09/01/2026
Support a local business while promoting su***de awareness during Su***de Prevention Month. 💜
You are not alone. Call or text 988 if you need to talk to someone, or call the Wood County Crisis Line at 419-502-4673.
September is Su***de Prevention Month.
We went back and forth about how much of this to share, because this isn't just a cause we picked for September. This is our life.
A few years ago, one of our children seriously attempted su***de.
And saying that sentence out loud still feels impossible.
Our child ended up in the PICU. We sat beside a hospital bed knowing that we had almost lost one of our babies.
There really aren't words for that.
There aren't words for looking at your child hooked up to monitors and realizing that while you were going about your normal life, someone you love more than your own life was hurting badly enough that they didn't want to be here anymore.
We are a family that talks about mental health. We believe in therapy. We believe in medication when it's needed. We believe in asking uncomfortable questions and saying the scary words out loud. We don't believe mental illness is something to be ashamed of.
And it still happened in our house.
That's part of why we're sharing this.
Because suicidal thoughts don't only happen in families that "aren't paying attention." They don't only happen to people who look depressed. They don't only happen to people without support or people who don't know they're loved.
Sometimes the person who is struggling is sitting right beside you.
We were lucky.
Our child survived.
We got more birthdays. More arguments. More laughs. More ordinary mornings. More holidays. More hugs. More time.
And there are families who would give absolutely anything for one more ordinary Tuesday.
So we're doing something this September that means a hell of a lot more to us than a coffee special.
We're introducing our STAY latte (blackberry, vanilla and white chocolate with a lavender cold foam)💜
For every STAY sold during September, we're donating $1 to support mental health resources in our community.
We're also creating a 988 Reasons to Stay wall inside The Neighbors.
Write down your reason.
Your babies. Your mom. Your dog. The next book in a series. Fall mornings. Your favorite song. Spite. Coffee. Someone you haven't met yet. A place you haven't seen yet.
It doesn't have to be some beautiful, profound reason.
Sometimes you just need one reason to make it through tonight.
And if you're reading this and you're the one who is tired (really, really tired) we aren't going to give you some line about how everything magically gets better.
We're just asking you to stay.
Stay long enough to find out.
There are people you haven't met yet.
There are versions of you that you haven't become yet.
There are ordinary Tuesdays you don't know you're going to be grateful for yet.
And there are people who would sit beside your hospital bed and give absolutely anything to hear you complain about something stupid one more time.
Please stay.
Come in to The Neighbors and talk to one of us or call or text 988 if you need someone to help you do that.
We'll keep the coffee on.
You keep turning the page. 💜
