him one of the best friends we would ever know.
When Tom took his own life, rest assured that he did not die alone. A little piece of each of us died too, but we were there with him. He had us and now we have him in our hearts forever.
This tragedy should teach us all to appreciate eachother because the next time you turn around someone you love may not be standing next to you. You may have forgotten to tell them how much you love them or how happy you are that they are in your life. It happened to us...suddenly. We couldn't say goodbye, we couldn't say anything…on the day the music stopped.
By:
Melissa Gonzalez
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