A VIDEO ABOUT MY SON

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Three connected facts: I love live music, I lost my son to suicide in December 2023, I’ve learned an awful lot about mental health.

One of my son’s friends is Piers Affleck is from the band Farhaven. (and Passion Mango). I’ve known Piers since he was 6. When Farhaven going, I got involved to lend a hand. Kind of a manager, functionally as an organizer and emotionally and essentially as  "Band Dad" ( no offense to their actual dads). I enjoyed working with them as it kept me connected to my son, his friends and their world, while also connecting me with live music. 

The mental health ride is unrelenting and for us tragic as we lost Jack.  In the aftermath, I was made aware of the losses that others, including some musicians I know, were also carrying. Mental health struggles are real and make an impact. Healing is a slow process and luckily music heals, or at the very least, helps healing. My involvement in live music has allowed me to focus on doing something meaningful with the simple goal of making a difference.

To make a difference another way, our family is helping raise money for mental health counselling through a registered charity called JACK.ORG . 

This charity is not named for my son but rather shares the name Jack. It is a Canadian youth mental health organization that promotes peer counselling and provides mental health training and literacy. From my experiences, this type of support helps. I ask you to consider supporting this. Thank you..