Healthy Holiday Hustle 2022: Hustle for mental health… (and be the one)

Kim bergner wore matching pajamas with her family on christmas.

When I first heard about Kim’s story, I couldn’t get that off my mind. She had posted a picture just three months before her death with her husband and four young children in red matching pajamas under their Christmas tree. She was glowing, happy. Not only a mother and wife, but also a daughter, sister, friend. She grew up in Michigan but had a love affair with Chicago where she met her husband before they eventually moved back to her home state. She was giving, generous, loyal. The kind of person who gave unexpected gifts to strangers and sent texts to her people for no reason. She put her family above all else. She loved all holidays, especially Christmas. She had a dog, she had a life.

She was just like me.

On March 10, 2022, Kim Bergner died by suicide, after a battle with postpartum depression.  

In looking back on that photo under the tree, Kim wasn’t sad looking; she wasn’t checked out. She was the woman who bought matching pajamas on holidays, loved on her kids, and took a million photos with her family, capturing the silliness of it all. She was pretty, vibrant, and only 39 years young.

People like Kim, people like all of us…struggle every single day. They might not look sad, or even show any of the “signs”- they may have an infectious laugh and a smile that lights up a room. They may have families and children they would never want to leave behind. They are people that care about others, the kind of people who would never intentionally want to cause pain to anyone around them.

But they battle a disease. An illness. One that they may never gain control over. One that may cause them to act in a way that does not align with what you see on the outside. A disease that you can’t see in a picture under the tree in red pajamas.

Why is it that we feel empathy for those affected by cancer but not those who experience anxiety and depression on a day-to-day basis? We send thoughts and prayers and fruit baskets to someone who had surgery to fix something in their body that was broken but we’ve never sent a card when we suspect someone might be in pain every single day? The brain is the only organ in our body we place judgement on - thinking that our thoughts are a choice and something we can power through if we just get “mentally strong.”

Kim is not alone. According to the CDC, suicide is a leading cause of death in the United States with 45,979 deaths in 2020. The number of people who think about or attempt suicide is much higher- an estimated 12.2 million American adults seriously thought about suicide in 2020. These 12.2 million people are our neighbors, our friends, our family members…maybe even you. They run marathons and love music. They like parties and vacations. They smile, they laugh, they live. They are often the people we think we know best.

They have a life. And often a very full one at that.

And they need our help.

For the 8th Annual Healthy Holiday Hustle, we supported i understand, a nonprofit organization that offers compassionate comfort, hope, and understanding to those who are living with a mental/brain health illness and those who have lost a loved one to suicide. In addition to that, we committed 10% of the donations to Jessica’s Splashpad (Novi Parks Foundation) – a memorial space in Novi, Michigan planned for 2024 in memory of Jessica Starr-Rose, a mom, wife, and daughter who died by suicide in 2018 after complications from Lasik surgery.

As i understand says: be the ONE for someone…even if that someone is you.

In my own life and personal struggles, I have learned that joy can and does exist in the depths of sorrow and that sometimes with overwhelming grief comes unexpected joy when you reach out and help someone else. I’d be remiss if I didn’t encourage you to take a moment to reach out to someone affected by suicide – the family members left behind living with so many painful questions that will never go away. And if you don’t know someone, reach out to Kim and Jessica’s family. The grief will never end, but I guarantee they will feel comfort knowing that they have an empathetic and understanding community, supporting them every step of the way.

2022 continued on the trend of our biggest year to date - we had over 600 Hustlers officially signed up and were able to raise $22,414.

Mental health is health. It’s a conversation we all need to be having. And it starts with YOU.

#HealthyHolidayHustle #HustleforMentalHealth #BeTheONE