Hey Guys.
It’s an anniversary of sorts. It was three years ago tonight that Jon Foreman from Switchfoot wore the first TWLOHA shirt, at a sold out SF show at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton. At the time, we had simply set out to help a friend and tell a story. No plans to start a non-profit or a movement or anything like that. But we learned that night that the story we were telling was connected to something much bigger. We heard from people at that show who knew the pain of losing a loved one to suicide. We heard from people dealing with depression and addiction and self-injury. We heard from people writing in on behalf of friends and family, people asking how they could help, how they could learn more, how they could get involved.
My friend Chad Butler plays drums in Switchfoot and he wore the shirt the next night in Jacksonville. Deon Rexroat from Anberlin put one on before a show in New York a few days later, and i don’t think he took it off for a year. The shirts were curious billboards and so everywhere these bands went, the messages would follow – questions and confessions and folks wanting to learn to fight for their friends. And it wasn’t just bands serving as the spark – it was conversations over lunch in school cafeterias, friends at work, strangers in airports… Countless moments that started with something like “What does your shirt mean?”
Somewhere along the way, between that night in Boca and this night where you are, our story bumped into yours. We’re certainly thankful for it, as it’s been a privilege and a surprise beyond what we or i could ever begin to explain. We’ve said it before but it still feels true and so we say it: We’re all in this together. Thanks for being part of it…
Peace to you.
jamie
PS: On the note of surprises, i grew up watching John Norris on MTV News. A few days back during SXSW in Austin, i had the chance to have a conversation with him about TWLOHA. Thanks to SPIN, you can watch the interview here.