Mom takes family photo but doesn’t see the danger that’s hiding in plain Sight When Annika met Tim boiling for the very first time, she was instantly drawn to him for a number of reasons. He was not only witty and fun to be around, but his jokes filled with sarcasm them would simply crack her up every single time. Before she knew it, Annika was happily married to Tim and they had a beautiful baby boy together named Shane.
Their little family that lived in Highland Park, New Jersey, was a prime example of joy, pure love, and sweetness until a catastrophe struck that altered them and their lives forever. Being a cycling enthusiast, Tim would often go on bicycle rides during which he would declutter his mind and let go of his everyday worries.
For him, cycling was almost therapeutic and helped him relax, so it made sense that he encouraged Annika and Shane to ride their own bicycles with him. Annika would often notice her husband using humor and sarcasm as an attempt to ignore his problems or worries, but she never thought about it too much since Tim always had a carefree and joyous persona.
One day during a family picnic, Tim, Annika, and Shane, who was ten years old at the time, rode their bicycles to a surreal cliff top that overlooked an ocean. After having some light supper, Annika pulled out her Polaroid camera and started clicking some pictures of Tim and Shane sitting together. As the photograph emerged out, she couldn’t help but smile wide at the sight of her husband and son grinning excitedly while being caught up in a truly heartfelt moment.
What Annika couldn’t see, however, was Tim’s underlying struggle that was never visible on the surface. On one unfortunate day, Tim took his own life after losing his battle against clinical depression. Although he was surrounded by supportive and loving family members and friends, he couldn’t find another way out.
After suffering from the mental illness for several months or maybe a year, Annika had started noticing his increasing dependence on alcohol, which certainly stemmed from his emotional issues he had been facing. Before Tim knew it, he had turned into a severe alcoholic and therefore went to seek treatment for it.
Due to his Jolly personality and humorous exterior, almost no one can tell that he was constantly bottling up his emotional distress, which ultimately worsened his depression. After Tim’s death, Walika and Shane underwent the stages of grief, but more importantly, they educated themselves about the illness that took Tim’s life.
He had this depression that made him feel like there was no other way out and the cassette. Some people can get treatment and help and survive their depression, others can’t. Now a single mother, she told Shane about the invisible disease that took his father away from him.
The little boy didn’t really know if there was anyone who offered a helping hand to those suffering from clinical depression, but he wanted to take action and practically help those who were going through the same mental illness that his deceased father went through.
That’s when Shane along with Annika, came across a charity organization called hope for depression research foundation that helps patients with underlying mental illness by providing them suitable treatment from professionals so that they can take the path towards healing.
Shane and Annika volunteered for the foundation and the innocent ten year old boy thought of a brilliant creative idea to raise funds. Clad in yellow T shirts with a phrase depression doesn’t ride printed on it along with a bicycle symbol that paid a tribute to Tim Boyland, Shane rode 10 miles through Johnson Park together with his friends to raise awareness and funds for the organization.
His dedication towards the goal of contributing to save and improve the lives of those struggling with depression inspired a lot of other people in the community to volunteer for the organization as well.
Not only Annika, but the staff running hope for depression research foundation were all incredibly proud of shame. The Boyland family story teaches us that we must reach out to those who are having a hard time emotionally and offer them help in any way that we can before it’s too late. And that’s it for today.
