World Suicide Awareness Day is Sept 10th. We hosted this event to help bring awareness of the prevalence of Suicide and the struggles people face.The Rehtaeh Parsons Society was joined by Six Points Tattoo Parlour to raise funds and help reduce the stigma of mental health.Sinful Xpressions Tattoo Parlour provided supplies.We had this two day fundraiser and raised over 15,000 for the Society. The semi colon represents a break, a pause in the sentence.
When a writer uses a semi colon it means that he/she could have ended the thought, the story etc.but chose not to. Just like struggles are not meant to be the end to a life. Its just a break in the story of our lives and the semi colon tattoo is reminder that life is worth living. A reminder that life is a series of ups and downs and everything in between.
Rehtaeh had several tattoos and all were very meaningful. Her very first tattoo was on her 16th BDay. Instead of celebrating as planned she found herself in a very dark place because of her trauma and she chose to have a tattoo of a crow feather with birds flying out of the feather to remind her that there are new beginnings ahead. She would want others to remember that in darkness there is light. I know that was not her ending but it should have been. If she were here she would want a semi colon tattoo also. Its a pretty meaningful symbol.
People of all ages showed up. We shared a commonality that is often ignored and we took an important step by ending the stigma of mental health. Over 300 plus people show up to get a tattoo we all left with a sense of togetherness that the struggles we share and the semi colon is a reminder to all of us to keep going. Thank You for all your support!
It is an honor to be a part of something so important.