Seeing Danielle Marshman Williamson walking in and around Oxford has become a regular occurrence for members of the community where the Hoppie’s owner grew up. Those frequent walks – which have been steadily increasing in length over the last few months – aren’t part of some new workout routine, however. No, Danielle’s goal is a little loftier than just getting in shape. Each step she takes is aimed at raising awareness – and money – for suicide prevention.
You see, two months from now, Danielle will be participating in an 18-mile fundraising walk in Boston called the Out of the Darkness Overnight. The event, which is sponsored by the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, will raise money for suicide prevention and to provide services and support for survivors of suicide loss.
“Survivors of suicide loss” is the term used to describe people who have lost a loved one to suicide.
I think you’ll agree that 18 miles isn’t exactly a walk in the park. So Danielle has been steadily building up her endurance. When she first went into training, she said two miles was a stretch for her. Now, that’s nothing. Last weekend she did her longest walk to date: a whopping eight miles from her Village of Oxford Ice Cream Parlor down East River Road (past the farm she grew up on) to around the Oxford Bridge Road and back.
Danielle has been a friend for more years than I can count. She’s a couple of years younger than me, sure, but you know how it is growing up in a small town. She and I were in a host of activities together through the years, and weathered our share of high school drama. My parents were in Lions with her parents, her mom was my favorite Primary School teacher – you get the picture. So when she asked me if I would be interested in doing an article about her upcoming adventure, naturally I agreed.
Accompanying her on one of her training jaunts was my idea. I figured we’d get the work done early on and then just enjoy the beautiful day. Besides, she told me that we’d go three miles, four tops.
It turned into six before I’d even laced myself into my hiking shoes on Tuesday. But I didn’t back out. And not because the sun was bright in a nearly cloudless blue sky. (Although that didn’t hurt.) No, I felt it was the least I could do to show my support for a friend who has been through so much and has taken up the torch for a cause so near and dear to her heart.
You see, Danielle is herself a survivor of suicide loss. Her dad, Dan Marshman, took his own life in 2001. If she were the one telling this story, she’d be more blatant about it. She isn’t afraid to tell people that her dad hung himself. In fact, she says being able to talk openly about it was an important part of healing for her.
I’ll never forget the first time I saw Danielle after her Dad died. But I never truly understood what she went through until shortly after I started working for The Evening Sun. She had asked me to do an article about a monthly suicide support group she was starting. I couldn’t refuse, of course. And I dutifully turned out to Hoppie’s one day for what was without a doubt one of the most difficult interviews I’ve ever done.
As I sat perched on one of the retro stools at the counter, Danielle explained to me how the healing process is a long and difficult one for someone who has lost someone by their own hand. Not only do they suffer the grief associated with losing a loved one, she told me, but they must also face the stigma attached to suicide. Because it’s such a taboo topic, those who are suffering don’t always reach out for help. For the first three years after her father died, Danielle struggled with her grief. But then she attended an AFSP conference, and finally began to heal.
