Back in March/April, I was so upset w the media about how little they were tying together the losses of Robert Martin, D1 goalie from Binghamton to Katie Meyer, D1 goalie from Stanford. How could they not? Suicide does not discriminate – and here you had two top level performers within a month of each other, passing of this insidious disease.
To see four families come together yesterday on The Today Show, parents of college athletes Katie Meyer, Arlana Miller, Morgan Rodgers and Tyler Hilinski – was remarkable and such a step in the right direction for the movement of MH.
They each beautifully shared the stories of their children…their lives lived…and sadly how this can sneak up on anyone even when the world appears to be in the palm of their hand.
We have to thank outlets like The Today Show for platforming these stories, TOGETHER.
It made me think of the line: “We may not have it all together, but together we have it all.” Families or anyone struck by MH crisis and even loss – how could we all have it together (and yes it lives in some shape or form in every family to varying degrees – all of us)…but collectively, when we speak up and show a united front, we have ALL we need to normalize this topic and make it part of our everyday conversation.
You’d love to see more major outlets do this. You’d love for the focus in more segments be on MH, generally, and not only students…not only athletes…but this was a tremendous start bc of how polar opposite it is to how the media typically covers this topic.
Their MO has always been, treat these stories like individual tragedies separate from one another, so that they get more clicks and eyeballs. That may be good for their bottom lines. But, it’s not good for the MH Movement.
So proud of the strength of these families, speaking out and pushing for change. Have been friends w the Hilinski’s for a while…have just started to get to know the folks from Morgan’s Message…Peggy Martin, Robert’s mother, has an incredible soul and says she’s not going to stop talking and advocating.
This space needs many holding hands. “Together, we have it all.”
