...and after a couple of messages asking me if I'm okay, I it occurs to me that I did not make myself clear enough last night about the intentions of this post. The messages checking on me are most appreciated by the way, but I wasn't talking about me in my previous post.
I saw an ISO last night that just looked like the guy was really having a crappy day. I felt a swell of sympathy, messaged him asking how he was doing and started chatting with him in effort to cheer him up. It took minimal effort, but maybe it made him feel a little better. This guy seemed to be fine, but in a different situation it may have made a difference in how the rest of their day went.
I saw an article recently stating that according to VA studies, we lose 22 veterans a day to suicide. That is not okay. I was just thinking that if there was something I could do, I would do it. Like I said, unless I'm out of the house, I'm usually sitting around bored. So with all this free time, I figured I would offer to chat with some lonely soul out there in the hopes to cheer them up. Who knows, one text message could save a life. It's the least I can do for someone who has dedicated years of their life serving and protecting our country.
If I had the funds, I'd give what I could to charities such as Mission22. But honestly at the end of the day an extra thousand dollars to a big charity is not going to make the difference it would take to prevent some vet from making a bad decision. A conversation could though. So that's what I'm offering. Maybe no one contacts me, but then there's always what if? If there's a chance that I could talk some depressed soul into not pulling the trigger and contacting a crisis center, it'd be worth it.
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