Hello from Detroit, where it is 36 degrees, feels like 22, and it’s raining. : )
We will add some photos and resources later tonight, but I want to share this now, a great moment from one of the recent shows, and another that someone just shared with us.
So I’m speaking before Anberlin, darkest dirtiest venue of the tour, and the coldest night yet. There is a security guard to my left, a big man, basically at my side. He is obviously the man in charge of the stage, there to protect the bands. Anyway, big guy, and I am noticing him as I speak, wondering what he is thinking of all of this. I am kind of assuming that he probably finds it a bit weird, as it is certainly not the normal thing, some guy talking about depression and suicide and sobriety in a room where they pour drinks to keep the lights on…
After the show, we’re packing up and this big guy appears at our table.
“Do you guys have those shirts in triple extra large?” he asks.
Lauren tells him we don’t but that we offer XXL online. I chime in that we could make him one. He says not to worry about it, drops $20 in our donation jar, and walks away.
A moment passes, all of this is hitting me, and I leave the table to find the guy on the other side of the room.
I find him and I tell him that I would really love to make him a shirt, that if he will write down his address, it would be our honor to send it to him. I’m pretty sure, but I ask if he’s the one who was standing next to me on stage earlier in the night. He says yes, and that he has struggled with depression for 31 years. He tells me that for most of those years, he didn’t know where to turn. He tells me that what we’re (TWLOHA is) doing is great and he wishes me the best of luck.
I shake his hand, tuck his address into my pocket, and walk away with a giant smile. The biggest man in the bar is my friend. Brightest moment of the tour thus far…
This gig (speaking before Anberlin) is amazing not because it’s cool. This gig is amazing because you never know who might be listening, and you never know what they might hear. This gig is amazing because good news is like a candle, and candles matter more when lit against the darkness. (It is certainly easier to hide among the safety of the sunshine, but that wouldn’t do much to change the world.)
Below is something that was sent to us today. Pretty amazing.
“A big thank you to you guys. My friend and I were walking in my local park and I was wearing one of your shirts. We were talking about life and our futures, or what I thought to be her future. She asked me what the shirt was about and I told her the story behind it. She broke down and started crying hysterically and grasping onto me. When I calmed her down enough to understand her and ask her what was wrong, she said as soon as I dropped her off that night, she was gonna commit suicide, because she was tired of people mistreating her and she couldn’t handle the stress and nothing was going right with her and her family. And her contemplating suicide would have NEVER came up in our conversation, and I would have lost my closest friend that night if it wasn’t for this shirt and the reason for this shirt, so you basically saved the life of my best friend, and prevented pain from me and her family and friends. Thank you so much and never stop with what your doing and believe in, because it is changing lives and saving lives and suicide is preventable – Your friend was wrong.”
(FYI: Her last line is a reference to the friend who told me that there is no such thing as suicide prevention. I mentioned that in the Norfolk blog, and in the intro on our main page)
All of us with our funny t-shirts, I suppose we’re like a gang, a gang of the best kind. A gang bent on hope. I am so proud, just to be a part of it.
Much love.
jamie