Mental Health Awareness (Patience, First Post)

This is Billy. He came to the hotel I worked at, under the influence one night...with no Credit Card, and barely any ID. His clothes were wet, because it was raining. And he walked for a very long time to get here with no money in his pocket. At first, I wanted to turn him away, as I was told I should have, but I couldn't do it. I actually felt sorry for him. So, I let him stay the night. The next day, he came down, so appreciative for what I'd done for him. He talked to my Manager, my staff, and really had a charm about him. He had a very rough go at life, drugs were a large part of it. By the sounds of it though, he was really looking to change that.

This was my coworker, we will call her Dianne. She was the single best woman that I looked forward to seeing each day I went into work. Just a total ray of sunshine. When we couldn't house Billy at the hotel anymore...she happily volunteered to let him stay with her for a while until he got on his feet. He did. We gave him a job at the hotel. Sort of a Maintenance position. He absolutely loved it. Always came into work happy, was great with guests, as well as our staff. One day he came to work under the influence and we gave him a very stern warning to never ever do it again.

This is a photo with him, and his then 3 year old daughter, 3 days before we lost him. He texted us and asked if we needed him to come in that day (he wasn't scheduled) and we said no. Dianne found him the next day. We all thought he was getting better. We all went above and beyond to help him, or so we thought. This was one year ago today. We only knew him for a total of 3 months, but those 3 months were an extremely happy time for myself and many others. Maybe this wouldnt have happened if we had him come into work that day. Maybe we could have been more sensitive to his needs. There is always a Maybe in the back of my mind of what we could have done differently. The truth is, there was absolutely nothing else that we could have done.

I always like to think that we gave Billy a little bit more time in this life. We gave him the opportunity to feel joy and love, even if it was for a few extra months. He was working on getting clean, he got a job, he visited his daughter. We just had so much hope for his future and hoped he would still be here with us. Mental Health is so hard to talk about, for so many reasons. The main reason is that most people just can't accept it. Most people don't even think twice about it. Until it hits close to home. No one will ever understand the relationship we had with Billy. He is missed, so much. Some days more than others. My apologies for the lengthy post, if it reaches anyone. It is my first one, and I needed to just write down my thoughts. Bottom line is, we need to end the stigma around Mental Health. Rest in Paradise Billy.