NAMI Walks/Runs #Run4Adam

September 23, 2018 my family and I will be doing a run/walk event with NAMI in Evanston, Illinois. You can read all about it here.  This is our second year participating in this event and I'm super excited!! We just had 3 new team members sign up! We loved the upbeat atmosphere and all the goodies they handed out at our run. The point of the run/walk is mainly to raise awareness about mental illness and also to fundraise for all the wonderful things that NAMI does. I set a team goal of $1000 and we are about halfway there.  If you are interested in donating, you can donate here. NAMIWALKS 

And, if you are in the Chicago area, I'd love to have you join us!!

Update - we had a total of 12 people on Team #Run4Adam and we raised $2350!! Woot! Even more important, there was a large turnout at the event with lots of love and support for ending the stigma. I even managed to get through the day without crying. My mom and dad were there, along with my daughter and her partner, Gary. Thank you to everyone! I love you all.

Retirement

I'm retiring!!! Needless to say, I'm quite excited about this. I am 57, still young by our society's views, to be retiring. There are many reasons I am looking forward to retirement: no alarm clocks, no more work travel, more time to spend with my grandkids, more time to run, garden and do other things I enjoy. My husband and I also recently bought a camper/trailer which I'm looking forward to getting out in.

My biggest motivator, though, was to have more time to spend doing things that I think are important, really important. I'm looking forward to being able to make more calls to my elected officials, sharing my thoughts on why mental health issues are important, and why spending more upfront actually saves us all money. I'm also going to work with my local NAMI group with a program that goes into the schools, talking about mental health, breaking down stigmas and educating kids, parents and teachers that mental health problems truly are an illness and can, and should be, treated.

Homelessness is also high on my list of priorities. How can anyone with a mental illness work on recovery when they don't have a safe place to live? The housing taskforce I work with is doing a tremendous job getting new housing built, but so much more is needed.

What efforts are you involved with that you find rewarding?

p.s. I also feel I need to add a postscript here to say that I am truly fortunate to have the resources to be able to make this choice. My husband is continuing to work and I'll be able to get health insurance through him, which is a big concern for most of us. Thank you sweet husband of mine!

Run4Adam

 

Tomorrow I am running the BCA marathon in College Station, TX. This is the second marathon that I have run in honor of Adam. Before he died, I promised Adam that I would run one race a year to promote awareness of mental health, and I want to keep that promise. I expect it will be a bitter-sweet day. The back of my shirt has a photograph of Adam. Whenever anyone asks me about him, I always choke up. But at the same time, I am happy to talk about him. Not talking about him makes him feel even further away. The engineer in me thinks that doesn't make sense, yet that is how I feel.

I love running! It frees my mind and soothes my soul. It's kind of funny because I didn't start running until my kids were older. My two older children both ran cross country in junior high and high school and I couldn't imagine running 5 miles! Now here I am running 26.2. Who would have thought that?? My oldest, best friend still asks me who I am!

Ironically, it was Adam who got me started running long distances. When he was 13, he had just finished his first year of cross country and decided he wanted to run a half-marathon that summer. I thought he was crazy! I said no way was I going to do that! You want me to run my first half-marathon at 45? But then I started thinking about it, and thought, maybe this would keep him moving all summer, instead of just sitting and playing video games all day while I was at work. So I agreed to run with him and started training.

In August, my oldest son Nasser ran the race with us, quickly leaving us in the dust. It was a very hot day, but we kept plugging along. Adam and I stayed together until about mile 12, when Adam also left me. I finished, but oh boy, was I sore! I couldn't walk down stairs without pain for more than 2 weeks! I As for Adam, well, after that experience, he was still a chubby kid who now really didn't want to run any more!

Two years later I ran my first marathon and the rest is history. I was hooked! There are so many reasons I love to run, but I think my number one reason is that it eases my mind and soothes my soul. When Adam died, running helped me tremendously to deal with my grief. What do you do that helps you cope with the stress in your life?

For anyone out there who is interested in giving running a try, but don't know where to start, here's a few ideas.

• Still I Run I found this group that's all about running and mental health! Pretty cool!
• Runners World This is a great source of information about all things running! This link brings you to training plans.
• Running addiction This group is Boston based. I'm not from Boston, but I love the ideas of using running (which can be very addictive!) to help with other types of addiction. The group is for those with addictions and anyone else affected by addiction.

I'd love to hear your suggestions!

Adam's 26th birthday

November 24th was Adam's 26th birthday. My family is still grieving our loss and it was a hard day. Instead of celebrating with Adam, we were all missing him, and not surprisingly, thinking at least some, about the "what ifs" in life.

What if we had known more about mental illness and schizophrenia? Would we have known sooner to get him help?
What if  we had taken more time away from our jobs to help find the right resources for him? Would we have been able to find the right place to get him on the road to recovery?
What if  we had insisted sooner that he also get treatment for addiction? Would that have helped his mind stay whole?

I think about questions like this at times, but then I think, why is it so hard for families to get their loved ones help? What's wrong with our society that we don't help those that so badly need it? And then I think, if my family couldn't find a solution that worked for Adam, how much harder is it for those that don't have family to help them?

One of the projects that I am working on is finding housing for people with mental illness. Everyone needs a safe place to live. I don't know how anyone can be expected to deal with doctors and medications and therapy or anything else, if you don't have a permanent place to live.

I'd love to hear from others that also want to find better solutions. What are you working on? Let's talk about how and what we can do!