Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:16):
It says the Uncle Henry Show here on news radio
seventy ten WNTM. Now in this half hour of the
Uncle Henry Show, I want to talk about something I'm
going to be doing this Sunday. This Sunday, I'm going
to be walking in Daphne for the first time. I'm
going to be a participant in the Out of Darkness Walk.
(00:38):
I don't even know if I've got the name wrong.
You do, And so Lydia Barber is here with me
on the radio with me to talk about this. Lydia,
thank you for coming.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
In and hello, Uncle Henry, thank you so much for
having me.
Speaker 1 (00:47):
Now the Out of the Darkness Walk. I'm walking this
year because my wife, Yes, her father took his own
life back when my wife was nine years old, right,
and I can see through knowing her, how these kind
of things can stick with somebody, yes, and have a
lifetime of impact. Can you explain what the Out of
(01:08):
Darkness Walk does? What is the goal of the Out
of the Darkness Walk?
Speaker 2 (01:13):
To me, it is a fundraiser for the American found
Station for Suicide Prevention, But even more than that, it's
community and it's a way for everyone who has lost
a loved one to suicide, who is struggling with their
own mental health, or who simply want to be there
to help the community. I mean, it is a huge
(01:36):
community event. You go and you feel the love all
around you. The number one thing it did for me
and for everybody else is that you feel like you're
not alone. And to me, that was one of the
biggest problems I've I had after my son took his
life fifteen years ago. And it's the first thing a
lot of people tell me after they lost a loved
(01:58):
one is that they feel like they're alone. And my goodness,
you come to this walk and you know you're not alone.
Speaker 1 (02:03):
So but I want to talk more about all of this,
but sure, but the walk itself. Now, we're raising money
online you the listener. If you would like to donate
to my wife's team, Ronnie's Kids, you can go to
the Uncle Henry's Show Facebook page and we have a
post pen to the top of the page that has
the link to donate. And I want to thank everybody
(02:25):
that's already donated. That's wonderful. Now what happens Sunday, I
know it starts at one o'clock in the afternoon in
old Town Daphne. What will happen there at the.
Speaker 2 (02:35):
Walk at one o'clock right in front of Daphne's City Hall,
and that's on Main Street seventeen oh three. Some people
get the civic center mixed up. It's Daphne's City Hall,
downtown Daphne, one o'clock. You will just start coming in.
If you have registered, you need to check in. If
you have not registered, you do need to register. So
everybody on the grounds needs to have registered, just so
(02:56):
we can get account and all that.
Speaker 1 (02:58):
Am I registered?
Speaker 2 (03:00):
You are absolutely registered?
Speaker 1 (03:02):
So I'm not paying attention to the rest. You're good.
You're good. So somebody shows up, they register in them what.
Speaker 2 (03:08):
And then you walk around. We will have resource tables.
We will have vet tables, veteran tables. We will have
counseling centers. We will have alta point just eleven or
twelve tables full of resources. We will have a memory
wall that you if you have pictures of your loved one,
you can put pictures up on the wall. Gives a face.
(03:29):
And we also have tables that if they can't hang,
you can place things on a table. We have refreshments.
We have you know, bottled water, Daphne Utilities with their
hot dogs. We just have other things like that. We
have Simone French who's front mobile, a beautiful singer. Yes,
she's going to sing for us, And so that pretty
(03:52):
much happens the first forty five minutes. All of that
that you're.
Speaker 1 (03:55):
There, okay, And then then there is walking.
Speaker 2 (03:58):
There is there is I will there'll be a little
bit more singing. I will introduce the team that has
raised the most money and they will hold the banner
and walk through. And it is a two miles stroll.
And that's what I tell people. If you get tired,
turned around, if your feet don't feel good, you do
(04:19):
not have to walk. It is purely so the community
of Daphne can see the support that suicide prevention has
and people it's so wonderful. We're walking down the sidewalks
and people are blowing their horns and just screaming and
saying thank you, and it's just a wonderful, wonderful thing.
And it only lasts about forty five minutes, the walk does,
(04:40):
and after that we have a beautiful butterfly release and
it is it's very heartwarming and there will be tears shed,
but it is so beautiful and then that's it. But
it's a gorgeous event.
Speaker 1 (04:55):
Now the money raise goes to do what.
Speaker 2 (04:58):
The money raise goes to the American found for Suicide Prevention,
and it's the world's largest foundation for education, research, advocacy,
and survival loss support. We do have a support group
in fair Hope that's been there for thirteen years, and
so all of that is why we're raising this money now.
Speaker 1 (05:19):
I first interviewed you about this years ago. It might
have been about ten years ago. It was before the pandemic.
I think we did a couple of shows, public affairs
shows about this. We did, and at that time I
had not experienced I've had a couple of people I
know take their life.
Speaker 2 (05:36):
Sure since then, very few, yes, very few people have
been unaffected.
Speaker 1 (05:41):
And of course what my wife has shown me. We
haven't talked since the pandemic. Now it occurs to me,
just anecdotally, looking out across the land, it seems like
people are in a worst place with their mental health
than they have been even ten years ago.
Speaker 2 (05:58):
I think so too. There's a lot going on around,
you know, a lot, a lot going on, and I
do people are struggling now more than ever so to me,
this is the most you know, this is it feels
like a small port that you're doing being part of this,
but collectively, you know, just think of all the people
that are there. We can make a difference. We can
show these people that Okay, you're struggling with your mental health,
(06:21):
but you're not alone, and these are the steps you
can take to make yourself better.
Speaker 1 (06:27):
Now, yeah, you you you've already mentioned to our listeners
that your son took his life fifteen years ago.
Speaker 2 (06:34):
Yes, he was nineteen.
Speaker 1 (06:35):
So I'm not even going to ask some of the
questions that pop into my head because for a lot
of us, that is something we couldn't see around. We
can't get around it. Right. What did this out of
the darkness walk do for you coming through that?
Speaker 2 (06:52):
I cannot begin to tell you how much. Now. The
first one I went to the lovely Lady in Birmingham
Area director for AFSP and the mayors of Daphane's assistant.
They put it together. Didn't have to do anything. We
just showed up. There were two hundred and fifty of
us and it was the most a very first one,
the most wonderful event. I cried a lot, but my
(07:16):
goodness to see this community just show up and show
to everybody. I was pleased. There were a lot of
people who had been affected by suicide there and we
felt the love and it has just gotten stronger and
stronger over these years. And my involvement the next year
I took it over has meant the world to me.
It really has. It's busy, yes, but I meet so
(07:38):
many people. I've met so many people that have lost
loved ones who were in the counseling you know, counseling business.
If you say that, I've just met so many wonderful
people and meant it's meant the world to me. It
really has.
Speaker 1 (07:55):
Well, you know, nowadays with the just waves of anxiety
that seemed to be out there, it seems like we
all need to be in the counseling business.
Speaker 2 (08:04):
Yes, truly, just for each other. And that is the truth.
You know. One of the things that AFSP says talk
saves lives, and that is the truth. And I'm talking
about talk that we all need to talk to each other.
We need to talk about this like out of the darkness.
That's why it's called out of the darkness. We need
to bring suicide out of the dark and into the
(08:24):
light and let everybody know you are not alone.
Speaker 1 (08:28):
Hey, can we talk for just a few more. Sure,
I have a little bit more. I want to ask
Lydia Barber about the Out of the Darkness Walk is
this Sunday in Old Town Daphne. We'll come back with
more information about that as The Uncle Henry Show continues
here on news Radio seventy ten WNTM. But first we've
got to take a break for traffic and weather. Let's
(08:48):
go ahead and take the break, it says the Uncle
Henry Show here on news radio seven ten WNTM. News
headlines coming up in ten minutes. Before we get to
the news headlines, we're going to finish our conversation here
with Lydia Barber. She's with the Out of the Darkness Walk.
(09:10):
She's the organizer of the Out of the Darkness Walk
that happens this Sunday in Old Town Daphne. Beautiful place
to have a walk this time of year.
Speaker 2 (09:18):
It's going to be beautiful.
Speaker 1 (09:20):
It is going to beautiful. And that starts at what one?
The event starts at one. It's over by four o'clock, Yes,
it is. Now. I want to make sure that anybody
listening to us right now, knows where to go if
they want to find out more. So, how can people
find out more about this online?
Speaker 2 (09:34):
Online? You go to a f SP that's American Foundation
for Suicide Prevention AFSP dot org slash daphne, and you
will find out all you need to find out.
Speaker 1 (09:48):
Right there AFSP dot org backslash daphne.
Speaker 2 (09:53):
That's it.
Speaker 1 (09:54):
Now. You mentioned that there are going to be resources there.
Speaker 2 (09:57):
Resource tables, Yes, sir.
Speaker 1 (09:59):
Is there going to be a resource table or or
are there resource tables first for people to learn how
to talk to people about this? And what I mean
by that is I've had over the years people talk
to me that they were telling me that they were
thinking of taking their life right and you want to
you want to say the right things, Yes, you help
(10:20):
those people. Are there those kind of resources there?
Speaker 2 (10:23):
Yes, we will have an AFSP table American Foundation for
Suicide Prevention with lots of resources there that we can
help out with that situation. Let's don't forget that nine
to eight eight is the new suicide lifeline.
Speaker 1 (10:38):
I did never know about that. It is.
Speaker 2 (10:40):
It's not that one, that's not one eight hundred two
seven five. It's to be so long. Well they finally
it's now just three numbers and it's nine eight eight.
And it's not only if you're you're right then there
it's an emergency. It is if you have any questions
at all. The people that answer are trained and they
would love to talk to you about anything and give
(11:02):
you local resources. And also go to a FSP dot org,
which is the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention's website, and
it is full of resources. You can say what are
you looking for at BAM and it gives you right there,
right there.
Speaker 1 (11:19):
Okay, so we so there are resources there to help
people that want to help others. Yes, what about someone
who is struggling just terribly with a broken heart because
someone they love took their life? Are there resources there?
Are they going to find resources? I know the community
(11:40):
itself is a resource, but are they going to find yes,
some resources for themselves. Yes.
Speaker 2 (11:46):
The name of the counseling people that are going to
be there escapes right now. And there's there's also a
Nearer Wellness it's a new thing that it's a way
to help people who are suffering. They're going to have
a table. There's at least two or three out to
point will be there. They are amazing resource and a
(12:08):
couple of others resource tables for you know, helping people
like that. But and again just talking to each other.
Who have you used, who have you talked to? What's
helped you, what's helped you?
Speaker 1 (12:23):
So word of mouth with each other. Yes.
Speaker 2 (12:26):
Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (12:27):
You mentioned in our last segment that you felt alone
when when this happened in your family, felt terribly alone.
Speaker 2 (12:34):
We felt alone, so and I understand.
Speaker 1 (12:37):
I understand that because this is something that when you
find out that someone has taken their life, you are
you hesitate to bring it up to their family. Well,
you don't know how to talk to people about.
Speaker 2 (12:49):
Well that's a tough that's a tough thing to do,
is to talk to people. One thing I will say
is whenever you're thinking about what do I say, just
give them a hug and say I'm so sorry and
I love you, and just let me know what to
do or do things for them without them asking. But
(13:09):
they just mainly want to hug. And but yes, we
felt alone. It hadn't happened a lot in Daphanie, but
right in that small space of time with my son
and two other people that I knew and it was
like two months, so that was a little unusual. So
that's the main reason we brought the walk to Daphne
(13:29):
is because it did happen, you know, more than we thought.
But anyway, it's a you do fill alone, and a
lot of people will tell you that, but this kind
of event will make you not feel alone and it
will carry with you for a long time after you leave.
Speaker 1 (13:46):
Well again, I'm going to be there.
Speaker 2 (13:48):
Well, I can't wait to see you.
Speaker 1 (13:49):
Well, I don't know many many others are going to
be there. They will be, and we're there for my
wife's father. Yes, and again, if you want to donate,
you can either donate to us. You can find that
link on the unc Clenvery Show Facebook page. But there
are many other teams.
Speaker 2 (14:06):
There's about fifty teams right now that have been formed
in honor of a loved one, or it doesn't have
to be it's just a business or school club. We
have plenty of those. So, yeah, we have about fifty
teams of people. All right, they're showing up, all.
Speaker 1 (14:21):
Right, So we are just about out of time here.
We've only got a little less than a minute here,
so one more time for people that just tune in.
How can they find out more about the event?
Speaker 2 (14:34):
Go Please go to AFSP dot org slash daphne. It
will show you the times, locations, what's going on, what
exactly is going on. It'll let you register there. You
can donate right there, or again you can do it
at the walk once you get there. But AFSP dot
org slash daphne.
Speaker 1 (14:53):
Okay, Lydia, Barbara, thank you so much for coming in
and talking about it.
Speaker 2 (14:56):
Thank you, Uncle Henry, thank you so much.
Speaker 1 (14:58):
And thank you listen for listening to the Uncle Henry Show.
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(15:19):
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(15:41):
in Theodore, take it easy, all right later