Those of you who follow me on Facebook or Twitter know of my obsession with the television show ‘Supernatural!’ My reasons are many. I started watching from the first episode in 2005. I had read about it and seen previews. I’ll admit, the two lead actors had something to do with my interest. Then, as I got several episodes into it, I felt a connection. If you’ve never seen the show, at it’s heart it is a story of two brothers. Sam and Dean. When Dean was four years old and Sam was six months old, their mother was killed in a house fire while the boy’s father, John, watched. The three of them made it out safely and from then on, the trio’s mission was to hunt down and kill the Supernatural “being” that killed Mary. John eventually sells his soul to a demon to save a dying Dean. The show then revolves around the brothers and their willingness to sacrifice, kill, and die for each other. Their eternal bond. Their resolve that “don’t think there is ever anything that I would put before you, ever!” Their “Family don’t end with blood!” is a common theme as friends, allies, fellow hunters, help the boys to survive. This story resonated with me. Maybe because I’ve never had, but always wanted, someone who cared so deeply for me. A soulmate if you will. Someone to understand my feelings, my hopes, my dreams, my failures, my setbacks, my wins, my world. Someone to empathize, encourage, and embrace me for just being me. No stigmas, no doubts, just complete and utter love and devotion forever. These brothers are not real, I fully understand that. But the actors who portray them are. And over the 10 years that Supernatural has been on, Jensen and Jared have forged as strong a friendship, brotherhood, “soulmate” status as Sam and Dean. From strangers meeting at an audition, to brothers for life who have admitted to being willing to jump in front of a bullet for the other. Both have admitted to bouts of depression during their lives, for varied reasons, at different times. They have, together, created a charity t-shirt campaign called AlwaysKeepFighting! This campaign opened lines of communication on subjects long stigmatized, kept hidden, and not spoken about. Mental health and suicide awareness. Both actors have lost friends to suicide and depression and felt the need to share and give back. This honesty with their fans made me love them even more and forge a common bond to share. Just this weekend, Jared had to cancel several Convention commitments in Europe to rush home and be with his family. He asked for support and understanding. He also asked for stories from fans about their struggles with depression and anxiety. Tweets, Facebook posts, letters, etc poured in for this beautiful, selfless, empathetic, compassionate, wonderful man! I wish nothing but happiness and inner peace for him and hope that being home with his loved ones is just what he needs to regroup, recover, and rest. Battling these invisible, horrible, frightening inner demons is the hardest thing I’ve ever gone through. It would be easier with a “soulmate”, best friend, sibling, but none of these are available to me. So it is my Twitter, Facebook, and #SPNFamily that I commiserate with, cry with, hope and dream with, share daily struggles with, and just be there to always keep fighting with! When the inner voices get too loud, I reach out and there is always someone available to drown the bad voice with positivity and love! I thank them all and love them dearly! #AlwaysKeepFighting #StayStrong #StopTheStigma