i started looking for t-shirts for suicide awareness, i figured it was the least i could do. i kept seeing the word stay with a ; (semi colon) next to it. It is a symbol tied to suicide awareness because a semi colon is used to represent a sentence that could have ended but didn’t. seemed like an apt metaphor.

i’ve been involved with youth sports since kade was 5, coaching t-ball on a whim and i got hooked. it doesn’t matter the sport, i was in (football, baseball, soccer). Sports are the perfect place to insert life lessons and metaphors so stay; and play came about pretty quickly.

You have to play the game if you ever want to win. You can lose over and over but if you continue to play, you will always have a chance. THe game will never get easier, you just get better the more you play. If you replace the word game with life… it remains true.

PLay can also be the thing that kids do when they are running around being loud and crazy and giggling and living with no abandon. joy through play is such a good way to get a break from stress. you can call it whatever you like, but doing an activity that you enjoy with your freinds is playing. it can be serious or silly, competitive or recreational, but it’s all play.

so please, go have fun. get out of your own way and have some fun. try something new, get into something you used to do, lean into an urge to call your people up and play. when you experience joy, even just once in awhile, it makes it easier to stay.