The Finale

Kellie and I starting the walk

This has been one of the best experiences of my life. I never knew that the day would actually come to walk 18 miles overnight in San Francisco. Yesterday, Kellie and I went to San Francisco and headed towards Fort Mason where the initial walk started. We were both wearing our AFSP t-shirts, and had our new walking shoes on. As we got to Fort Mason, we saw so many other people that had the same shirt as us. I’m guessing there was about 2,000 people there on the grass waiting to start the walk. When we got there, we checked in and walked around for a bit. There were a lot of booths around and one booth had a wheel to spin, so we spun it and got free bracelets that said AFSP on them. Another booth had beads that you could grab. The beads symbolized how you have experienced suicide yourself. I grabbed the blue beads which meant I supported the organization, and then I grabbed the silver beads which meant that I knew someone who was a soldier who committed suicide. There were a lot more colors as well that symbolized different things.

SO MANY PEOPLE!

When we finished walking around, we decided to sit down for the opening ceremony. At the beginning, the staff started a big stretch group. It was really cool to see all of us stretch because there was about 2000 people there which made it look really cool. After the stretching was done, the opening ceremony began and people started sharing their own experiences on suicide. One man talked about how his husband committed suicide and than his dad right after. And then another man talked about how his teenage daughter committed suicide while she was in college. I never really thought that this was going to be an emotional experience for me, but after hearing those stories made me so emotional. Kellie and I literally couldn’t stop crying. I think everyone that was there at least had a couple tears from this. But the stories gave us a lot of motivation to complete this walk and it influenced everyone to finish strong.

After the opening ceremony, we started our walk, and it was awesome! It was like we were all one clan walking with all this power. I felt really strong and capable of walking the 18 miles. The walk was great, the weather was really nice, and the people around me were so supportive and friendly. There were a couple of rest stops that had snacks and then at midnight there would be a small meal handed out. But Kellie and I brought food instead because we didn’t know what was being handed out. During the early morning hours it got a little chilly. During the walk the staff handed out these foil blankets that would keep us warm. Everyone had one of these blankets so it made the walking much louder with all the crunching from them. I thought it was really funny because we all looked like baked potatoes wrapped in foil. 

The Finish Line

Closing Ceremony

The walk was really tiring for us but we got through it because we had so much motivation from everyone else. Once we got back to fort mason at dawn, we felt so accomplished. This was one of the greatest moments of my life when I finished the walk. Everyone was cheering us on as we got back. I was cold, tired, and emotionally drained, but the generosity and positive attitude from everyone else made me in a great mood as I finished.  Walking for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention has made me realize that suicide is a big deal and we need to help prevent things like this from happening. I’m so proud that I contributed to this organization, and I hope I made a difference in someone’s life that has thought about suicide.