On January 13th of this year, I got a call that I never wanted to hear in my entire life. That day is forever burned in my memory all too well. My mother sounded calm, but shocked. Once she had said her name, I bawled and broke down. I already knew what was going on. I couldn’t even bare to listen to the rest of her words. I handed the phone to my friends and heard them explain what happened.

One of my good friends from high school, Taylor Morgan Spires, committed suicide earlier that day. She shot herself in the chest, and had just enough energy within her to call one of her friends before she passed away. I was shocked and couldn’t even believe it with my own ears. Past memories that I had of her flooded my mind all at once. Someone as amazing and loving as Morgan couldn’t just be gone like that. I remember sitting there in silence after the call, then screaming and crying all at once. How could we let this happen? I was in a state of shock and complete numbness. Nothing felt real and it all felt like a terrible dream that I prayed I would wake up from.

Days later, I learned that she had written a final letter before she ended her life.

In that letter, she did not blame anyone or complain about her problems in life, as others would have if they were in her position. She wrote of love. Pure and innocent love! She spoke of how she so desperately wished for everyone to love everybody with their entire existence, just as she did throughout her 18 years of life. She wrote of how much she loved life and making memories with her lovely friends and family. Her final letter reflected the way she lived her life, the commitment she had to showing love and making sure everyone was happy.

With all of this sadness and shock coursing through our minds, many people and I had an idea. We decided to take this matter into our own hands and to organize a fundraiser dedicated to this love that Morgan had for everyone. We took her message from her letter and turned it into a fundraiser and movement, Morgan’s Message: Love Everybody. All of the fundraiser proceeds would go towards her grave marker costs. On March 5^th of this year, we finally had our fundraiser ready to go. Specifically for the event, we had someone design a signature mark for the movement to be unique. They sculpted a ribbon in the shape of a heart, with Love Everybody curved around it. This one simple design became the trademark for Morgan’s Message: Love Everybody. Her ribbon was on almost everything being sold in the fundraiser. The design was marked on crocheted hats, paintings, decals and so much more.

After the fundraiser ended, we counted the money and realized we were short of $800 for her grave marker. We were so incredibly blessed to have raised $1,600, but we couldn’t order a grave marker with that kind of short coming. Thankfully, a wonderful family donated the exact amount so Morgan’s family could finally get the grave marker that she deserved. It amazed us that the love Morgan felt and lived by continued to flow through these individuals that donated such a huge amount to help out someone desperately in need.

If there’s anything that I’ve learned from this horrific event, it’s that I can take into consideration Morgan’s love for everybody and the pain that this has caused me, and turn it into something to help others heal. I wanted to create a visual of Morgan’s love through art for the fundraiser, so I decided to paint this idea onto several canvases. I made sure to include her signature ribbon, her initials and even her message to us. I put my blood, sweat and tears into this fundraiser, because Morgan deserves this. She showed love like no other, now it’s time for me to reciprocate it.

I’m still not 100% sure what I’m going to do with my psychology degree, but I know I want to make Morgan’s message of love and compassion a part of it. I’ve always wanted to make a difference in the world. Now is my chance to spread Morgan’s Message and make sure everyone knows of the realities of suicide. I want people to hear of this story and take action to it. I want the world to know of Morgan’s love for everyone, and how they can show love and compassion, just as she did throughout her life.

If you have taken anything from reading this, please remember to love everybody. Do not harass or bully anyone and potentially cause self-hate and self harm. You don’t know what others are having to endure, so please just be kind to one another. We all have this once chance at life, please don’t make someone hate theirs and possibly end it.

Also, love with all your heart and show your passion in everything that you do. Please, go the extra mile and put effort into something, even if people don’t give you the same effort back. Lastly, love makes the world go round. An act of love and compassion keeps reciprocating love and peace back to the community. If you help someone out, they are more likely to help you out one day as well.

There is hate everywhere we turn, but only love can cancel out the hate.

This post, in its entirety, is dedicated to the late Taylor Morgan Spires (March 4^th, 1997- January 13^th, 2016). She was a comedic person, an athlete, and a lover of God. Sadly, she is gone due to the hatred and harassment that she received from a few of her fellow peers. Morgan dedicated her life to God and the love she had for others. She wrote for us to remember that we need to #LoveEverybody. Morgan showed her love to her friends and family, by making sure that they were always happy and okay. We love and miss you so much, Morgan.