Dear Jamie,
I'm taking an educated guess here but I think you get a lot of thank you letters.
Thanking you for TWLOHA.
Thanking you for Renee and her story.
Thanking you for saving lives.
Thanking you for making a difference.
This letter will be no different from the others you have received I guess, except it will be from me and I suppose that makes it different from the others. As you say Jamie, your story matters. You and TWLOHA are part of my story.
I first heard about TWLOHA in 2008. Your story of Renee and her struggles were a couple of years old by then and you had quite a following. At the time I was 13 and into the emo scene. After watching a set from Warped Tour of a band I can no longer remember I noticed a shirt that declared 'to write love on her arms'. For some reason, I couldn't shake the phrase so I turned to google. The TWLOHA blog came up and I spent some time learning about Renee, the organisation and you. I remember clearly that I openly wept at my computer screen.
I was reading words of encouragement, of kindness and of understanding about depression and self injury, both of which I was struggling with at the time and had been for a while. I had felt so alone in my situation but then I had finally found someone that was telling me it would be okay. That I mattered; that this wasn't the end.
Since that day I have followed TWLOHA closely and know that my recovery started the day I found that blog. Whenever I stumbled, whenever I wanted to give up and then when I had my breakdown I remembered the words of TWLOHA.
7 years later and I still struggle. I am still stumbling through and I know I will always struggle with self injury and I know I haven't seen the last of depression.
I owe my life to TWLOHA. I owe my life to you Jamie, to Renee, to David and to everyone who has been and is a part of the organisation.
This whole letter has been years in the making but after reading 'If You Feel Too Much' and after watching the movie adaptation I felt ready to thank you.
Thank you Jamie for your book.
Thank you for being honest and writing about both the light and dark.
Thank you for never pretending it was easy going and for reminding us all that the best things never are.
Thank you for not giving up on TWLOHA and thank you for not giving up on yourself.
Thank you for making me want to make a difference.
Jamie, you have a unique talent of storytelling and I hope to hear it in person one day.
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