Sunflowers for Hope - Starting a Memorial/Foundation for my Sister, Focused on Mental Health Awareness/Suicide Prevention
2 weeks ago, my little sister committed suicide.
I shared my story in a post on here (without naming names, to protect our family's privacy, and also the privacy of the asshole who emotionally tormented her) which can be found here: https://peakd.com/hive-174578/@nulledgh0st/its-not-goodbye-but-rather-ill-see-you-later-a-tribute-to-my-little-sister
Our family has thought about this a lot as we grieve the loss of a sister, daughter, niece, granddaughter, and friend to so many...
We've decided that we wish to start a foundation/memorial in her honor, with a focus on raising Mental Health Awareness / Suicide Prevention.
My sister told none of us her intentions. She left behind nothing but a single sticky note - or at least that's all that was found initially in her home.
After reading her journals and notebooks, I discovered that she'd been suffering emotional abuse and suicidal thoughts for nearly a year - something that has been incredibly painful to both read, and mentally process.
I've spent the past few weeks "investigating" and putting together pieces of the puzzle that just didn't seem to quite fit. When I first wrote that post I shared above, there were many questions that at that time, were left unanswered. After spending every single day since laying her to rest researching, investigating her ex, talking to people in her life, etc, it's now essentially a known fact that only her ex and his ex GF knew my sisters intentions and cries for help - yet told NO one.
They knew for over 10 months. My family, myself, my sisters friends, even our entire community (we live in a rural community with a population of a little more than 3k people) had 0 idea of her intentions and how she was feeling inside. The only people she told were two people that chose to keep this information to themselves, which is absolutely despicable and horrifying.
Our goal with the foundation and memorial fund is to ensure that those that feel they have no other options - that are feeling distressed, lost, hopeless - that there IS hope. That they CAN reach out to someone, anyone, and get help.
We will never know why my sister chose not to personally tell us, or even leave hints that she was hurting and being emotionally abused by her ex. It pains us deeply and reading her personal journal entries has really left me with a pain that may never heal, but I accept it and did it because everyone wanted answers - none of us felt any sort of closure whatsoever, despite her wake having the largest turnout that the funeral home ever held, and the funeral being absolutely beautiful.
Her favorite flowers were sunflowers. People have been sending us tens of thousands of sunflower seeds in the mail via Amazon, and we are overwhelmed with the love and support our community has shown us during this extremely difficult time. We want to create something beautiful in her honor, and have her legacy be one which creates a positive impact in the lives of others that are struggling.
I am personally meeting with our local bank and various members of the community that own most of the businesses to discuss the beginnings of starting this fund up, but I also want to start raising both funds and awareness on my own.
We will be creating a non-profit organization in her honor - the name is TBD, but I have something in mind already, "The Sunflower Hope" fund/foundation, or something to that effect. I'd love if anyone else has any suggestions or ideas. We'd also probably incorporate her name into it, but until it's official, I'd still like to maintain her privacy until it's legitimized.
There's not enough awareness or talk happening around mental health and suicide prevention in the US (and possibly even globally, I'm honestly not quite sure), and that's something that I aim to change.
I'll be creating a Hive account in the name of the foundation once the name is chosen and the legal non-profit entity created - anything earned from post rewards, donations, etc will be used directly for this foundation.
Thank you for those of you that have reached out to me and shown your support, especially @hivelist / @thelogicaldude / @hivehustlers. I am so grateful and words can never express how deeply appreciative I am that people have cared enough to reach out. It means the world to me.
I've personally started powering down my own personal Hive / POB / LEO tokens as funerals aren't cheap, and my family could use the help. My sister didn't leave anything behind except a lot of debt (which I've been working to eliminate as best as I can). I'm not asking for anything from anyone - that's not the nature of this post. The purpose of this post was to simply share my future plans for a new account in my sisters memory, and to also share a message - that there is HOPE.
No matter how you're feeling - whether you're depressed, feeling suicidal, feeling lost, or simply feel that no one cares, please remember - you matter. You are loved. There is ALWAYS someone you can talk to - you can reach out to me any time on Discord or here, and I will gladly chat with you. Because I know how it feels. I've felt how my sister felt before, and I've faced my own demons before. Losing my sister is the worst thing that's ever happened to me, and I made a promise to her as we laid her to rest - that I would do my very best to help others that are struggling get through turbulent times, and realize that there is light at the end of the tunnel.
You do matter. Always remember that.
🖤
-gh0st
I was devastated to read this post but it is so encouraging that you are trying to do all these things for her memory and for hellping other people
Uncertainty is not an easy situation to go through, especially for people that are more sensitive than others .. I am sending you my sympathy for this …. It is wonderful of you to share this with the rest of us🙏🙏
mantap
It's definitely been a time of difficulty and uncertainty. Finding out that we have to wait an additional 3-4 months for toxicology results contributed even further to our sadness and frustration, despite this most likely not being the main cause of death.
Thank you for your kind words and for reaching out 🖤
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What unfortunate news, I think that everyone in the world has a close person with thoughts of that nature, sometimes we do not realize it until the worst happens, and believe me that the emptiness they leave torments, also the reasons for their decisions, there is no Words of consolation, I can only tell you that you have strength and time will help you to move forward.
Sadly, this is probably true. My hope is that through my efforts and the efforts of so many others, we can reduce the frequency of these tragedies exponentially.
🖤
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I am very sorry to hear about your loss and all the pain and confusion that comes along with it. It’s beautiful what you and your family have decided to do in her loving memory and I hope all your goals are met.
I’m sharing this to help get more eyes on it. I know the intention wasn’t to ask for anything but we have such a supportive community that I think would be willing and glad to help with this initiative.
God bless you and your family ~ 🙏🏽
Thank you for sharing with your audience, as awareness is truly the biggest way we can combat this growing issue. It truly feels like suicide and silence around it is becoming an epidemic in the US...
🖤
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Absolutely! Awareness can make a difference.
I'm sorry about your loss.
And reading through this post I see you want to make it better place for people having the same issue well done champ
This is important thank you for sharing
I condole with you on the loss of your sister.
You are right, life has value ...
Every life has value, indeed. I just wish that this guy understood this very basic concept of humanity...
🖤
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Sorry for your loss, mate.
Thank you bro.
🖤
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Sorry to hear :(
Stay strong for your family but don't forget that you're allowed to feel as well.
All the best mate.
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Thank you - I know the time for my grieving is approaching, and I'm doing my best to channel my anger and sadness into something that yields a positive outcome..
🖤
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Heartfelt condolences to you and your family. This foundation will help many others who are in a difficult situation.
🖤
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I condole with you on the loss of your sister.
🖤
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What a heartbreaking post. I'm so sorry for what happened to you and your family. 🙏
🖤
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Hola quizás esto no hace que nuestra coraza exterior nos solidifique mas y de esa manera seguir adelante, fuerza, te dejo mi voto y te sigo.
I am so sorry for your loss, I am deeply touched by this story....emotional abuse is serious, it is such a shame that she hold it so much inside. The ex-es will pay in front of God, no harm is left unpunished, it is cruel to emotionally torture another human being. I send you and your family all of my best wishes and I wish you healing and strenght. Pray to God for spiritual guidance in these difficult times, it will help.
One day, he will slip up, and justice will find him. He's a known low-level dealer and one day, he'll get his just desserts.
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Justice will be made for sure!
Truly, thank you everyone for your kind words and condolences. I really hope that what we build impacts other lives; no parent should ever have to bury a child, no brother should have to sift through hundreds of pages of journal entries and thousands of text messages to discover emotional abuse by a narcissistic asshole.
I don't know how, yet, but I am hopeful that the meeting with our community leaders and bank will bring forward some other great ideas on how to offer aid and comfort to others that are suffering, so that this type of tragedy never again occurs in our town (or anywhere for that matter).
Those that need a voice will hear ours. Those that need help, will receive it. Those that need a shoulder to lean on, will find one here.
Thank you again. Next time I share a post of this nature, it will be from the new account, and I hope that my fellow Hivers continue to help (me) us fight this fight - I find it criminal for the inaction and silence of my sisters ex. In a situation like this, I find it nearly the same as committing murder. The ability to say something about her suicidal ideations and comments existed for a LONG time, and yet NOTHING was ever said or done.
Truly unacceptable.
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I am so sorry to hear of the passing of your sister, I can only imagine how difficult it must have been for you and your family. Just like those beautiful sunflowers, the sun would shine on you and your family once again. Good luck with your foundation, the world needs a lot of those so we can get to people hurting around us. Stay safe gh0st
I can feel the pain in every word and I know that in each of those words, there is a tear. I know what you are going through. I also lost a friend that I grew up with and we were like sisters. She was also abused by her partner and many times we told her to leave him. She decided to leave him and all of us who loved her by throwing herself off the balcony. It was heartbreaking. You don't know how I understand you.
I took the liberty of sharing your post to reach more people.
The work you and your family are planning to do is beautiful. We have to raise awareness before possible alerts that suicidal people can give us and make them see that they are not alone, that they are worth a lot, that they are important to many people.
I send you a big hug and my words of condolence.💔
Take heart bro,I know she is in resting in the bossom of God.
my condolences ♥️
Im very sorry for your and your families loss.
I cant imagine how hard this is for all of you.
You are doing a beautiful thing to honor your sister.
Prayers for strength and finding comfort in this tragic situation.
I'm really sorry for the loss. I pray for the Lord's strength and his guidance for you and your family.
Que tristeza 😢 cuanto lo siento!! Dios les de fortaleza para soportar tanto dolor 💝🌻🌻
I'm very sorry to hear it and I do wish as humans we were better at identifying and helping those who are struggling and hurt themselves and others.
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Thank you. And what you just mentioned is EXACTLY what the foundation we are working to launch (first meeting was last night) is aiming to achieve. Identifying people that may need a shoulder to lean on, etc. I actually have an idea I'm going to personally launch, and will be sharing details in an update about that probably today or tomorrow! Things are moving forward, and we WILL make an impact on this world, one person at a time. Every single life counts <3
Touched by how pure and sincere this post is. My condolences
Hello everyone. This is the official account started in honor of my sister, who committed suicide on October 6, 2021, due to emotional abuse at the hands of a narcissistic sociopath.
The official foundation meeting kicks off on the 27th in our local town, and we aim to both legalize our entity as a non-profit organization, as well as begin raising donations to help spread awareness and to help victims of emotional abuse.
Abuse doesn't always leave a physical mark - often, abuse can leave scars that are never seen, but are felt daily, for a lifetime.
We hope to help those that feel they have no voice, no hope, no way out of their situation - whether it's an abusive significant other, family member, or other individual, we believe that NO ONE should suffer emotional abuse, as it can be just as deadly, if not more deadly, than physical abuse.
Suicide rates continue to rise year after year - sadly, my sister became a part of that rising statistic this year. Despite being heartbroken, we refuse to idly stand by while there are others still out there suffering.
Please support our cause - all donations will be tax-deductible (our official tax ID will be shared once legitimized in a few days), and all funds raised from Hive posts via votes and donations will be directly donated to the foundation treasury, to be used to combat emotional abuse and raise awareness about this silent killer.
Thank you all for your support,
-@nulledgh0st / @sunflowers4hope
I am so sorry for the loss of your sister especially in light of the circumstances. I admire your tenacity we're going after the answers that the family needs, seeking closure, which we all know will be very difficult. I am glad that you took steps to read like your sister is really about a she battled with herself.
My thought, my prayers, much hope for your message to reach those in need. Much love to your family. I will be sharing this to spread your message and I see you opened a site. Thank you and i will be checking in to see how you and the family are doing.
Be blessed.
Thank you so kindly for reaching out and your words. I've spent over 3 weeks now just talking to everyone I can, digging into every possible avenue in terms of her communications/writings/etc...I've managed to find a LOT more information since I posted this a week ago, and plan on having an updated post regarding the entire situation (as well as news on the foundation, as our first kickoff meeting was held last night) in the next day or so.
Thanks again for the support, and I hope that you, and others, continue to support the foundation account and what we aim to achieve!
Also re: website, I will be launching a website in her memory, something unique that represents who she was as a person, and will also have a small, tax-deductible donation option for those that wish to support our cause. Our foundation committe is currently working out the details regarding our specific focus, mission statement, short and long term goals, funding options, getting the legal non-profit structure organized and filed correctly, etc. But, things are in motion!