Walking Man

I was a couple of years down the path of recovery after I made two suicide attempts in spring 2011. Because of my strong support system, I made it through painful, difficult times, in spite of living with undiagnosed bipolar disorder. During the healing process, I began to work in the mental health field. After three suicides occurred in one high school located in a rural area of Missouri, and learning that suicide rates of outlying counties were nearly five times the rate of St. Louis, I couldn’t sit still. I decided to walk—200 miles—across the state of Missouri to raise awareness and start conversation. My journey became known as the Walk Across Missouri. It was filmed and turned into the documentary, Walking Man. The best part of the seventeen-day walk? My son, Eric, came along as the producer of the film. Did we make a difference in the mental health world? Hopefully we did and hopefully we continue to do so. This is our story.