As many of our long-time readers know ChrisG, a former author at Flopping Aces, took his own life in 2009 while suffering from PTSD.
To honor Chris his wife, Shannon Galloway, is walking in the “Out of the Darkness Community Walks to benefit the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention” in her local area. She placed a modest amount of $200 dollars as her goal to reach in the fundraiser on behalf of Chris. I’m hoping we can far surpass that. As of this writing she is only $80 dollars short. If you have the time and a few nickles, please consider donating for a great cause, and for Chris.
The description of the organization:
In the United States, a person dies by suicide every 15 minutes, claiming more than 34,000 lives each year. It is estimated that an attempt is made every minute; with close to one million people attempting suicide annually. With your participation, you will not just be walking, and your donors will not just be writing a check – you will be helping to save lives.
By walking in the Out of the Darkness Community Walks to benefit the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP), you will be walking with thousands of people nationwide to raise money for AFSP’s vital research and education programs to prevent suicide and save lives, increase national awareness about depression and suicide, advocate for mental health issues, and assist survivors of suicide loss.
WHY WE WALKWALK TO HONOR A LOVED ONE Many walk in memory of a loved one lost to suicide. AFSP provides opportunities for survivors of suicide loss to connect with each other and get involved through a wide variety of educational, outreach, awareness, advocacy and fundraising programs. Each walk site has its own unique remembrance activity in which you can participate to honor a loved one.
WALK TO SUPPORT THE CAUSE Those who have struggled personally with mental illness or suicide, those who come to support a friend or family member, those who are passionate about mental health education and advocacy also participate in the Out of the Darkness Community Walks.
WALK TO RAISE AWARENESS AFSP funds research aimed at improving our understanding of suicide and ways to prevent it as well as educational activities to increase awareness about prevention, warning signs and the psychiatric illnesses that can lead to suicide. People need to be aware of this public health issue.
Please consider donation to Shannon and Chris here.
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Hi everyone at Flopping Aces,
Just stopped by at FA tonite and saw this post. This topic is near and dear to my heart, and so respect Shannon for her efforts to bring awareness to this much needed effort to support our troops who’ve been not only wounded perhaps physically, but certainly emotionally. Thanks, Shannon and Curt, and to all of you at Flopping Aces. God bless.
A great cause, it is awesome that she is honoring his memory this way.
South Korea has the second highest per capita suicide rate in the world. Over 15,000 of them commit suicide each year from suicide while Japan loses over 30,000 a year to suicide. Japan ranks 5th, Russia 6th, Finland 14th, Belgium 15th, France 16th, Sweden 18th, New Zealand 28th, Canada 34th, Ireland 35th, Norway 36th, Iceland 38th and the U.S. 39th. Those number maybe old as they come from Wikipedia. A recent article puts Japan and number two. Another site jumbles the rankings a little but still puts the U.S. below those nations.
Gregory how is your post useful? I am doing what I can to honor my loving husband and to bring awareness to military suicides and PTSD. This is to honor a fallen solider and to raise aawareness please remove your useless comment
to all our FA supporters: what a nice surprise to come here ( i am a frequent lurker) and see this post about something i am doing for the kids and myself. it brought a smile to my face. THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart for any and all donations they will be put to good use. I hope Chris would be proud of me and my big mouth lol always speaking out about what i feel strongly about
To CURT: thank you for posting this here and your very generous donation
A ChrisG Family update
I wanted to give a quick update on our family for the FA flowers I hope you don’t mind CURT.
it has been just over 2 yrs since we lost Chris. Some days it feels like yesterday, others it feels like 20 yrs ago forever…. our life is not easy, but we are doing well. Nathan is in 1 st grade now and looks more like daddy every day. Benjamin is 4 yrs and in preschool. he is loving it and everything super hero 🙂 Lillian Grace just turned 3 (our baby) and she is doing well. working on her speech daily and playing dolls and tea party. yet she holds her own with the toughest of the boys LOL little and mighty Chris would be so proud. he is missing sooo much watching them grow
i continue to attend TAPS events and volunteer with them as well http://www.taps.org they have helpw=ed all 4 of us so very much it is time for me to give back. I have also just found AFSP and I am doing the out of the darkness walk in OCT and hope to do more soon
love Shannon and the kids
How nice to hear from you, Shannon… and to hear of the family’s progress. We all miss Chris very much around here, so I’m pleased you tend to lurk. And you have to know we’re always happy to hear how you are doing.
I think that your activism for the military, and attempts to raise awareness of PTSD, is the greatest tribute you can pay to Chris. Perhaps it’s good therapy for you as well.
You may want to pay special attention to CJ’s posts here. He to has walked the same dark path that Chris did, yet found the sunlight on the other end. For that we are grateful. But his presence here keeps us aware of not only our military efforts in Afghanistan, but also astute to the personal battles they all face as part of their service to our country.
As for Gregory’s comment… no clue why that bolt out of the blue, irrelevant tangent. Losing one life to such despair is one life too many. I care not about the statistics. What Gregory sees as a favorable rating compared to other nations, I see as heartaches for far too many families.
But then, you can’t buffer yourself against the cold and detached view that many hold. He serves as an example of why you need to do exactly what you are doing.
Best of luck, Shannon. And I hope we can help you not only reach, but far surpass, your donation goal.
Don’t think Gregory meant anything by it, just putting out statistics.
So glad to hear you and the kids are doing good and now I’ve seen you’re at 225% of your original goal for that walk, very cool and a big thanks to the FA readers!
God Bless, Shannon.
Sunday is our 1st Out of the Darkness Walk for area…October is suicide awareness month and I am doing my part, WE are doing our part to get the word out about military suicide and mental health in general. Because of the love and generosity of our friends and family and MANY of you here at FA we have raised 650.00 to date!!!!! this is WAY more than i expected. It is NOT about the money for me at all, but WITH this money given in Chris’s Honor, lives will be saved. THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart. This walk seems so small, yet it means so much to me and our kids. baby steps to change. I had memorial shirts made and i will be taking pictures of the walk i hope to post here and on face book too.
To CURT and CREW: could you please re post the 2 news stories that were done on our family with Bob Woodruff from ABC for suicide awareness month? (i know one is on YOUTUBE not sure about the 2nd
thank you
Shannon
That is a fine looking lad in his dads’ arms, I always think of him when I see the photo and wish the best of luck for him as he journeys through life.
This sad part of life affects too many of our bravest. You, Shannon are an inspiration to those of us that have been affected by this situation and for those who have resisted the temptation; for it is the love of family, that is so often the deciding factor in this ultimate struggle within the human psyche. You reconfirm the wiseness of that decision for those who have won this tragic battle on their own, whose numbers are legion, for they will almost never step forward to be counted for many emotional and practical reasons. For those still fighting this urge, you are like a lighthouse in the thickest fog. For those men, you are an angel.
Let me tell a story, a story told to me by my grandmother, about her grandmother. During the Civil War, because of the conditions, Smallpox was an epidemic among the armies of both sides. In Kentucky, there was a warehouse that was designated as a “Pest House” for those stricken with this often fatal disease. Men were left to fend for themselves and in many cases to die alone without care. This unsung hero, went into the “Pest House” everyday to dress wounds, feed, and care for those forgotten men.
Why did she not catch the dreaded disease, perhaps she caught cow pox from milking cows or maybe she had a natural immunity, that is a mystery that will never be answered, but she didn’t know whether she would catch the disease, she saw her mission and walked into the valley of death, to care for these men, simply because no one else stepped forward.
The fear of the disease was so great and the vectors of contagion were so little understood, it was thought you could contract the disease by seeing men with the disease, so the building was completely enclosed in darkness.
So the little lady made her rounds of mercy with a coal oil lantern. To those men of misery, she became known as the “Angel of Light” and they looked upon her with her faint light as a true angel of mercy.
In this modern day Shannon, you are an “Angel of Light” to many men living in darkness.
You are doing kind things for many that you will never see, but trust me, you are touching the lives of many.
Skookum you bring tears of Pride to my eyes. what an incredible compliment you gave me “angel of light” I am only doing what I can in my every day life with 3 small children to love and honor Chris and his legacy.
When Chris was in Company Command at FT Knox, I was the FRG (family readiness Group leader). I would ask can I do ___with the FRG (we had to get command ok) He often told me “Shannon these are OUR soldiers. You affect their and their families lives just as much as i do if not more! we are a team” as we were in MANY parts of life.
I see what I am doing for military mental health and Suicide prevention as just that. Something I continue to do for Chris and OUR soldiers and their families. If it saves one life or begins to change one policy I have achieved my goal.
Thank you Again Shannon
p.s. Nathan our oldest gas always been a mini me of Chris as he gets older it is only more true:)
Much love to Shannon&children&to our men&women in Service…war is a terrible thing,but surely,slavery and oppression is all the more terrible..thank you for what you do.May Light continue to glow…
Shannon,
I have been looking in different places for a way to contact you, but haven’t had much luck. My husband is an Army vet and suffers from PTSD. I’ve been doing research in my area and there is next to nothing offered in terms of support for families. I’m working on starting up a nonprofit organization in my area, but could use both some advice and guidance. If you don’t mind offering some help could you email me at ashlynlindskog@gmail.com
Thanks so much.