This Saturday, I will be walking with friends and thousands of strangers (some who by the end will be new friends!) through the night and into Sunday morning to honor those we have lost to suicide and help build positive awareness to end mental health stigmas.  It’s about a 17 mile walk and I am really hoping this heat wave breaks & that we don’t get too much rain! 

Tommy Fuss and I were classmates at the Belmont Hill School starting in 7th grade until he took his own life the fall of our senior year in November 2006.  Tommy excelled in the classroom, was a beast on the ultimate frisbee pitch, and he easily had the best sideburns in our senior class!  He was a Star Wars fanatic and his tombstone reads in Yoda dialect, “A great friend you are”...being a great friend is the easiest way to help prevent suicide tragedies and work towards a world without them.

While a lot has changed in 17 years in terms of improving mental health resources and removing stigmas, there is still work to be done! If you are able to donate ($17 for the anniversary or $24 for his favorite show 24) and leave a brief note, it means A LOT to The Tommy Fuss Team and especially his mom, Rosemary. She and the Fuss family CHOOSE to work tirelessly year after year to help prevent these tragedies and have helped raise millions for mental health research! I’m just happy that this year I can do a small part to help this cause and honor Tommy’s legacy Saturday night.

“Do or do not; there is no try” - Yoda