Overview

What is Suicide? A Book To Explain a Loss From Suicide To Children is a book that takes a heavy, complex topic and explains it in child-like terms by a licensed elementary school teacher. The author herself was hospitalized for suicidal ideation and has lost at least five people she loves to suicide. In this book you will learn about her cousin R.J. who died by suicide one year prior to McKenzie thinking about taking her life. McKenzie used herself and R.J. as the main characters in this story to make the content relatable for children to relate to when they lose someone they love and are navigating grief. Although McKenzie was sixteen when R.J. died, she took herself back to being six years old for the purpose of this book. This book offers space in the back for children to show their own understanding of different feeling words by drawing their own understanding in the book. This book is not a bedtime story necessarily, this is a resource. This book is not recommended for children under the age of 5 years old.

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McKenzie Kay Blumhagen was raised in North Dakota by her mother - Shauna Schneider, stepfather Mark Schneider, and father Greg Darling. She comes from an agricultural background with her mom and stepdad having a multigenerational farming operation, but she never imagined marrying a farmer. Little did she know, she fell in love with one just like that. Her husband Ryan Blumhagen, and herself have a farmstead in rural North Dakota where they are raising their two daughters, - Isabelle & Eloise alongside their trusted Golden Retriever, Sedona. The advocacy for Suicide Prevention is embedded into McKenzie after the loss of her cousin R.J. who you will see is one of the main characters of this book. It was only a year after his loss that McKenzie was treated as an in-patient in a psychiatric facility for her own suicidal ideation and self-harming behaviors. McKenzie has traveled to high schools around North Dakota to share her story and to educate students about how to cope with the overwhelming emotions they are encountering in their stages of life. Her hope and prayer are the conversations do not stop there. Her most profound memory sharing her story with students was a time when she was on her way to a speaking event, and she rolled her car on black ice. She landed upside down, was safely able to release herself from her seatbelt and the state snow removal helped her exit her vehicle. She was able to call everybody necessary. She truly felt like Satan/Darkness was after her reaching those students that day so she called her mother (since she had limited service) and asked her to call the school she was heading to and inform them she would be late. Her mother gasped at the idea; but did as McKenzie wished. McKenzie was injury free with not even a scratch, Praise God! McKenzie's stepfather came to retrieve her, finished what was necessary with the police and escorted her the rest of the journey and she spoke to all three audiences that afternoon. Her husband calls it her ""Teddy Roosevelt moment in time."" Annie Larson is a mother and wife to a beautiful family in rural Minnesota. Annie & McKenzie met and became fast friends when McKenzie & Ryan pursued and purchased a home Annie & Travis listed for sale. Annie also comes from an agricultural background and is raising her family with those similar blood in their veins. Her outward creativity and ever-changing paths of expression are what define Annie as a true artist. From a chocolatier to her own house building projects to creating art in sketches and paintings. She truly embraces a beautiful gift from God that speaks through creating and she grows that gift by using it consistently. When I was pursuing an illustrator for this book, I knew it had to be someone I trusted with the delicacy of the content and the characters. Annie accepted the offer immediately and it was the first-person I had shared the written story with. Annie responded with absolute encouragement and dove into the illustrations using childhood photos of myself & RJ shared from my family. You can appreciate more of her talent in her art below.

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