09/13/2026
WOW! What an absolute extraordinary day yesterday was! The beautiful weather, friends, family and community, awesome entertainment that included two new comers to our line-up this year, ( Jacob and Anya Acoustics, Craig DeMelo ) fantastic food and a surprise drop in from the ice cream truck was a hit with all the kiddos in attendance and adults too 😉. ( Thank you Dennis Leonard ) We had some community partners join us this year speaking about their programs and how joining forces with them is helping to put mental health awareness and su***de prevention front and center. ( Child & Family Services, Inc. Westport Community Schools HIGH/MIDDLE SCHOOL, Hope Squad Programs and The Bridge: A Center for Hope and Healing )
The most amazing part of the day is watching everyone come together, sharing stories and reminiscing about their favorite moments with Tyler. Some of our biggest supporters didn’t even know Tyler but now feel they did. We THANK OUR SPONSORS from the bottom of our hearts for their continued support. Without you, the incredible work that comes from this day wouldn’t be possible.
It was a busy week for The TJLMF board. Prepping and ironing out last minute details for yesterday’s event, attending Changing the narrative on metal health and su***de, a water lantern ceremony at Rivers End Park in New Bedford on Thursday and then Fridays final push to tie up lose ends and load up the truck with supplies, signage, etc. As all of this was happening, I was in the hospital dealing with a medical issue. With a list of things I had to personally finish up this week, missing Thursdays event and the final meeting, it was only natural I was beating myself up. Stressing about not being there to help the rest of the board, etc. I was now allowing my physical health affect my mental health. I heard Tyler say, “Dinah, it’s ok. It’s ok that you’re not feeling well. You gotta take care of yourself, so just do that and be well for Saturday.” Here’s the thing, we tell people that it’s ok. And it really is OK! But we are hardest on ourselves. We need to be easy on ourselves too. We need to be the best version of ourselves, whatever that may be. But we can only be our best selves if we take care of ourselves. So LOVE ♥️ HARD. Not only on your neighbor, but on yourself too. Everyone matters ♥️
