By Stormy
Support, what does that mean to you? Paying for someone’s coffee at Starbucks, opening the door for someone, taking chicken noodle soup to your friend when they are sick, being a shoulder to cry on? Or maybe traveling 1,500 miles on your motorcycle to support a cause, a cause that is very stigmatized, a cause that affects people every 15 minutes, a cause that your friend had a dream a vision a year prior?
Suicide is a cause that is not talked about enough. Ride for Hope is making sure you hear their voice, we traveled to Utah to support another ride, Utah Vision Day, a ride to support suicide prevention and awareness, we supported a family who’s heart is breaking, but yet they have turned the tragedy of their son Taylor who died by suicide January 6, 2017, into a legacy to help others. The ride there was emotional, the sound of the pipes, the feel of the bike, and the wind touching my face. At times, the thoughts came through my mind, “Is this really my life? Am I really riding a motorcycle? Am I really riding hundreds of miles to support another mother, the same way I needed support?
Our children brought us together, not because they knew each other, but because of the way they died. It’s through tragedy that so many things get started, a non-profit, a new legislative bill, just like MADD the Irving, Texas–based organization was founded on September 5, 1980, in California by Candace Lightner after her 13-year-old daughter, Cari, was killed by a drunk driver. MADD has claimed that drunk driving has been reduced by half since its founding.
Motorcycles and charities go hand-in-hand. It seems every weekend during the summer months, there are rides for relief foundations or to raise money for those in need. It seems the only thing better than going for a ride, is doing it for a cause.