Hope at Thanksgiving
We have a long list of things we are grateful for this year.
We hope that this month's note at Thanksgiving finds all of you happy and healthy with the ones you love. While the year isn't quite over, and we continue to adjust to COVID-19 and heal the fractures in our country, I'm still amazed by the strength and resolve of my family. Tyler will have been gone for three years on January 16 and Thanksgiving will never be the same for us - but that doesn't mean we aren't thankful.
Ryan and Kelly, you keep us going.Our love for Tyler never fades and being with our guys is what keeps us smiling through the tears. We love you boys more today than ever. We see you struggle and fight through these difficult days and we love every bit of you both as we figure out the holidays together. No one understands the way we do, and we will be here with you always. We're proud of both of you for being the men you are. Follow your dreams and never forget that being the best you can is always enough.
Kym recently took the long journey to CA and on to Kauai to visit Nana's and Tyler's light house. That's a long difficult trip alone, and we are so grateful for Marcia in CA for making part of that trip easier through friendship and kindness. Our dear friends, Mel and Joyce, and their family and friends always make us feel so loved, and not forgotten. They’re simply amazing people that love Tyler, H3H, and WSU and our gratefulness is unmatched, Thank you for looking after Kym in Oahu and making us feel part of your ohana. That is a special place for so many reasons, the top of that list is how many happy days we spent together as a complete family. Thank you, Kym, for making the difficult trip through all the COVID tests to tell Tyler and Nana we all miss them terribly. No one can thank you enough for making H3H embody the true purpose of never forgetting Tyler, bringing awareness, and eliminating stigma associated with mental illness. Your endless energy and fight you have through your pain and grief is allowing others to not suffer in silence. We all love you...
We look forward to meeting in person with our H3H team in January and continue to energize around the work ahead of us. Christine, Tony, Dave, Maya, and Chloé, you are simply the best and we can't do this without your continued love and support...see you all soon.
Our friends at the NCAA, Dr. David Wyrick and Stephen, and Prevention Strategies- thank you for helping us create Hilinski's Hope Game Plan, so that we can share with the schools, colleges and universities to assist them as they follow the mental health best practices for their own student athletes. Helping you, your schools, and your students is what we work to do everyday. ESPN, your recognition of the problem we face and the strength we need to keep H3H moving forward is not taken lightly, and we are grateful for that support. Dr. Josie Nicholson, the voice of UNIT3D, thank you for your tireless efforts to get amazing guests and let them share their words of wisdom and support through your conversations for student athletes. Not many give so selflessly as you do to make our world a little better each day - we hope you never stop.
All of our partner schools and associations that engaged with H3H this year and worked with us to bring the much needed story of hope to your coaches, students, and student athletes - thank you. To everyone who partnered with us through #3Day and College Football Mental Health Week for our inaugural year, you are all integral to the heart of our mission. We are so encouraged by your passion for helping others and we are so grateful to be part of your work. It is getting better by any measure, but as COVID-19 and outside forces continue to weigh on us, we know our work is far from done. To all of our partners from Georgetown Brewery in the state of Washington, to Scan Source right here in South Carolina, and everyone in between, we are so grateful for helping us keep Tyler's name alive and for your generous support.
To you... as there are too many to list here... you've been with us from the beginning. You cried with us when Tyler left, and you gave your hearts over to us to help us heal. You send notes and texts and emails of love and support, and stories to make us feel we are not alone in this struggle. It has and continues to give us strength to carry on.
You give to H3H when giving is hard. We know that. We see every one. We love each and every one of you and appreciate your support of our mission. Together, we are saving lives and making many more lives more livable by your generous assistance. Because of the kindness and generosity of our mission supporters, we have hit $1 MILLION in donations since the start of Hilinski's Hope. A large support that pushed us to reach this goal was a $100,000 donation from ESPN in 2020. We are so thankful for each and every dollar donated.
Finally, thank you Tyler for the awesome 21 years you gave us. We love and miss you every minute of every day. We hope and pray we will see you again one day and that you are safe and happy and proud of what we did in your name.
With love and hope,
Mark and Kym
